the Park House Gardens Front Gardens Information Pack
Introduction
This information pack has practical ideas for eco parking in your front gardens for those who need it. This is a response to many residents desire for helpful suggestions on how to achieve this.
It recognises that many are already parking their cars in their front gardens as there is inadequate street parking, or not enough space down the side of their property. The potential increase in electric vehicle ownership is likely to add to this trend.
How things have changed
When the houses in Park House Gardens were built between 1934 and 1937 there were under 2 million private cars in the UK, tiny Austin 7’s and Morris 8’s. Today there are over 30 million and incredibly according to the RAC 50% of all new vehicles are too wide for on-street parking.
The changes that have occurred in Park House Gardens, even over the last three decades, can be seen in photos that Colin Hines took of the houses in the street when he and Ann moved here in 1992. As an art deco fanatic he took them in an effort to see if the road could be made into a conservation area. However, the council said there had already been too many changes to the properties for the road to qualify. What the photos do show however is the large number of changes to the front gardens that have occurred in the last 30 years or so.
This information pack initially compiled by Eleanor Broad after a meeting called by Siobhan Boa explains:
- What is the scale of loss of front gardens to car parking
46% of front gardens in London are now completely paved over and so no longer “spongey” to rainfall, thus increasing the risk of flooding. This is the equivalent of 5,200 football pitches being paved over.
- Why does it matter? – Water, Wellbeing, Wildlife & Nature
Streets with some green in their front gardens are more attractive places to live in, visit, walk along. Yet sadly 5 million front gardens no longer have any plants.
Urban flooding is a growing issue, exacerbated by paving over of front gardens with impermeable surfaces
- What can we do if we have to park our cars in our front gardens?
- Golden Rules
- Minimise Hardstanding,
- Maximise Sponginess
- Maximise Biodiversity
- Greener Boundaries
- Design Ideas.
- Find out more – media and resources on front gardens.
We hope you find it of interest.