Bigger garages 'will clear roads'

The council wants more off-road parking in new developments

Developers building new homes in Essex could soon be asked to build larger garages to help reduce the number of cars parked on the county's roads.

Essex County Council is consulting on plans to reverse the "failed" trend of reducing parking space sizes.

The proposals challenge government attempts to reduce car ownership by limiting off-street parking spaces in residential developments.

The council has started six weeks of consultation into the plans.

It said limiting off-street parking had led to more residents parking in the road, causing "safety issues and inconvenience" for other road users.

'Radical' approach

It is suggesting only garages measuring seven metres (23ft) by three metres (10ft) should be considered as a parking space.

The council said government recommendations that they should measure five metres (16ft) by 2.5m (8ft) were "inadequate in size to house many family cars".

It said research it carried out showed 78% of garages were not used to store vehicles and "parking bays are of an inadequate size for many modern vehicles".

Norman Hume, the council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "This new parking guidance is a radical break from the past failed approach, which has seen local communities blighted by parked cars which should and can be better accommodated into neighbourhoods.

"This consultation shows how we are challenging the failures of national policies affecting local communities here in Essex."