CALLS are being made for a review of residential car parking in Worcester - amid concern the city is being "choked" by a lack of room.
Worcester City Council's planning committee is concerned about so many new housing sites being created without enough spaces for vehicles.
It comes after it approved proposals for a new-build HMO (House of Multiple Occupation) on land at Autumn Terrace, near Stanley Road, with room for just two parking spaces.
It was voted through despite several written letters of objection from neighbours around the site, many of whom stating they face a daily "nightmare" trying to get street parking now.
Councillor Alan Amos, speaking during a planning committee meeting, said: "Let's be realistic, it could easily be 10 people living at this address.
"What bothers me is that just two parking spaces are being provided, we're in a complete fantasy.
"We keep being told we've got adequate parking here, we've adequate parking there, but the city is being chocked by this lack of spaces."
But Stephen Hawley, a highways adviser, said: "I have no reason to suggest this will fall short, it's in a very sustainable location and not everyone living there will drive."
Cllr Amos labelled the current set of standards, which instruct developers how many parking spaces housing sites should have, as "clearly inadequate".
Councillor Andy Stafford joined in the criticism, saying: "I do think we need our parking standards to be reviewed - at the moment 'standards' and 'reality' are not in the same room."
Councillor Roger Berry said the "vast majority of HMOs cause no problems" but Cllr Lynn Denham called it a "significant intensification" and "over-development" of the site.
Councillor Paul Denham said he did not like the development, pointing to “five people fighting for a shared toilet space of three cubicles”, but defended the parking provision.
“The very nature of people sharing HMOs is that they tend to be poor people,” he said.
“I’d be surprised if there will be more than two car owners living there.”
The council's in-house parking standards are expected to be examined once the new committee system of governance beds in after May.
It could also include a review of the current policy known as 'Article 4', which aims to restrict student housing by capping the number of HMOs in certain areas.
Article 4 means new bids for HMOs can be refused if within a 100-metre radius, it takes the threshold above 10 per cent of the properties.
But during the debate Cllr Geoff Williams, a former planning committee chairman, warned against Article 4 being tampered with.
"The existing policy has been tested at appeal - we need to be very careful about undermining that policy," he said.
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