Bedford Borough Council · Unitary authority
Transport Statements and Assessments in Bedford
What transport evidence a Bedford planning application needs, the parking standards that apply, and the policies an assessment should address.
Which document do you need?
National policy asks for a Transport Statement or a Transport Assessment wherever a development will generate significant amounts of movement.
Transport Statement
A shorter document for smaller schemes where transport issues are limited: access, parking, trips and sustainable travel.
Transport Assessment
A full assessment for larger schemes: trip generation, network impact, junction capacity and mitigation.
Parking standards
The standards Bedford Borough Council applies, taken from the source document below and checked against it row by row.
| Use | Car parking |
|---|---|
| B1a offices | 1 space per 20 sq m |
| A1 food retail (exceeding 500 sq m / supermarkets) | 1 space per 9 sq m |
| A1 food retail (local centres / small retail outlets up to 500 sq m) | 1 sp per 18 sq m |
| A1 non-food retail | 1 space per 20 sq m |
| A2 banks, building societies, estate agents, betting shops | 1 sp per 27 sq m where land is available to do so, parking spaces should be provided. Current parking conditions will be taken into account, for example where on-street parking is already at capacity. |
| Sui generis workshops / MOT garages | 1 sp per bay for staff plus 3 spaces per bay for overlap of customers. |
| B1b/c research & development / light industrial | 1 space per 30 sq m |
| B2 general industry | 1 space per 50 sq m |
| B8 open storage | 1 sp per 500 sq m of storage area |
| B8 storage and distribution | 1 sp per 70 sq m |
| C1 hotels | 1 sp per bedroom plus appropriate standard for each remaining element, such as bar, dining areas, conference facilities etc. |
| C2 hospitals | To be considered on merit alongside the consideration of a travel plan or in the case of an extension a parking accumulation survey. |
| D1 libraries | Current standard 1 space per 30 sq m |
| D2 golf courses | 60 spaces per 9 holes plus the relevant standard for other uses such as bar/dining areas where appropriate. |
| D2 gym / fitness centres | 1 sp per 10 sq m of public area plus 1 sp per 2 full time equiv staff |
| D2 misc cultural buildings (craft centres, art galleries, museums) | 1 space per 30 sq.m. GFA |
| D2 other places of entertainment (dance and bingo halls) | 1 space per 15 sq m gfa |
| D2 racket clubs | 4 spaces per court |
| D2 swimming pools | 1 sp per 10 sq m public area plus 1 sp per 2 full time equiv staff |
| Sui generis car sales and show rooms | 1 sp per 45 sq m of display / storage. Layout must accommodate the needs of car transporters. |
| Sui generis petrol filling stations | 1 sp per 20 sq m retail floorspace plus 1 additional sp if ATMs are provided. |
| Use | Long-stay cycle parking | Short-stay cycle parking |
|---|---|---|
| B1a offices | 1 per 200 GFA | 1 per 500 GFA |
| A1 food retail (exceeding 500 sq m / supermarkets) | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 250 GFA |
| A1 food retail (local centres / small retail outlets up to 500 sq m) | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 100 GFA |
| A1 non-food retail | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 200 GFA |
| A2 banks, building societies, estate agents, betting shops | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 100 GFA |
| A3 food and drink (restaurants and cafes) | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 20 PFA |
| A4 drinking establishments (public houses and bars incl bar food) | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 20 PFA |
| A5 hot food takeaway (not drive thru) | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 20 PFA |
| B1b/c research & development / light industrial | 1 per 200 GFA | 1 per 500 GFA |
| B2 general industry | 1 per 200 GFA | 1 per 500 GFA |
| B8 storage and distribution | 1 per 500 GFA | 1 per 1000 GFA |
| C1 hotels | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 10 bedrooms |
| C2 hospitals | 1 per 10 staff | 1 per 20 beds |
Source: Parking Standards for Sustainable Communities Supplementary Planning DocumentAdopted 10 September 2014Figures checked against the published document on 13 November 2026Selected tables: the source document has the full standards
Policies your assessment should address
The transport policies of the development plan documents in the summary panel. A neighbourhood plan, or a plan for one part of Bedford, may also apply to your site.
Bedford Borough Local Plan 2030
- Policy 31The impact of development - access impacts
- Policy 87Public transport
- Policy 88Impact of transport on people, places and environment
- Policy 89Electric vehicle infrastructure
- Policy 90STransport infrastructure and network improvements
This page summarises adopted policy and links to the source documents. It is not legal advice: always confirm a figure against the adopted document before relying on it.