By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter
St Denys Road company Cruise Azure Parking has had its challenge to restrictions imposed on its operation by the council rejected by a planning inspector.
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The firm previously saw its retrospective application to use a former car showroom plot for passenger vehicle parking granted by Southampton City Council.
But the approval decision, which came in May, was subject to conditions, including that the site could only operate as a park and ride service using shuttle bases.
This means vehicles have to be dropped off by customers at the company’s facility in St Denys Road rather than being collected by staff at the cruise terminal.
An appeal was launched by the business to the Planning Inspectorate as it wanted to offer a meet-and-greet service.
Cruise Azure Parking said the planning condition imposed by the council was “unnecessarily restrictive, disproportionate and inconsistent” when compared to the approach the local authority had taken to other sites in the city.
A report from government-appointed planning inspector P Burley said no details of other cruise parking operations had been provided, adding that each proposal must be assessed on its own merits while having regard to any supporting evidence.
The council’s position was that allowing a meet-and-greet service would result in a “significant” increase in trips, with potential for cruise-related traffic to coincide with peak times on the transport network.
The appellant disputed this view and wanted the condition to be varied.
The inspector’s report said: “It has said that the proposal would reduce passenger traffic to and from the port terminal, would help to alleviate port-side congestion through off-site management, and that a more balanced approach would be to allow meet-and-greet with operational controls such as management plans and monitoring.
“However, the appellant has not provided any details of how a meet-and-greet service would operate or the effect of this on the highway network, including in terms of the number of trips, the number of trips associated with the current and previous uses on the site to enable a comparison to be made, or any other evidence to demonstrate that the council’s assumptions and conclusions, which are based on its knowledge of the city’s highway network, should not be relied upon.”
A lack of information from Cruise Azure Parking on an operational management plan for its meet-and-greet proposals left the inspector unable to determine whether this would allay concerns related to any increase in traffic movements.
In dismissing the appeal, the inspector said the proposal conflicted with the development plan.
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