Cornwall Council · Unitary authority
Transport Statements and Assessments in Cornwall
What transport evidence a Cornwall 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 Cornwall Council applies, taken from the source document below and checked against it row by row.
| Use | Car parking |
|---|---|
| B1 including offices | 1 space per 35 sqm GFA |
| Food Retail | 1 space per 14 sqm GFA (Gross Floor Area) |
| Non-food retail | 1 space per 25 sqm GFA |
| B2 Employment | 1 space per 50 sqm GFA |
| B8 Warehousing | 1 space per 200 sqm GFA |
| Cinemas/conference/places of worship | 1 space per 5 seats |
| Community centres | 1 space per 5sqm public floor space |
| D2 including leisure | 1 space per 25 sqm GFA |
| Food and Drink | 1 space per 5sqm public floor space |
| Higher and further education | 1 space per 2 Staff +1 space per /15 total possible students |
| Hospitals | 1 space per 4 staff +1 space per /3 visitors + |
| Hotels | 1 space per bedroom allowance made for other facilities |
| Stadia | 1 space per 15 seats |
Source: Travel Plan and Parking Standards: Advice for DevelopersAdopted July 2023Figures checked against the published document on 6 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 Cornwall, may also apply to your site.
Cornwall Local Plan: Strategic Policies 2010-2030
- 27Transport and Accessibility
- 28Infrastructure
Cornwall Climate Emergency Development Plan Document
- T1Sustainable Transport
- T2Parking
- T3Safeguarding of transport infrastructure sites and routes
How transport has weighed in recent decisions
From 71 recent planning and appeal decisions in Cornwall. The counts are taken from the decisions themselves.
Sustainable location / accessibility
48 decisions
26 refused or dismissed, 22 approved or allowed
Access & visibility
47 decisions
28 refused or dismissed, 18 approved or allowed
Highway capacity / safety
37 decisions
18 refused or dismissed, 18 approved or allowed
Parking provision
23 decisions
13 refused or dismissed, 10 approved or allowed
Active travel
17 decisions
10 refused or dismissed, 6 approved or allowed
Trip generation & TA adequacy
16 decisions
10 refused or dismissed, 6 approved or allowed
Across the transport-relevant decisions read, weight most often fell on access & visibility (28 of 47 refused/dismissed), sustainable location / accessibility (26 of 48 refused/dismissed), highway capacity / safety (18 of 37 refused/dismissed). Council-side decisions were not retrieved for this authority: the picture is appeals-only, which over-represents refusals (appeals are self-selected). Read the council-side as absent, not as 'no refusals'. This is a descriptive read of the public decision record; verify each decision before professional use.
“It would also provide sufficient space for vehicular access, turning and parking”
Appeal allowed: 3372038, 28 May 2026
“The site lies on the edge of Newtown, a recognised settlement with public transport links along the A394.”
Appeal allowed: 3370001, 28 May 2026
“Since the previous appeal, traffic calming measures have been introduced on Quenchwell Road between its junction with Valley Lane and the garden centre.”
Appeal allowed: 3373972, 26 May 2026
- 3370001Appeal allowed, 28 May 2026
- 3372038Appeal allowed, 28 May 2026
- 3371065Appeal dismissed, 26 May 2026
- 3373972Appeal allowed, 26 May 2026
- 3371943Appeal allowed, 22 May 2026
- 3364240Appeal dismissed, 18 May 2026
A descriptive summary of past decisions, not a prediction. Built on 4 November 2026.
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.