Car parking review

Car parking on Colchester Campus

Transport Policy

The University has been working for several years to establish an effective, sustainable and environmentally responsible transport policy. It recognises that, for some staff and students, there are few viable alternatives to car use for travelling to the Colchester Campus. However, the University seeks to encourage as many staff and students as possible to change their travel patterns, and help to reduce the number of cars being brought onto campus.

While the University is working successfully with other agencies to make alternative options such as walking, cycling, motorbikes, car sharing and public transport more attractive, car park management is an essential part of its transport policy.

More details about the University’s travel strategies are available online.

Car Parking

The Colchester Campus has almost 1,400 car parking spaces, additionally overflow parking occurs on some identified grassed areas at peak times. In 2008-09, more than 2,800 staff and students registered for parking permits.

To manage the demand, and with the clear aim of reducing the number of cars brought on campus, pay and display machines were introduced in 2007. The current, term-time only, maximum daily charge for University registered vehicles is 40 pence, covering the hours of peak demand from 8.30-4.30. In 2008-09, a contractor was brought in to manage enforcement of the regulations following complaints from staff and students that this was not happening effectively.

More details about car park management on campus are available online.

Car Parking Review Group

The University recognises the measures introduced to manage the car parking regulations have been unpopular, and that staff and students have raised a number of concerns.

To take account of feedback from staff and students, and to ensure a fair and reasonable system is in place, the University has established a Car Parking Review Group.

The Group will examine the current parking management enforcement system, on behalf of the Transport Policy Sub-Committee and University Steering Group. The aim is to agree a way forward which meets the needs of both the University and car park users. Registrar Dr Tony Rich chairs the Group. Full membership of the Group, and the Group’s Terms of Reference are both available online.

It is essential to the success of the review to establish the real issues which need to be resolved. Staff and students are invited to contribute constructively to the review, by e-mailing their issues and concerns to: carparkreview (non essex users should add @essex.ac.uk to create a full email address).

The Group will meet in the summer term and is expected to report in July.

First meeting

The first meeting of the Car Parking Review Group took place on Thursday 11 June 2009. It considered the advantages and disadvantages of the current car parking system, the feedback received from staff and students, and received submissions from the different groups and areas of responsibility represented.

David Hewitt, Executive Director of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, with responsibility for the Trust’s car parking policies and procedures, summarised the parking situation at the hospital and how the hospital had dealt with problems of staff and visitor parking demand exceeding current and future availability of spaces.

Members were invited to put forward proposals for alternative car park management systems for consideration at the second meeting, which is on Monday 22 June.

Recommendations

The Car Parking Review Group has recommended that the University does not renew the current service providers’ agreement for the 2009-10 academic year. Instead it is proposed that two Transport Attendants be employed directly by the University to help manage car parking and the enforcement of the regulations. The new posts would be funded from car parking income in the first year of operation. The Group also recommends a tiered civil penalty system to replace the current arrangements which involve clamping, and payment of a clamp release fee.

The Group’s proposals include a first warning system, whereby students, staff and visitors would receive a warning notice for a first breach of the car parking regulations, for example failing to display a valid ticket. For any second offence, a civil penalty notice would be issued with a fine of £50 (with a proposed reduction to £25 for early payment). A third and subsequent offence would lead to clamping as well as a civil penalty notice with fine.

For more serious parking offences such as parking in disabled bays, on double yellow lines, or under podia without authorisation, civil penalty notices with, in some cases, clamping would be implemented without an initial warning notice.

The recommendations of the Car Parking Review Group went to the meeting of Transport Policy Sub-Committee on 8 July. The aim is to introduce revised arrangements in time for the start of the autumn term 2009. Costings and detailed proposals are yet to be finalised, but it is not intended to increase the daily term-time pay and display charges this autumn. Unions, and interested groups such as the Car User Group, will be consulting with members of the University community to elicit feedback on the proposals.

All car parking related signage will be reviewed during the summer and improvements made where necessary to ensure it is clear. Once the new arrangements for managing car parking have been finalised they will be published in full and all Colchester-based staff and students will be informed.

Long term car parking arrangements will remain under review as the University continues to look for ways to reduce the demand for car parking on campus, and increase the use of alternative modes of transport.