To see the future of parking... look North

The North East Parking Show shared best practice on a wide range of policy and operational fronts, including destination management, supporting the high street and fighting fraud

The North East Parking Show has become the region's leading conference and exhibition dedicated to parking, mobility, and local place management.

The annual event brings together parking professionals, local authorities, town and city managers, and industry innovators to explore how parking can be a positive force for communities and the regional economy.

This year’s event took place in Durham on 3 March at the Radisson Blu, a modern venue in the heart of a historic city. Delegates enjoyed a full day of discussion and learning, while also having opportunities for to connect with colleagues from across the region at an informal pre-event reception and a busy exhibition showcasing innovative systems and services.

The North East Parking Show was organised by Landor LINKS, which would like to thank Durham County for hosting the event and Marston Holdings for being its main sponsor.

PARKING IN THE NORTH EAST

The North East Parking Show looked at how parking, mobility and place management are being developed and delivered across the region, with a focus on County Durham. 

Andrea Jones, managing director of Project Centre, welcomed a panel that provided an insight into work being done by Durham County Council. 

Durham has long been in the vanguard of innovative approaches to traffic and parking management, including the trailblazing use of camera-controlled traffic management in the city centre to being the place in the UK to introduce a road user charge – Durham Road User Charge Zone (DRUCZ) beating London’s Congestion Charge scheme to implementation back in 2002.

The council was also in the vanguard of local authorities adopting civil parking enforcement, which it operates via a longstanding partnership with contractor NSL (part of Marston Holdings. 

Delivering for Durham

Cllr Tim McGuinness, cabinet member for rural, farming and transport, Durham County Council, discussed how transparency and data-led decision-making drive work to deliver traffic and parking management policies that serve the needs of residents, businesses and visitors.

Parking that serves the city and the county

Dave Lewin, Durham’s strategic traffic manager, and Kieron Moralee, manager, traffic management section, looked at the wide range of kerbside, car park and traffic management services delivered by the council, which encompasses a world-renowned historic city, many town centres and an extensive rural hinterland.

A new chapter: Lane rental in Durham

The opening session ended by looking to the future in the form of Durham’s Lane Rental Scheme is (DLRS) is a proposal to charge utility companies for using 163 miles of the county’s busy roads during peak times, aiming to cut congestion by encouraging off-peak or smarter roadworks, with council actively consulting and submitting the plan for DfT approval. It is distinct from the Durham Road User Charge Zone (DRUCZ). Stephen Jones, highway network manager, Durham County Council, has been developing the proposal with Richard Groombridge, strategic product and data development manager at GeoPlace.

POLICY INTO PRACTICE

The North East Parking Show explored how kerbside and car park management supports residents, businesses, visitors and stakeholders.

Alex Sykes, growth director at Marston Holdings charted a session that encompassed issues such as pavement parking and the role of parking in supporting the high street.

Managing pavement parking

The Department for Transport has announced that local authorities leaders across England are to be given powers to introduce pavement parking restrictions across their areas, allowing exemptions where needed. This topical discussion looked at:

• How the rules for allowing or prohibiting parking on pavements will change
• Balancing the needs of pedestrians, people with mobility issues and drivers
• Learning from local authorities that have implemented pavement parking controls.

Delegates were able listen to the pioneering experience from Scotland, which has already introduced legislation that enables local authorities to prohibit pavement parking, making exemptions where needed. 

Gavin Sherriff, parking enforcement contract manager, City of Edinburgh Council, shared insights into how pavement parking problems were mapped and enforcement priorities ranked in partnership with consultant Project Centre and contractor NSL.

Parking and the local economy 

Free parking is often seen as being essential to encouraging people to stop and shop in high streets. But is time limited free parking actually driving people away from destinations.

Andrew Potter, director of Parking Perspectives demonstrated the economic impact on High Street of a time-limited free parking. Interviews with people who had parked to visit a town centre were combined with analysis of ticket sales data.

The analysis demonstrated that the impacts of free parking is not been as might have been expected. Many visitors felt they had to ‘beat the clock’ so did not stay in the town centre for long, meaning cafés, restuarants and shops lost higher spending custom.  

Protecting EV charging bays

As electric vehicle charging infrastructure expands, many car park operators are facing the challenge of a bays being occupied by fossil-fuelled internal combustion engine vehicles. 'ICE-ing' creates a poor experience for EV drivers and costs parking providers revenue. Kulvir Kang, director of product, Intelli-Park looked at the use of ANPR systems to manage bay-level abuse in car parks.  

The North East Parking Show Panel

Local authority parking managers and parking experts discussed themes including:

• Community responsive parking schemes
• Pavement parking
• Electric vehicle charging provision
• School streets
• Supporting local business
• Staff safety and wellbeing.

Panellists included:

• Alexandra Hobbs, parking manager, South Tyneside Council
• Kulvir Kang, director of product, Intelli-Park 
• Andrew Potter, director, Parking Perspectives
• Lynne Ryan, service manager, parking services, Newcastle City Council
• Gavin Sherriff, parking enforcement contract manager, City of Edinburgh Council

TOWN AND COUNTRY

The North East Parking Show explored the challenges of managing town centre, rural, leisure and tourist parking.

Chris Harrison, regional director of Project Centre, led a session that encompassed traffic management, tourist destination management and looking after major sporting and music events.

Managing Durham's historic centre

Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle have been jointly designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means they attract many tourists to what is also a town centre that is a popular shopping and leisure destination. Lee Mowbray, senior engineer, and Peter Broxton, parking and infrastructure team leader, Durham County Council explained how the updated Durham Road User Charge Zone (DRUCZ) and park & ride service help keep the historic centre attractive and support local businesses and communities.

Keeping traffic moving

‘Red Routes’ can be used to prohibit stopping, parking or loading (except in designated bays) to improve traffic flow on major arteries. Red Routes feature double or single red lines, prohibiting stopping, parking, loading or unloading during operational hours. Drawing on real world experience gained in Medway, Kent, Louise Winch, associate, kerbside management at Project Centre, explained how Red Routes can be planned, implemented and enforced in a manner that is sympathetic to the needs of local businesses.

Keeping events running

Parking teams across the North East work with the event organisers, venues and the police to ensure that sports events take place safely and smoothly. Steven Foster, parking team manager at Newcastle City Council (and vice president of the British Parking Association) shared learnings from the implementation of parking and traffic plans for the Great North Run, Premier League and European football matches, and a host of other major events.

FIGHTING FRAUD

Local authority traffic, parking and environmental teams are on the front line when it comes to combating fraudulent behaviour.

Gavin Manger, strategic engagement manager at Landor LINKS, led a discussion by panel of counter-fraud experts and local authority officers. They talked about to identify – and tackle – problems such as QR ‘quishing’, fake card readers and false number plates.

The panel included:

• Richard Boultbee, parking consultant, National Blue Badge
• Steven Foster, parking team manager, Newcastle City Council 
• Melissa Holmes, head of business development, Marston Holdings
• Sergeant Chris Milburn, Durham Constabulary 

Fraudulent and antisocial behaviour affecting the parking sector includes:

• Cloned number plates involve criminals copying or stealing legitimate vehicle registrations to put on similar cars – often to avoid penalties for speeding, parking illegally or more serious offences. It is the innocent plate owner to receive fines and penalties.
• Ghost plates are modified or false vehicle license plates designed to be unreadable by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras through the use of reflective sprays, clear films, or altered fonts.
• Parking scams involve criminals placing fake QR codes on signs or payment machines that link to fraudulent websites, tricking drivers into entering their bank details or signing up for costly subscriptions, often under the guise of official payment apps.
• Blue Badge fraud involves misusing a disabled parking permit for personal gain. It is a criminal offence punishable by fines and badge confiscation.