Preston City Council · District council
Transport Statements and Assessments in Preston
What transport evidence a Preston 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 Preston City Council applies, taken from the source document below and checked against it row by row.
| Use | Car parking |
|---|---|
| C2 Residential Institutions – Purpose built student housing | A: 1 per resident staff and 1 per 10 beds; B: 1 per resident staff and 1 per 5 beds; C: 1 per resident staff and 1 per 5 beds |
| C2 Residential Institutions – Residential care homes/Nursing homes | A: 1 per 4 beds; B: 1 per 5 beds; C: 1 per 5 beds |
| C2 Residential Institutions – Sheltered accommodation | A: 1 per 2 beds; B: 1 per 3 beds; C: 1 per 3 beds |
| D1 Non-residential institutions – Art galleries, museums, libraries | A: 1 per 40sqm; B: 1 per 25sqm; C: 1 per 20sqm |
| D1 Non-residential institutions – Clinics and health centres (excludes hospital) | A: 1 per 2 staff plus 4 per consulting room; B: 1 per 2 staff plus 4 per consulting room; C: 1 per 2 staff plus 4 per consulting room |
| D1 Non-residential institutions – Crèches, day nurseries and day centres | A: 1 per member of staff plus 1 drop off space per 10 children; B: 1 per member of staff plus 1 drop off space per 10 children; C: 1 per member of staff plus 1 drop off space per 10 children |
| D1 Non-residential institutions – Halls & places of worship | A: 1 per 10sqm; B: 1 per 6sqm; C: 1 per 5sqm |
| D1 Non-residential institutions – Higher & further education | A: 1 per 2 staff; B: 1 per 2 staff plus 1 per 15 students; C: 1 per 2 staff plus 1 per 10 students |
| D1 Non-residential institutions – Schools (primary & secondary) | A: 2 per classroom; B: 2 per classroom; C: 2 per classroom |
| A2 Financial & Professional Services (Banks/building societies, betting offices, estate and employment agencies, professional and financial services) | A: 1 per 35sqm; B: 1 per 32sqm; C: 1 per 30sqm |
| B1 Business – Call Centres | A: 1 per 40sqm (starting point to discuss); B: 1 per 32sqm (starting point to discuss); C: 1 per 30sqm (starting point to discuss) |
| B1 Business – Office, business parks, research & development | A: 1 per 40sqm; B: 1 per 32sqm; C: 1 per 30sqm |
| A1 Shops – Food Retail | A: 1 per 16sqm; B: 1 per 15sqm; C: 1 per 14sqm |
| A1 Shops – Non-Food Retail | A: 1 per 22sqm; B: 1 per 21sqm; C: 1 per 20sqm |
| A1 Shops – Retail Warehouse | A: 1 per 60sqm; B: 1 per 45sqm; C: 1 per 40sqm |
| A2 Miscellaneous/Sui Generis – Motor car showrooms | A: 1 per 60sqm internal showroom; B: 1 per 52sqm internal showroom; C: 1 per 50sqm internal showroom |
| A3 Restaurants & Cafes (restaurants, cafes, snack bars, fast food & drive through) | A: 1 per 8sqm of public floor space; B: 1 per 6sqm of public floor space; C: 1 per 5sqm of public floor space |
| A4 Drinking Establishments (public houses/wine bars/other drinking establishments) | A: 1 per 8sqm of public floor space; B: 1 per 6sqm of public floor space; C: 1 per 5sqm of public floor space |
| B2 General Industry | A: 1 per 60sqm; B: 1 per 48sqm; C: 1 per 45sqm |
| B8 Storage & Distribution | A: 1 per 100sqm; B: 1 per 100sqm; C: 1 per 100sqm |
| C1 Hotels (hotels, boarding & guest houses) | A: 1 per bedroom including staff parking provision; B: 1 per bedroom including staff parking provision; C: 1 per bedroom including staff parking provision |
| D2 Assembly and Leisure – Cinemas, bingo and casinos, conference centres, music and concert halls | A: 1 per 10 seats; B: 1 per 6 seats; C: 1 per 5 seats |
| D2 Assembly and Leisure – General leisure, dance halls (not night clubs), swimming baths, skating rinks and gymnasiums | A: 1 per 25sqm; B: 1 per 23sqm; C: 1 per 22sqm |
| D2 Assembly and Leisure – Theatres | A: 1 per 10 seats; B: 1 per 6 seats; C: 1 per 5 seats |
| Sui Generis – Petrol filling stations | A: 1 space per pump; B: 1 space per pump; C: 1 space per pump |
Source: Preston Local Plan 2012-26, Appendix B: Parking StandardsAdopted 2 July 2015Figures checked against the published document on 5 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 Preston, may also apply to your site.
Central Lancashire Core Strategy
- Policy 2Infrastructure
- Policy 3Travel
- Policy 30Air Quality
Preston Local Plan 2012-26: Site Allocations and Development Management Policies
- ST2General Transport Considerations
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.