Westminster City Council has standardised all its CCTV traffic enforcement systems around a single platform. The council believes its new network of digital HD cameras will generate high quality images, which will minimise discard-rates and thus help reduce the number of appeals. Westminster City Council has signed a contract with Videalert and NSL, which are both part of Marston Holdings. The city council’s decision follows a 12-month pilot comparison exercise between Videalert and the

East Cheshire NHS Trust has adopted a new parking system at Macclesfield District General Hospital. The new system, which has been provided by ParkingEye, enables pay-on-exit via kiosks or via a mobile payment service. ParkingEye has been managing public and staff parking at the hospital since January 2015. It operates an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system and deploys customer service attendants to ensure compliance with parking regulations and that payments are made. Payments fo

Transport for London has announced the winners of London RoadLab, an innovation challenge to develop technology that could make roads safer and smarter during roadworks. Technology companies were invited to pitch ideas for tackling some of the biggest problems caused by roadworks last year. Nine innovative solutions were shortlisted and awarded £20,000 each. They joined a 10-week programme and worked with experts from TfL, London Councils and utilities companies to further develop produc

A blanket ban on pavement parking could lead to a need for thousands of new car parking spaces that towns and cities are simply not equipped to provide, warns road safety final IAM RoadSmart. The House of Commons Transport Committee launched an enquiry into pavement parking and invited comments from interested parties in April, to which IAM RoadSmart has delivered its conclusions. All submissions have now been released for public viewing. One suggestion that has emerged from the enquiry is a b

The number of penalty tickets issued to drivers parking on private land has increased by more than a million in just 12 months, the RAC Foundation suggests based on the latest figures. The RAC Foundation’s analysis of DVLA data for the financial year 2018-19 shows that 6.8 million sets of vehicle keeper records were released to car parking management companies. “Almost all of these will have been used to pursue motorists who are deemed to have infringed regulations in private car p

Parking is a subject that gets people hot under the collar. Social media is full of individuals and campaigners complaining about the perceived injustice of parking regulations. But it is not just parking companies and local authorities that drivers vent their frustration at. The poor parking behaviour of other motorists can be railed at via an array of ‘name & shame’ channels with charming monikers such as Parking Knobs and You Park Like a C***. One of the politer poor parking

Highland Council has taken over responsibility for parking enforcement from Police Scotland. Highland Council Parking Services was launched in 2016 to take over enforcement activities. During 2016 it assumed responsibility for parking enforcement in local authority car parks and on-street in Inverness and Fort William. On 14 May the second phase of the roll-out saw Highland Council deliver parking enforcement in a further 19 locations in Alness, Brora, Broadford, Dingwall, Dunvegan, Grantown O

Motorists increasingly have to pay for parking using terminals and digital technology that require the input of their vehicle’s registration number manually to ensure that the payment is attributed to the correct vehicle. If the registration is inputted wrongly then the motorist in question is liable to receive a PCN. The International Parking Community (IPC) has launched ‘Get Your Reg Right’, a campaign reminding drivers to input their number plate correctly when using phone

Motor theft insurance claim payouts hit their highest level in seven years at the start of the year, according to the insurance industry trade body. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said claims for January to March were higher than for any quarter since 2012. The ABI’s latest quarterly motor insurance claims report highlights that in the first three months of this year: 16,000 claims for the theft of or from a vehicle were settled by insurers. This was up on the 14,000 for the sa

Two sites run by Care Park in central London have received Park Marks under the Safer Parking Scheme. The sites are located in Marble Arch and Knightsbridge. The Park Mark award recognises car parks with measures in place that actively deter crime and the fear of crime in car parks. Dominic Dunne, commercial manager UK, Care Park, said: “The level of investment we have made demonstrates our ambition in the UK market. We will continue to ensure that all our car parks exceed the standards

The Maxted Road Lorry Park in Hertfordshire has retained its Park Mark. The site was first awarded a Park Mark in 2012 and has received the Safer Parking Scheme Award every year since. Based just a couple of minutes from the M1 and 10 minutes from the M25, the lorry park offers 80 parking bays for vehicles ranging in size from small vans to articulated lorries. Maxted Road Lorry Park is an official operating centre for commercial vehicles as advised by DVSA, with 24-hour access, seven days a we

Data on parking spaces across the UK is set to be standardised to make finding and paying for parking easier. By introducing the new standards, the government’s ambition is for all parking data released by  councils and companies across the country to use the same language, supporting the development of apps to make parking easier for drivers. The new approach was created by the Alliance for Parking Data Standards (APDS) and funded by the Department for Transport. To support the int

Car park operators and on-street enforcement teams are being asked to keep an eye out for dogs being left in cars on hot days, a situation that can prove fatal. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) receives thousands of calls each year of animals being left alone in cars on warm days. It has launched a new campaign bluntly called ‘Dogs die in hot cars’. The animal charity says many people believe it is okay to leave a dog if the windows are slightly op

Carmarthenshire County Council has launched enforcement using a camera car, with an initial focus on squares in Carmarthen town centre where previous efforts to prevent parking have been frustrated by determined motorists. Parking has been prohibited for several years in Nott Square and Guildhall Square, with vehicular access permitted for unloading only. The council has concerns about pedestrian safety in the squares and adjoining streets if people continue to drive to park in the squares. It

Pupils in Lewisham’s primary schools were invited to design a banner that will be used as part of a campaign against engine idling across the south-east London borough. Lewisham Council selected a design by Mehri from Haseltine Primary School to be turned into a banner and displayed around borough. Road safety goodie bags were presented to second placed Nikita from Rathfern Primary School and third placed Polina from Hatcham Temple Grove Primary School.

The International Parking Community (IPC) has temporarily suspended all self-ticketing sites managed by UK Car Park Management following an investigation into allegations of improper behaviour by a ‘self-ticketer’ in Cardiff. The accredited trade association said it would also introduce a number of additional safeguards to reinforce the conditions applied to self-ticketing parking enforcement by its members. The IPC’s investigation, prompted by a BBC report, concluded that th

The east London borough of Hackney has developed a blueprint for banning motor traffic outside schools at opening and closing time, which was shared with every council in the country during national Walk to School Week. The School Streets project seeks to reclaim the roads outside schools from cars, improve air quality at the school gates and make it easier for children to walk and cycle to school. Hackney’s toolkit provides advice on how to set up, manage and enforce bans on vehicles sto

Videalert, a supplier of traffic management and enforcement solutions, has appointed Stuart Scott as its Northern business development manager. Scott will be responsible for managing relationships and developing business opportunities with new and existing clients across Northern England and Scotland. Scott has over 15 years’ experience of working in both local government and the private sector. He joins from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council where, as head of highways, he was respons

Disabled Motoring UK works to support the mobility of disabled people, and there is no dispute that people with certain mental health conditions and cognitive disabilities could benefit from having a Blue Badge. However, the charity is very concerned that from August onwards numbers of Blue Badge holders will dramatically increase, that will put more pressure on limited disabled parking that is poorly enforced and in some areas of the country not enforced at all. We are asking that all local au

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is deploying a CCTV camera car to enforce parking restrictions around schools, at bus stops and pedestrian crossings. The new mobile enforcement vehicle (MEV) has been supplied by Videalert. The MEV is equipped with two roof-mounted ANPR cameras and a pair of colour cameras to capture contextual video evidence that shows drivers contravening traffic orders. The on-board systems are controlled by a council civil enforcement officer using a dashboard-mount

A recent spate of storefront crashes in which vehicle drivers smashed through the front of retail or office space windows led barrier manufacturer McCue to look into the causes and work on a solution. Using data from the Storefront Safety Council, McCue discovered that driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs caused only 17% of storefront crashes, while operator or pedal error caused 56% of crashes. “What this statistic reveals is good, even conscientious, drivers make errors,&rd

Fear of air pollution is preventing a generation of children walking to school, says the charity Living Streets, which has launched a School Streets toolkit aimed at parents who want to prevent cars from surrounding their child’s school. Research by Living Streets indicates that two-thirds (65%) of UK parents of 4-11 year olds are concerned about the effect of air pollution on their child’s health. This marks a 17% increase on 2018 data. And two-fifths (40%) are specifically concerne

The number of the worst polluting cars and vans driving into central London dropped sharply in the first month of the new Ultra Low Emissions Zone. Initial figures from Transport for London (TfL) show that on average 9,400 fewer such vehicles entered central London each day in April compared with March, a reduction of 26%. London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “Just one month after launching the world’s first ULEZ, we have already seen a significant impact on the types of vehicles

The shortlist for this year’s Parking Annual Reports by Councils (PARC) Awards has been announced. The PARC Awards recognise annual reports on local authority parking services and traffic management. This year, 2017/18 annual reports are under review. The annual competition is run by Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London (PATROL), a joint committee represents over 300 local authorities in England, outside London, and Wales. Louise Hutchison, director of PATROL, said: “The

Scunthorpe Truck Stop has received a Park Mark under the Safer Parking Scheme, which recognises car parks with measures in place that actively deter crime and the fear of crime in car parks. Dave Ellse from Scunthorpe Truck Stop said: “The Park Mark is a great asset to us, it lets drivers know we are serious about protecting them and their vehicles. To be the first truck park to receive the award in the north of England is a fantastic achievement.” A Park Mark is awarded to facilit

A man who ran a meet & greet parking company that parked customers’ cars in a field has been jailed. The meet & greet operation was used by people travelling to Gatwick Airport. Asad Malik had advertised online that cars would be parked in a secure compound protected by CCTV and 24-hour patrols. However, West Sussex Trading Standards found vehicles were parked in fields, with some of their doors left unlocked, their windows open and keys on the windscreen. Some cars were damaged a

People who receive care in their home and the carers who deliver that care are set to benefit from a parking scheme being trialled by Cornwall Council. The Healthcare Permit Scheme was launched in April as part of Cornwall Council’s Positive Parking Framework. It is designed to help Care Quality Commission accredited carers spend as much time as possible delivering vital care services to the person they care for. “Carers have told us that being able to find a parking space close to

Caerphilly County Borough Council in Gwent, South Wales has taken over responsibility for on-street parking enforcement from the police.Since 8 April a new team of civil enforcement officers has been patrolling the area tackling inconsiderate parking. The council will use its new powers to target unlawful parking on double yellow lines, on streets around schools, at bus stops and ‘No waiting’ areas. In the run-up to the takeover 2,000 warning notices were issued by the CEOs ahead o

With Sir Greg Knight’s Parking Bill now having received Royal Assent, a new era is dawning for the UK parking industry. There is no doubt the forthcoming legislation will help to deliver consistency and fairness in parking services for the benefits of parking operators and motorists alike. But it does not represent a panacea.  The drive to improve standards in any industry or walk of life is not a one-off exercise. It is a mindset and it has to be a progressive process. It’s al

Technology firm Chipside has received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation in recognition of its work in developing systems for the parking sector.The firm delivers digital and app-based parking payment and permit services. Founded in 2003, Chipside is a specialist software development company providing digital ticketing, permitting products and  parking services used by more than half of all local and national government authorities across the UK. With 50 employees and operat

Digital parking and permitting services company Chipside has appointed Leighton Ponting as its new business development manager. With more than three decades of experience in business sales and management, and 15 years involvement in the parking industry, Ponting will drive Chipside’s expansion into new markets. Ponting has previously worked in sales and management for IT and manufacturing companies across the UK, entering the parking sector in 2005. In the parking sector he has worked fo

Alpha Parking has launched a personalised training approach for civil enforcement officers and back office staff. The ‘shadowing and mentoring’ training approach involves trainers from Alpha Parking observing and advising parking personnel while they carry out real world tasks. “Shadowing and mentoring differs from other training because it offers a one-to-one service to provide staff with advice and support,” said Alpha Parking director Penny Winder. “The approach

Videalert has launched two all-electric mobile enforcement vehicles to enable councils to enforce a range of moving traffic, parking and clean air zone contraventions while demonstrating a commitment to reducing emissions. The firm has selected the Renault ZOE as the preferred vehicle for its all-electric mobile enforcement vehicle (MEV) solution, but other brands can be used if required. Each MEV will be equipped with two roof-mounted ANPR cameras and two colour cameras to capture contextual v

Bath and North East Somerset Council is to use of its existing CCTV traffic and parking enforcement platform to enforce its clean air zone (CAZ).New cameras will be integrated with the council’s existing Videalert digital video platform, which is used to enforce a wide range of restrictions including bus lanes, bus gates and permit parking. Bath’s Class C CAZ will give exemptions to private cars while charging higher polluting buses, coaches, HGVs, vans, private hire vehicles and ta

Imaginative systems and solutions on show at Parkex 2019 were flagged up on The Innovation Trail. The 10 companies selected for inclusion on the trail had a chance to pitch the benefits of their systems to a jury panel and visitors alike at a series of hustings held across the three-day event Innovation of the Year QUCITParkPredict ControlParkPredict Control is an all-in-one tool for effective on-street parking enforcement powered by artificial intelligence. It uses machine-learning algorithms

Parking is a subject I am passionate about. It’s an essential service that facilitates the daily journeys we all undertake. Many excellent parking operators play their part for millions of motorists by providing an easy, fair and transparent experience. I am proud to say that I have worked closely with the industry over the past year and government will continue to work closely with all of you as we work on delivering the Parking (Code of Practice) Act. This Act granted government the po

The latest trends and technologies were showcased and debated at Parkex 2019, which took place at Birmingham’s NEC between 2-4 April. The British Parking Association (BPA) used the three days to explore a wide range of topical issues and raise awareness of campaigns such as the Positive Parking Agenda, Halt the Hate and Baywatch. The BPA Parkex Hub hosted a wide range of topical themes, ranging from the importance of data in mobility, the role of parking in clean air zones, the potential

The act of parking a car should be looked at as something distinct from driving, an academic will argue in a Connected Places Catapult lecture being given in London on 12 June. The free talk will be delivered by Karol Kurnicki from the Institute of Advanced Study, Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies at the University of Warwick. “Cars provide us with flexible mobility, freedom, comfort and experience of progress,” said Kurnicki. “But these aspects of automobility are b

German carmaker Audi will be discussing the work it is doing developing self-parking cars at the annual Parking & Property conference. The day will also see Gatwick Airport reveal details of its upcoming trial of a parking robot that will marshal cars in one of its surface car parks.The evolution of the connected, autonomous, shared and electric cars will have a profound impact on the design and operation of car parks. A panel of architects, automotive experts and parking operators will addr

The Scottish Parliament agreed in principle to a new law to implement a nationwide footway parking ban on 4 April. Under current legislation, footway or pavement parking and double parking are not specific offences in Scotland, but section four of the Transport (Scotland) Bill voted contains provisions to prohibit these actions. The Bill replaces current laws on obstruction and pavement parking which are unenforceable. Living Streets Scotland, part of the UK charity for everyday walking has ca

All council owned car parks across the Braintree district of Essex have retained national awards for their safety and accessibility for the sixth consecutive year. Braintree District Council’s 16 car parks have been awarded the Safer Parking Scheme’s Park Mark award following assessments by the British Parking Association (BPA) and police trained assessors on 28 January. The assessors found that the car parks met the scheme’s criteria for CCTV, lighting, signage and cleanlines

CitiPark’s new car park in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, has been awarded the Park Mark by the Safer Parking Scheme. The barrierless and ticketless car park has 140 spaces and is located adjacent to the station. Both underground and overground line access, which makes it popular with commuters travelling in and out of London. Doug Macfarlane, head of car park management at CitiPark, said: “We are delighted to receive the prestigious Park Mark for our Rickmansworth car park. We are

Public sector outsourcing contractor Serco has launched a zero tolerance policy towards any violence, aggression and abuse directed against staff delivering front line local services. The ‘Respect and Protect’ campaign aims to reduce the increasing number of employees on Serco’s Environmental Services contract being subjected to assaults, threats, abusive and insulting behaviour by members of the public. Serco’s employees deliver a range of front line local services acr

Mid Sussex County Council has successfully prosecuted 14 for Blue Badge parking fraud and another 100 people have been issued official warnings. In the latest case, county council enforcement observed a man using a badge that did not belong to him to park on single-yellow lines near his workplace. The man was found guilty by a jury of using a Blue Badge with intent to deceive. He now has a criminal record and has to pay fines and court costs totalling £7,500 – £1,500 in fines

Paul Moorby, chief executive of Chipside, was presented with an OBE at Windsor Castle on 22 March. Moorby was awarded an OBE for services in the New Year Honours list 2019 in recognition of his dedication to continued innovation in the UK parking industry and promoting British technology to governments across the world. A vocal advocate of UK innovation, Moorby has promoted Chipside and UK capabilities in Europe, the Americas and Asia. In February, Moorby attended the Bengal Global Business Sum

Almost one-in-five people would not leave their contact details if they dented another car when parking and no one else had seen them, a study by YourParkingSpace.co.uk reveals. Failing to stop is an offence under the Road Traffic Act, however minor an accident. Motorists are also obliged to give their name and address to anyone else involved, as well as passing on details to insurance companies. Harrison Woods, managing director at online parking portal YourParkingSpace.co.uk, said: “It

The regulation of parking on private land is set to undergo a transformation over the next year following the passing of a new Act of Parliament. The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 will require private parking firms to follow a new code of practice and will see the establishment of a new independent appeals service. The new code of practice and appeals services will supersede those developed by the sector’s parking associations: the British Parking Association (BPA) and the Internat

A lack of available parking facilities and regular parking fines are having a detrimental impact on van drivers and operators, according to research from Mercedes-Benz Vans. Most drivers surveyed felt there is a parking problem in the UK for vans (90%). This is demonstrated by the 56% believing most parking spaces are too small even for cars, with inflexible parking bays (27%), no spots near client drop-off points (46%) and increasing ‘permit holder only’ areas (30%) also playing a

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is asking motorists not to use cash to pay for parking after criminal gangs were discovered using vacuum cleaners to suck coins out of meters. Over the past 12 months, £120,000 literally been sucked out of machines across the borough, as organised gangs use hoovers to steal cash from pay & display terminals. Criminals have also been driving into the machines and using sledgehammers to smash them open, the council said. Kensington and Chelse

A Private Members’ Bill that seeks to reform the regulation of parking on private land looks set to become law after successfully clearing the House of Lords. The Parking (Code of Practice) Bill, which has already passed through the House of Commons, went through the debate and committee stages of the Lords without amendments. It had its third reading in the Lords on 4 March, a procedure known as “order of commitment discharged”. The Parking (Code of Practice) Bill was propos

Local government minister Rishi Sunak has written to the British Parking Association giving his support for the Positive Parking Agenda initiative. The Positive Parking Agenda (PPA) is a national campaign designed to build public confidence in the parking sector. The campaign’s aim is to change perceptions, challenge misconceptions about the parking sector and local government’s role and make the parking experience a better one for all concerned. The PPA was devised in 2017 by a gr

The North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) Joint Committee has set aside £50,000 funding to enable the implementation of a project designed to make parking around schools safer. The 3PR approach created no parking areas around school entrances. 3PR, which represents the three “Parking Rules of Care, Consideration and Caution”, delivers a positive message about school parking and provides advice and guidance to children, parents and carers on safe and considerate parking practi

Car-free zones are set to be trialled at seven Glasgow primary schools in a bid to improve road safety for children. The scheme will see temporary pedestrian areas created outside the seven schools for limited periods in the morning and afternoon to help ensure pupils can arrive and leave school safely. The push for the pilot programme follows a series of concerns such as poor and risky driving outside schools, obstructive parking that forces pupils onto the road as well as the issues created b

Almost 110,000 vehicles were reported stolen in England last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) annual survey of reported crime. The ONS reports that police recorded figures showed an increase in vehicle offences (up 3% to 457,433 offences) for the year ending September 2018. “Vehicle offences recorded by the police have been increasing since the year ending March 2015,” said the ONS. “However, the size of the annual increase is smaller than that repo

Drug dealers in an east London borough are having their cars stopped and removed as part of Tower Hamlets Council’s work with police to clamp down on the sale and supply of drugs. Council officers used CCTV to identify drug dealing activity and alert the Metropolitan Police last month. Dealers that have outstanding car parking fines can return to find their car has been moved to the local car pound. The new approach saw three cars stopped and one removed in one week alone. The CCTV opera

Gwynedd Council is poised to expand its parking enforcement activities at cover car parks belonging to other organisations. The North Wales county, which includes most of Snowdonia National Park, attracts many tourists. Gwynedd’s dispersed rural population is largely dependent on cars to access towns and facilities. Gwynedd Council said it has many years’ experience of decriminalised parking enforcement and there is evidence the service has become increasingly efficient. In 2012, t

A man has been fined over £60,000 for parking an excessive number of vehicles for sale on Green Belt land in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Buckinghamshire. Asrar Ahmed was found guilty of six offences of failure to comply with a planning enforcement notice. The offences relate to activity at the site of Bubbles car wash, trading as Deep Mill Vans, on a site near Great Missenden. In November 2014, Chiltern District Council found Ahmed was in breach of his planning consent by di

A car owner found a pickaxe lodged in the centre of their vehicle’s bonnet after parking it on a street in the village of Llanbradach in South Wales. The damage to the yellow Citroen happened on 5 February. Gwent Police posted a picture of the car on Twitter to appeal for witnesses to come forward. The police said they regard it as an act of criminal damage.

Launched in 2010, ZatPark is a software solution to parking enforcement and management. ZatPark provides end-to-end management of parking charge data from on-street issue to debt recovery and each step in-between, including appeals management. “Our pay-as-you-go model has opened the industry to new operators who previously couldn’t afford the infrastructure to become established,” said David Herbert, ZatPark chief executive. The cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) platfor

Videalert will be demonstrating the latest electric mobile enforcement vehicles at Parkex and Traffex. The parking and traffic enforcement specialist will be showcasing a fully electric car and a fully electric scooter, both of which will shortly be going into service. The multi-purpose vehicles have the latest ONVIF-compliant digital HD cameras and a suite of traffic management and enforcement software applications. Videalert is also expanding the range of services provided at its recently ope

Keltic Clothing’s security and parking department has developed traditional and modern looks for civil enforcement officers in a variety of colours. At Parkex 2019 the company will be showcasing the ‘modern parking uniforms’ look and the wide range of colour options available. “This year we are focussed on ‘parking uniforms for the modern world’,” said David Barry, Keltic’s managing director. “We are having lots of colour on the stand with a

Barbour Logic develops intelligent correspondence technologies. Its Response Master system is used by local authority back offices to answer challenges from motorists who have received a penalty charge notice (PCN). Response Master’s interactive RM Self-Serve platform provides motorists with immediate online responses to their queries. Barbour Logic director Jason Barbour said: “Automated response solutions empower councils to respond to PCN challenges better, faster and smarter. S

TRACE Debt Recovery will be launching a new local authority penalty charge notice (PCN) debt recovery process at Parkex 2019. The new service will build on the company’s experience collecting unpaid parking charge notices issued on private land. TRACE Recovery director Louis Ellis said: “We promote sustainable parking enforcement from the management of parking charge notices through to the collection of unpaid parking charges. With over 30 years of experience in the UK parking indu

Siemens Mobility has received Home Office Type-Approval for its SafeZone II average speed enforcement system, which incorporates the company’s market-leading Sicore II camera. Approval means that evidence from the system is now fully admissible in court for offences under the Road Traffic Offenders Act, 1988. Based on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology, SafeZone II provides speed enforcement between pairs of cameras, mounted either at the side of single or dual lane car

Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London connects local authorities across England and Wales. PATROL’s primary role is to ensure that there is access to and provision for independent adjudication to its 300-plus member authorities for parking and traffic appeals in England and Wales. This is discharged through the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. PATROL also engages with Members of Parliament, government departments and the Transport Select Committee on behalf of its member authorities. We e

Parklets are a concept that developed as a protest by architects in San Francisco against the dominance of the car in urban areas. Their guerilla action spawned the annual PARK(ing) Day event, which sees parklets set up in cities across the world every September. The parklets created in kerbside parking bays by campaigners, designers and communities become social hubs decked out with greenery, games and activities. While PARK(ing) Day lasts one day a year, the parklet does not have to be a tran

As ride-share becomes more popular, councils should replace on-street parking charges with a “transaction fee” for stopping at the kerbside, believes Alastair Evanson, solution director at traffic and transportation software specialists PTV Group. Local authorities should consider the impact on revenues as kerb use shifts from parking to passenger pick-up and drop-off, Evanson told delegates at Future Streets, hosted by Arup Group and organised by Landor LINKS. “Pricing kerb u

To be respected, a parking appeals service needs consistency, independent quality control and substance. As Lord Lucas highlighted during the Second Reading of the Parking (Code of Practice) Bill in the House of Lords in January, effective quality control is a prerequisite for any appeals service. And a recurring theme throughout the parliamentary progress of Sir Greg Knight’s Private Member’s Bill is the need for consistency and fairness in parking practices and appeals. I really c

The smartphone has transformed the way in which we live, enhancing our ability to access information and services on the move. This mobile connectivity has been embraced by service providers, especially in the parking sector, with public and private sector parking operators across the UK now offering cashless parking via phones. However, there are still areas of Britain where poor signal coverage has proven to a barrier to adoption of mobile parking. This was the case in Argyll & Bute on th

Vehicles, highways, urban centres and public transport systems are evolving – fast. In fact, the pace of change is accelerating, and UK councils have the challenge to keep up. Councils face pressure from multiple fronts. On one side, they need to manage their everyday kerbside management challenges: ensuring fair and consistent enforcement that promotes the safe and expedient movement of traffic whilst also promoting and encouraging easy cashless payments for parking. And at the other end

Contemporary and 1960s car parks, school streets schemes, charity fundraisers, cycle hubs and digital payment systems make up the eclectic list winners at the British Parking Awards 2019. The British Parking Awards have been presented annually by Parking Review magazine since 2002, and the awards ceremony organised by Landor LINKS is the social highlight of the parking calendar.The ceremony was compered by the comedian Shappi Khorsandi, who revealed that in being evicted first on I’m a Cel

The Fitzpark project involved the transformation of a loading bay on an urban London street into a temporary seating area, or parklet, for local residents, businesses and visitors to enjoy. The parklet on Windmill Street was jointly funded by the Invest in Arup initiative, The Fitzrovia Partnership and Clean Air Better Business (CABB) as well as from the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Fund. The parklet was in place for six months in 2017-18 and during a six-week period before and after in

Over 160 people gathered in Manchester for the Traffic + Parking conference. Traffic + Parking was devised by Parking Review, Landor LINKS and programme partner PATROL to build on the legacy of the long-running Parking World event. The day opened with PATROL’s chair Cllr Jamie Macrae and director Louise Hutchinson exploring the wide range of rules and regulations for which local authority parking and traffic teams are now responsible. The range of traffic initiatives is increasing, with l

An online consultation platform that enables residents to suggest and vote on topics of discussion has been used by the London Borough of Newham to gauge opinions on future parking policy. During January and February Newham held a borough-wide conversation called Our Streets, Transport and Parking. The east London council asked local people to comment on matters relating to roads and the public realm via an interactive digital survey and events across the borough. The conversations took place

People eligible for Blue Badges can apply in a fraction of the previous time, thanks to a new online service launched by the Department for Transport (DfT). The Blue Badge scheme allows disabled people to park closer to their destination than other drivers, as they are less able to take public transport or walk long distances. The new DfT service allows applicants to complete the entire process without sending their supporting documents in the post. Instead, people can upload documents, includ

An extension to a multi-storey car park in Amersham has received the Park Mark award for safety and recognised for its high standards of design. The Buckinghamshire town had been experiencing parking stress for a number of years. A survey by Chiltern District Council showed that to accommodate the rising number of users and to continue to support the vitality of the town, an additional 339 to 520 spaces would be required. The council decided to extend the Amersham multi-storey car park, which i

Tameside Council teamed with Greater Manchester Police to organise a road safety week of events at three local schools featuring ‘Junior PCSOs’ giving errant parkers warning tickets, school talks and an Arts Award logbook on road safety. A survey of local head teachers revealed concerns over parents parking across entrances, on footways, on ‘Keep clear’ markings and obstructing crossing points. Parking with engines running also increases pollution and health problems. Ru

Complaints about problem parking are mounting in an area of South Wales where civil parking enforcement (CPE) is in the pipeline. As Parking Review reported last year, Gwent Police informed five local authorities of its withdrawal of traffic wardens. All five councils resolved to apply for CPE powers and to use the established penalty charge notice (PCN) processing system of nearby Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council as a regional hub. However, the first CPE activity in the Gwent Police are

A man was ordered to pay a fine and court costs by Brighton Magistrates Court after CCTV caught him lodging a fake injury claim against Brighton & Hove Buses, in a case brought by Sussex Police. On 5 November 2017, a bus lightly clipped a parked black Volkswagen Golf outside Whitehawk Co-Op on Whitehawk Rd. The bus driver immediately pulled over. The car owner, 23-year-old Rudwick, later sent an injury claim to B&H Buses, claiming he suffered upper body, neck and back injuries as a res

Any move to cap private parking charges could have a profound impact on the interests of landowners and the future viability of parking services in our towns and cities. As chief executive of the International Parking Community (IPC) accredited trade association, I am urging major retailers, landowners and estate managers to raise their concerns to ensure the eleventh hour suggestion by a number of MPs is not included within a new unified code of practice for the private parking industry. Such s

Local authorities are invited to submit their Annual Reports to the PATROL PARC (Parking Annual Reports by Councils) Awards for 2017/18. PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London) is accepting reports from local authorities until Thursday 28 February 2019, with all shortlisted authorities invited to a reception at the House of Commons on 16 July. Louise Hutchison, director of PATROL, says: “Civil enforcement continues to be a headline opportunity for both local and national m

Pupils at Ysgol Llanllyfni in Gwynedd have made signs and delivered letters to neighbouring houses warning drivers about how flouting parking rules risks their safety. Head teacher Geraint Jones said pupils are encouraged to walk to school for their health and the environment. However, Jones is worried irresponsible parking means children cannot see oncoming traffic. “When they get to the road leading up to the school it can be dangerous for them to cross because there are cars parked wh

Blackburn with Darwen Council has installed CCTV cameras to tackle dangerous parking at a key route into the town.Cameras from Videalert have been installed on the A678 at Copy Nook on the Furthergate Link Road, a route that has been widened under the Pennine Reach Scheme to improve the flow of traffic and buses between Hyndburn, Blackburn and Darwen. The cameras have been sited on a ‘red route’ which was introduced in September 2017 to enforce ‘no stopping or loading’ in

Paul Sharpe has become the managing director of civil enforcement agency Newlyn. Following an introductory period prior to Christmas, he joins the Newlyn team in the company’s 20th year of operation. Sharpe has worked within the enforcement industry since 1985, firstly with John Crilley and Son and latterly with Equita, where he held the position of sales and marketing director. Sharpe will be based at Newyln’s Northampton office. “I am delighted to join the team at Newlyn,&

PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations outside London) is pleased to once again partner with Landor LINKS and Parking Review magazine in the creation of the Traffic and Parking 2019 event, which takes place in Manchester on 22 January. The move to focus on both traffic and parking with this year's event reflects the increasing challenges facing local authorities and motorists in the traffic management landscape. PATROL was keen to be involved in the event to help guide and enrich the conferen

Parking is a dynamic sector and it’s changing more rapidly than at any time in our association’s 50-year history. In just two years it is predicted that over one million electric vehicles will be on our roads and the technology we use to manage car parks is evolving at a fast pace. As motorists become more familiar with the many different ways of searching, booking and paying for parking, it’s essential we understand their changing preferences and use the full range of technolo

The British Parking Association (BPA) said the latest annual report from POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals) demonstrates how an independent appeals service can deliver for both the motorist and the parking operator. The BPA launched POPLA in 2012 as the first independent appeal service for tickets issued on private land, in England and Wales. The association is working on extending POPLA into Scotland and Northern Ireland allowing motorists access to free independent appeals and hopes to de

Parking Review is the leading source of independent news for the on-street and off-street parking sectors. Every month it looks at the management, enforcement, design and business of parking. Essential readingThe magazine and its online coverage is an essential read for anyone working in the parking and highways management sectors, as well as for facilities managers and property owners running car parks serving airports, shopping centres, supermarkets, hospitals and mixed-use developments. 2019

A new cyber security standard for developing self-driving car technology was released by the British Standards Institute (BSI) on 19 December 2018. Funding by the Department for Transport has enabled the BSI to develop the guidance to set a marker for those developing self-driving car technology. The institute worked with academics and experts from businesses in the car industry including Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Bentley, as well as the National Cyber Security Centre. The UK market for conn

Traffic and parking management professionals will be gathering in Manchester during January to discuss issues such as the effective management of the kerbside, preparing Clean Air Zones, creating safer school streets, regulating pavement parking and the case for workplace parking levies. The Traffic + Parking conference on 22 January 2019 will be a forum in which parking and traffic management professionals from both the public and private sectors can gather to discuss the operational issues th

French parking company Indigo has sold its European subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia to Spain’s Saba Infraestructuras. The sale reflects Indigo’s strategy to focus on priority markets in which it holds a leading position or sees opportunity to become a major operator. Saba, a subsidiary of CriteriaCaixa group, has acquired all shares of Indigo’s companies in the UK, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The transaction became effective on 11 Decembe

The British Parking Awards 2019 recognises excellence in management, design and innovation in both the on-street and off-street parking sector. To give entrants some extra time refine submissions, the deadline for sending in entry packs has been extended to Thursday 10 January. The diverse nature of the parking sector means that the competition has categories that cover the design and upkeep of buildings, as well as ground-breaking policies, excellent services and innovative technology.&nb

Transport for London (TfL) and the London Fire Brigade (LFB) are reminding motorists not to stop in yellow box junctions. Stopping in these boxes is illegal and can cost the LFB vital time responding to emergencies.  In 2017/18, 123,071 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued to motorists across London for stopping in yellow box junctions. The top locations for PCNs were outside fire stations, with 16,707 motorists illegally stopping outside Wandsworth Fire Station and 12,071 outside Hom

The North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) has launched a parking scheme to encourage parents not to drop their children at the front gates of schools.  The Stanway Fiveways Primary School, in Colchester and the Holland Park Primary School in Clacton-on-Sea have created no parking zones, known as a ‘3PR Zone’, outside its entrance to educate parents and pupils about considerate parking practices. 3PR, which represents the three “Parking Rules of Care, Consideration and C

The Independent Appeals Service (IAS) was created to adjudicate on disputes between parking operators and consumers within the UK parking services industry. It listens to appeals involving parking charge notices issued by members of the International Parking Community (IPC). All the IAS’s adjudicators are lawyers with at least five years’ experience. The service is headed by lead adjudicator Bryn Holloway, a retired Crown Court judge. Holloway’s third annual report shows that

The International Parking Community (IPC) is seeking to run an adjudication service that decide appeals against penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued by local authorities. The IPC currently administers the Independent Appeals Service (IAS), which is an adjudication body for motorists seeking redress where a parking notice has been issued by a parking operator. The IPC’s chief executive Will Hurley signalled an interest in running appeals in the public sector sphere at his association&rsquo

The International Parking Community (IPC) has unveiled a new team structure to support its members and deliver a number of new initiatives. Two new management roles have been created at the accredited trade association’s head office in Macclesfield to develop its membership and enhance its online platforms.  Vicky Jarrett, the IPC’s former compliance officer, has broadened her role and assumed new responsibilities as compliance manager. A new compliance officer will also be joi

The Environment and Traffic Adjudicators (ETA) heard over 36,000 appeals against penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued for breaches of parking and moving traffic regulations in 2017-2018. The adjudicators’ annual report for 2017-2018 reveals that while there was a reduction in parking appeals, there was a rise in moving traffic appeals.  In her forward to the report, chief adjudicator Caroline Hamilton suggests: “This trend may reflect a move to a focus on driver and pedestrian

The Environment and Traffic Adjudicators (ETA) is the independent appeals tribunal provided under the terms of the Traffic Management Act 2004. They determine civil penalty appeals relating to tickets issued by the London enforcement authorities. Each year the ETA presents a report to the statutory joint committee formed by representatives from the London boroughs, City of London Corporation and Transport for London (TfL). The purpose of the annual report is to provide the committee and the pub

The theft of Blue Badges used by disabled motorists in England has risen by 45% in the past 12 months and is up sixfold since 2013, the Local Government Association (LGA) reports. The number of people caught abusing the scheme has more than doubled, with 1,215 successful council prosecutions in 2018, up from 535 in 2014. More than two million disabled people use Blue Badges for parking in pay & display bays and for up to three hours on yellow lines. In London, badge holders are exempt from

Road traffic regulations are normally enforced by police, but declining officer numbers and the difficulty of catching offenders has resulted in little or no enforcement. Local authorities are calling for a more consistent approach to enforcing moving traffic regulations. While many are able to detect and deter unauthorised parking and driving in bus lanes, the picture on regulations covering box junctions and banned turns is inconsistent. Under the Traffic Management Act 2004 local authorities

Increased enforcement around schools has led to a significant increase in penalty charge notice (PCN) challenges for the London Borough of Hackney’s correspondence team. Hackney is one of the capital’s three most densely populated boroughs. It is a relatively young borough, with a quarter of the population under the age of 20 and a fifth of residents between 20 and 29 years of age. Air quality and road safety issues around many of the borough’s 78 schools have been a major cau

Local authority parking teams across the UK were among the local authority services that took to Twitter on 20 November for the seventh annual #OurDay social media marathon. The 24-hour campaign is organised by the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 370 councils in England and Wales. The LGA encouraged councillors and local authority staff to take a couple of minutes out of their day to explain how they keep their communities running as part of the live tweetathon by using the

Croydon’s enforcement pilot scheme, developed to restrict parking and create safe pedestrian zones outside three schools in Croydon, has now been made permanent.  The council uses an ANPR system that has been designed to operate automatically in an unattended capacity during the morning and afternoon school runs.  Safety concerns had been raised by the public and the schools that led to the council trialling an experimental enforcement scheme outside three schools. The council

Leicester City Council is investing £800,000 to tackle careless parking and congestion and improve school road safety. This is the latest phase of the council’s Parking Improvement Programme, which will take place up to March 2020, and will focus on better managing, improving and enforcing car parking requirements across Leicester. The programme will focus on improving road safety outside schools, improving car parking on housing estates, tackling problematic pavement parking, expl

Legislation that will see a dramatic overhaul of how parking on private land is regulated and enforced took a step closer to becoming law when the Parking (Code of Practice) Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons on 13 November. It received its first reading in the House of Lords on 26 November and is expected to gain Royal Assent by Easter.  The Bill sets out a legislative framework for a single standard-setting body, single code of practice and a single independent appeals

The International Parking Community used its annual conference to launch its ‘Raising the Bar’ manifesto. The document sets out the organisation’s ambition to push for better parking practices and an improved parking experience to address the negativity, distrust and cynicism felt by some of the motoring public. In his opening address at the conference, IPC chief executive Will Hurley told the 200 delegates at the Hilton Double Tree in Milton Keynes: “We’ve injected

The roads outside four primary schools in the Royal Borough of Greenwich will close to traffic in the mornings and afternoons during term times. The School Streets initiative is designed to cut pollution and make it safer and easier for children to walk and cycle to school. The stretch of roads outside school gates will become pedestrian and cycle only zones at 8am to 9.30am and 3pm to 4pm during term time. The schools and the council will talk to parents and residents about the scheme over t

Enforcement officers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich played a key role in an anti-car theft operation in which over 30 vehicles were seized. The officers led Operation Stop-It with colleagues from Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), the Environment Agency, Immigration Officers and colleagues from the Metropolitan Police. The officers seized 31 vehicles at New Lyndenburg Industrial Estate in Charlton, including a Range Rover valued at over £10,000, for driving with false numbe

Two parking partnerships from Essex have embarked on a programme of improvements to their traffic regulations. The North and South Essex Parking Partnerships (NEPP and SEPP) are working with software solutions provider Buchanan Computing to create an accessible and interactive map-based inventory of all parking restrictions, lines and signage.  The £250,000 project includes a full roadside survey by consultant Buchanan Order Management of every on-street line, sign and parking area i

Famous as a celebrity hang-out for the cast of Last of the Summer Wine, Huddersfield Central Lodge Hotel has been awarded a Park Mark for the 12th year running. The lodge has one car park with 50 spaces that caters for hotel guests, local businesses and occasional parkers. The lodge’s Johnny Marsden said: “In the 12 years since the award was originally given we have never had a car stolen from our car park.” A Park Mark is awarded to parking facilities that pass a rigorous ri

A car park operated by Marriott’s in the Lincolnshire town of Retford has achieved both the Park Mark under the Safer Parking and the Disabled Parking Accreditation. Operator Richard Marriott said: “We have sought to create an excellent car park that will be of benefit to local residents as well as commuters from Retford train station.” Peter Gravells, the British Parking Association area manager, said: “That this new car park has achieved the awards is a fantastic achi

The Premier Parking Solutions car park in Stuart Road, Plymouth, has achieved the Park Mark Safer Parking Award. The award was presented to Premier Parking Solutions by Inspector Simon Hardwick, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary’s Local Policing and Partnership Unit, and Chief Inspector Rob Moony the officer in charge of Local Policing and Partnership. Premier Parking Solutions and the landowner have put in place measures that help to deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour to re

Canterbury City Council sees the digitalisation of services as a path to delivering a better and more responsive service to residents, businesses and visitors. The transformation of parking permits has been a pathfinder exercise that has set the standard for future projects across the Kent council.  Canterbury launched a dedicated digital transformation team in 2016 in a bid to explore the potential for simplifying customer transactions and improving customer service levels. The team has d

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council has taken delivery of a new CCTV enforcement vehicle, which will be used to enforce school locations where illegal parking on the yellow ‘keep clears’ has been identified as putting children’s lives in danger.  The mobile enforcement vehicle (MEV), supplied by Videalert, has an unattended operating capability.  Cllr Bob Norton, Redcar & Cleveland cabinet member for economic growth and highways, said: “We know that mea

Videalert has expanded its software support team with two key appointments. Patrick Coyle has been appointed as senior developer. He will be responsible for supporting and developing the entire Videalert ecosystem. He joins direct from Travis Perkins where he was a solution architect. Prior to this, he was development manager at Civica Education, where he was responsible for the development and infrastructure of a finance solution used by schools, colleges and businesses. Daniel Odesanya has b

Paul Stock has joined Imperial as software development manager. Stock, who has 20 years experience in software development, cyber security and cloud-based technologies, will take responsibility for Imperial’s 14-strong programming and development team, which is based at the company’s head office in Bristol.  Having graduated in Computer Science, Stock has focussed exclusively on the development of software and cloud solutions for companies including Logica CMG, Evolved Intellig

The work of local authority and private sector parking professionals in supporting people with disabilities have been supporting by Disabled Motoring UK (DMUK) at its annual awards. DMUK is a national campaigning charity for disabled drivers, passengers and Blue Badge holders. It works with government and businesses to improve parking, refuelling and access provision for disabled people, so that they can access the goods and services that they need. DMUK also campaigns for and supports scooter a

Like all relationships, those that work best are the ones where everybody wants to them to work. Most of us have experienced relationships, either personal or in business, that we haven’t really wanted to be involved in. Partnerships generally work best when there is a common goal or objective and all parties benefit from its success. From a local authority’s point of view, joining together with neighbouring authorities to carry out parking management and enforcement makes a lot of s

Parking management undertaken by councils is an “essential public service” that benefits London’s economy while helping to deal with traffic, improve air quality and ensure better road safety, states a report commissioned by London Councils.  The London boroughs association commissioned consultant Integrated Transport Planning (ITP) to evaluate the cumulative impact of parking management measures such as bays, yellow lines and parking zones.  Benefits of Parking Man

Bristol City Council has suggested introducing a workplace parking levy or a congestion charge to fund significant investments in public transport infrastructure. The prospect of new levies on motorists is raised in the Bristol Transport Strategy, which sets out how the city’s council plans to tackle challenges affecting journeys such as traffic congestion, growth in housing and jobs, inequality and health problems caused by inactivity and air pollution. A Congestion Task Group has helped

A civil enforcement officer was dragged off his moped and assaulted by a gang of youths on a Birmingham street. The attack on CEO Charlie Weston, who works for Birmingham City Council’s contractor NSL, took place in the Alum Rock area of the city on 14 September. Video footage of the assault shows a group of young men abusing and stamping on the CEO, including kicking him in the throat and head.  Following the attack, Weston spent four hours at hospital but was back at work the next

West Midlands Police uncovered two ‘chop shops’ in which stolen cars are dismantled in the space of an hour last month. Seven people were arrested by West Midlands Police in raids on 26 September. The units in Minerva Lane, Wolverhampton and Oak Lane, Kingswinford were found either side of midday by officers investigating recent car thefts. A 21-year-old man was arrested from a BMW X5 − one of five stolen from a Bilston car yard on 23 September − at the Minerva Lane sit

Parking spaces designated for “Drug dealers only” appeared on an east London street last month as residents sought to highlight drug crime. Locals have been concerned about open drug dealing in the area so they commissioned a group of artists called the Columbia Road Cartel to launch the campaign on Sunday 17 September. Penny Creed, vice-chair of the Columbia Road Tenants and Residents’ Association said: “Eight to 10 users congregate on a street waiting for dealers to c

A woman who confronted a suspected thief took his photo as he was sitting in her stolen car in Bournemouth. On 1 September her silver Ford Fiesta had been stolen in a burglary while visiting a friend’s house the night before.  The following day she spotted the car parked just two streets away in Lowther Road, Bournemouth. The woman confronted the two men sitting in her car and managed to take a photo of one before they ran off. Dorset Police is appealing for anyone who recognises

Parents in Tower Hamlets can ask for temporary street closures Schools in east London will be able to pilot streets closures to cars for a few hours a day where parents are concerned about their children’s health. Tower Hamlets Council is also going to enable ‘Play Streets’, where some roads are closed off at weekends at a community’s request. This is part of #Breathe Clean, a campaign to reduce air pollution in Tower Hamlets, introduced in March 2018.  John Biggs,

New research from YouGov released to mark the start of International Walk to School Monhas found the Top 10 things British parents of 4 to 11-year-olds find most annoying about the school run. Traffic congestion and pavement parking top the list of things that annoy parents about the school run, according to research conducted for Living Streets, the charity behind the Walk to School campaign,  The YouGov survey of parents of 4 to 11 year olds was released on 1 October to mark the start of

Jade Neville has become parking services manager for OCS Group in Milton Keynes. Her new role involves the running and maintenance of parking enforcement provision in the Centre:MK shopping centre. The Milton Keynes role is her latest appointment within facilities management specialist OCS Group. She joined the group’s Legion Parking operation last year after a decade with APCOA Parking. She received the Front Line trophy at the British Parking Awards 2014 in recognition of her work as A

Nigel Coltman has been appointed new chief executive of Smart Parking Technology in the UK. Coltman joins the Australian-based company from outsourcing contractor NSL.  Coltman will be responsible for implementing Smart Parking’s UK growth strategy. He will work with senior management across the global operation, as well as overseeing the development of existing and new business in both the UK services and technology divisions. Smart Parking’s latest annual report reveals the

Cycling duo raise £40k for air ambulance and fight against motor neurone disease Tim Daniels, sales and marketing director of Videalert, and his friend Rob Sanderson, have raised over £40,000 for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) and the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association.  On 26 August 2013, the HIOWAA Critical Care Team was called to a cycling accident involving Daniels in Owslebury, near Winchester. Daniels had been out on a bike ride with friends

Civil enforcement agency JBW Group has acquired Phoenix Commercial Collections. JBW fully acquired the shares of Phoenix with funding provided by its Japanese-based parent company Outsourcing Inc. Phoenix will continue to be managed separately to JBW and will retain its brand and management team, led by managing director, Paul Caddy. “This is an exciting market development with the combined business now representing the second largest service provider within the UK enforcement sector and

Many car parks have a mix of users, comprising the public, contract customers and permit holders. Parking payment and access control systems can now be configured to distinguish between different user groups using increasingly nuanced algorithms. Cheshire West & Chester Council wanted to find a way of accommodating visitors to the Delamare Street car park in the city that serves both the general public and patients and visitors to four doctor’s surgeries and a sexual health clinic.&nb

Car parks are a vital element of shopping centres, but how does parking fit into the business of retail? Insights into the running costs, tariffs, profitability and impact of technology on retail parking is provided by property services company JLL, which has just published its latest shopping centre car park survey. The UK Shopping Centre Car Parks report was compiled jointly by JLL’s retail management and automotive teams, which collated and analysed the performance of 62 shopping centre

While environmental issues do not rank high in the overall list of motorists’ major concerns, a large number are increasingly worried about the impact of vehicles on local air quality, according to the RAC Report on Motoring 2018. Only 12% of the 1,800 drivers interviewed said the environmental impact of motoring is a top-four concern this year, although this is up from 9% in 2017. However, 44% said they are more concerned about the impact of vehicles on local air quality than they were 12

Drivers are worried about the condition of the UK’s roads, the rising cost of fuel, increases in resident parking fees and the prospect of surcharges for using diesel vehicles within Clean Air Zones. However, despite such concerns, use of the car has risen significantly over the past year. These are among the findings of the RAC Report on Motoring 2018. The RAC report, now in its 30th year, provides a picture of drivers’ attitudes and opinions on topics such as the role the car plays

Parking in the United States has always lagged many, many years behind Europe for many reasons. One is that Americans do not like a lot of change. That is all about to change because we are living in an era of disruption. What does disruption look like from the United States’ perspective? Disruption with regard to parking and mobility has come from the outside. Indeed, it is rare that an industry gets disrupted from the inside out.  Uber and Lyft have completely disrupted the taxi in

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was a prominent issue for many in the parking sector earlier this year. After the frenetic (and sometimes frantic!) preparations for the brave new world of GDPR, most parking operators appear to have taken the new data protection legislation in their stride. It was reassuring to see the enthusiastic engagement and high attendance of operators at the nationwide series of training courses run by the International Parking Community (IPC) to help maximis

Videalert has launched a new generation of mobile automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera technology for use with mobile enforcement vehicles (MEVs). The high-definition (HD) camera will deliver enhanced capture rates and increase productivity in parking and traffic management applications.  Videalert said the 2 megapixel camera utilises Sony DSP technology for noise reduction and infra-red sensitivity to capture images of reflective number plates at distances of up to 40 metres.

Transport for West Midlands has introduced new video surveillance technology across stations and car parks to keep passengers and their cars safe. The video surveillance system is used to monitor activity at over 50 railway stations, 11 bus stations, three Midland Metro park & ride sites and the main No.11 bus route around Birmingham. The project has seen around 850 Wisenet cameras installed by Total Integrated Solutions (TIS) on behalf of Transport for West Midlands, which was set up by th

Ford, Uber and Lyft will work together to develop a universal data standard for real-time kerb demand and availability. The car-maker and ride-share companies will work with SharedStreets, Bloomberg’s ‘open transport partnership’, to develop a data platform that will make it easier for the private sector to work with cities around the world and leverage data to improve urban mobility.  The agreement seeks to provide a common standard for sharing data across all cities, wh

Mobile payments specialist Passport has appointed Adam Warnes to head up its UK operations. Warnes was previously head of parking at Westminster City Council. Passport is a US-based company whose product lines span parking payment, parking enforcement, and permit management. It is also active in public transport and road tolling. Its new office will be run by Adam Warnes, who is the newly apppinted vice president of UK operations. Warnes worked at Westminster for over five years, fulfilling a

Over half of UK local authorities have parking problem areas and a third are experiencing an increase in illegal parking, according to a survey conducted for mobile payments specialist Passport. The sector review, carried out by Passport in partnership with survey VIGA, was designed to get a better understanding of the pressures faced by local authorities. It also reveals concerns over the impact of reduced local authority budgets and that new mobility modes such as ride-sharing and dockless cyc

The 2019 edition of the British Parking Awards is up and running. Now in its 18th year, the competition encourages both public and private sector organisations to nominate people and projects that represent the best in parking management, design and innovation. The awards encompass both the on-street and off-street sides of the parking sector. The diverse nature of the parking sector means that the competition has categories that cover the design and upkeep of buildings, as well as ground-break

Penguin Cruise Parking, which provides a park & ride service for holiday-makers sailing from Southampton docks, has received a Park Mark under the Safer Parking Scheme. Penguin Cruise Parking’s operation is based at the Marchwood Industrial Estate. Helen Cator, managing director of Penguin Parking, said: “As well as looking for great value, many passengers have told us they check to see if their chosen car park is Park Mark awarded before they book. It means something to them to

The story of a Jerome Rogers, a 20-year-old man who committed suicide after the escalation of debts associated with two traffic fines, has been dramatised. Killed By My Debt is the latest addition to BBC3’s series of one-off factual dramas that has also included Murdered By My Boyfriend and Murdered For Being Different. The new drama explores the impact of zero hours contracts and the working of the bailiff industry.  In January 2015, when Rogers was 19, he started working as a motor

A growing number of property owners are turning to parking management companies to ensure that the spaces they provide for customers, residents and employees are not abused. The front end of parking management schemes are signs setting out the terms and conditions for using a site, as well as consequences of ignoring these rules. The effectiveness of a parking management regime largely depends on site users believing that parking charge notices (PCNs) issued for abuse of the rules will be follow

The UK has been experiencing a heatwave this summer, and there is every sign that the hot weather will last into autumn. A heatwave was officially declared on 22 June and the hot weather lasted through June, July and August. On 6 August the Met Office warned that the warmer than average temperatures could last until October. The record-breaking temperatures have boosted tourism but have also made life difficult, as a widespread drought has resulted in hosepipe bans, crop failures and a number of

Solihull Council in the West Midlands has adopted a pair of sister software systems that have helped it simplify the way it deals with challenges to parking and bus lane fines. The use of correspondence and interactive public information platforms developed by Barbour Logic has enabled the council’s in-house parking team to manage an increase in challenges. The council’s contactor, NSL, fields 24 civil enforcement officers, who cover all on-street parking, as well as the 4,500 spaces

Parking Control Management (PCM) specialises in running parking schemes for residential and commercial sites and restricted parking areas. It has adopted an openly tough approach to ensuring compliance with the parking requirements of its clients. This approach, believes PCM, has proved particularly effective in densely populated metropolitan areas, where only authorised users and permit holders have access to limited parking facilities.  The company is currently consolidating its resident

As the Parking (Code of Practice) Bill continues to proceed through the parliamentary process, the industry is moving inexorably towards a single code of practice, a move wholeheartedly endorsed by both the International Parking Community (IPC) and the British Parking Association (BPA).  Both Accredited Trade Associations are now in close discussion as steps are taken to create a unified code of practice and submissions are invited following the Bill being committed to Public Bill Committe

The House of Commons Library has produced a briefing paper for MPs on the operation of disabled parking policy in England. It has been written by Louise Butcher, senior policy researcher at the House of Commons Library, who has also produced a briefing paper for MPs on the operation of disabled parking policy in England. Blue Badges and parking for disabled people in England focusses on the permit scheme but also includes information on the provision of parking bays and off-street parking for di

A digest of government policies on public and private parking has been published by the House of Commons Library, which provides research, analysis and information services for MPs and their staff.  Two briefing documents on parking have been produced for MPs, one on parking policy and another on the operation of the Blue Badge scheme (see page 49). Both briefings have been authored by Louise Butcher, senior researcher at the House of Commons Library. Parking Policy in England summarises:

Tower Hamlets Council is now issuing fines to drivers who leave their engine running when they are parked. The penalty is initially £20 but rises to £40 if it is not paid in 28 days. The new policy is part of the council’s #BreatheClean campaign, which aims to reduce air pollution across the borough. It will particularly focus on drivers who idle outside schools. The council said more than 50% of pollution that damages health comes from cars and other vehicles and 7.4% of all d

Twenty charities and organisations, along with almost 17,000 members of the public, have urged the government to outlaw dangerous pavement parking. In a letter, Guide Dogs and Living Streets called on the government to take urgent action exactly 1,000 days after ministers first promised to tackle the problem of unsafe pavement parking. The letter, signed by groups representing people with disabilities, older people and a wide-range of road users, challenges the government for repeatedly stalling

InaParc is working with three other technology companies to offer an integrated management solution that connects payment terminals, automatic number plate reading camera systems and cashless transaction services. InaParc is integrating payment terminals produced by Hectronic GmbH with ANPR enforcement systems produced by ZatPark, a software as a service provider.  These systems are being married with InaParc’s latest products, which have been developed in partnership with cashless

Videalert sponsored a team taking part in a 700-mile bike ride from Caen to Cannes in France in aid of two UK charities: the Hampshire & IOW Air Ambulance and the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The aim is to raise £40,000 that will shared equally between both charities.  Nearly five years ago Tim Daniels, Videalert’s sales director, had a major cycling accident and owes his life to the Hampshire & IOW Air Ambulance. Since then he has dedicated a lot of time to rais

Videalert has opened a new mobile enforcement vehicle (MEV) engineering hub in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. The facility has a fully equipped workshop for fitting out and refurbishing MEVs for the company’s customer base. Videalert’s chief executive Dave Richmond said: “This new facility will enable us to meet the growing need for multi-purpose vehicles, both cars and bikes, with the flexibility to be used for a wide range of parking and traffic management applications. It also repr

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is seeking a private sector partner to upgrade and expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging point infrastructure. The contract will be worth £58m over five years.  The transport body said it wishes to procure an infrastructure operation and maintenance agreement for the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle (GMEV) programme. The deadline for expressions of interest is 24 September. The contract is set to commence on 5 April 2019. The GMEV EVCI

On-street parking charges based on a vehicle’s emissions levels have been introduced in the City of London. On 20 August charges will increase for polluting vehicles low and and dropped for zero emission capable vehicles.  The initiative is designed to improve air quality and reduce nitrogen oxides and particulates by encouraging motorists to consider using cleaner vehicles. The on-street parking tariff in the Square Mile was previously £1.20 for every 15 minutes. Drivers of e

With 34,000 students and a staff of 8,000, the University of Leeds is one of the largest centres of higher education in the UK and the third largest employer in the city. Covering a square mile and just a ten minutes walk from the city centre, the university campus is located next to Leeds General Infirmary. All the university’s facilities are readily accessible from the university due to the central location of the campus, which is served by cycle routes and public transport services. On

On 29 July the Department for Transport (DfT) released its Blue Badge consultation: summary of responses and government response. This followed a public consultation about eligibility issues in relation to the Blue Badge (Disabled Parking) Scheme particularly with regards to non-visible disabilities. The consultation received a total of 6,349 responses from members of the public, local authorities, groups representing disabled people and other organisations including People’s Parking.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has set out its Inclusive Transport Strategy (ITS), which aims to improve accessibility for disabled people across the UK’s transport network. It is hoped that the measures set out in the strategy will make travel fully accessible and inclusive for disabled passengers by 2030. This strategy was produced following the Accessibility Action Plan (AAP) consultation, which received over 1,000 responses from disabled people and passenger groups. In parallel to

People with hidden disabilities, including autism and mental health conditions will be given access to Blue Badges, the Department for Transport has confirmed. The Blue Badge scheme already means those with physical disabilities can park closer to their destination than other drivers, as they are less able to take public transport or walk longer distances. This will now be extended to those with less visible conditions early next year. The changes follow an 8-week consultation and are being bi

It is a sad fact that violence towards civil enforcement officers (CEOs) and front line staff increases just after media frenzies such as the one between an ambulance driver and front line staff. It is important to step back and evaluate the situation calmly. The British Parking Association continues to seek better protection and respect for people delivering parking services and campaigns for a reduction in abuse and malicious behaviour towards civil enforcement officers (CEOs) and other parki

Operator Total Car Parks is urging parking machine manufacturers to create pay & display terminals that are better able to deter criminal activity. Essy Eslamian, managing director of Total Car Parks, spoke out after a P&D machine in Ipswich was twice targeted by thieves in two months.  Eslamian wants manufacturers to revise the design of machines to make it harder for criminals to break-in and steal the cash boxes inside. “Every car park operator I know has stories about lo

More than half of the UK’s biggest airports have raised fees for drivers parking to pick up friends or family members this summer, analysis by the RAC has found. Thirteen airports have increased their pick-up parking prices. London Luton has raised its prices by more than any other airport this year.  It now costs an initial £8 to park for of up to 30 minutes at Luton, which is £1 more than in 2017 when the minimum permitted stay was longer at 40 minutes. The airport rec

A man has been ordered by court to pay more than £6,561 after he admitted using an expired disabled Blue Badge belonging to someone else. Richard Wellesley-Cole appeared at Croydon Crown Court on 4 July where he admitted five counts of breaching Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, Wellesley-Cole, 54, displayed the Blue Badge in his £120,000 Porsche when he parked at two sites in Croydon. He was sentenced to pay costs of £5,061, fined £1,500 for breaching a suspended senten

Devon County Council was named overall winner of the PARC (Parking Annual Reports by Councils) Awards at a ceremony held the Houses of Parliament. The awards, launched by Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London (PATROL) in 2009, promote and share best practice among councils in the production of parking annual reports. The competition recognises local authorities that have “articulated and communicated on parking enforcement in their area in a compelling, well-structured way”

Used car supermarket The Car People asked drivers to submit pictures of the angriest, funniest and most ludicrous notes that has been left on their car or that they have left for someone else. The winner and finalists have been revealed, with entries ranging from the funny to the offensive. Notes have been left because of bad parking, blocking driveways and even as a response to a previous note. The winner was Pippa Brown, from Newcastle received the note after parking too far away from the ke

Barry Francis has been appointed as the London Borough of Redbridge’s operational director of civic pride, a role that encompasses parking. He joins Redbridge from parking contractor NSL, where he has been director of local government accounts for the past two years. Francis started his parking career as an attendant at NCP in 2003, before taking on administrative roles with the operator and Brighton & Hove City Council before moving into management capacities at the London Borough o

Tony Segdwick, a pioneering figure in the parking technology sector, has passed away. Sedgwick was a founder of Langdale Systems, a company which developed the first generation of parking enforcement and permit management systems for use by local authorities. He was also an advocate of cashless payment approaches, providing services such as scratch-off parking cards and pre-paid electronic in-car meters. Langdale Systems was acquired by NCP, which then sold the business to IT company Imperial

Rob Jackson has taken over as managing director of Dukes Bailiffs after the civil enforcement agent’s founders Colin and Elaine Naylor decided to take a step back after 25 years. Colin Naylor, chief executive officer, and Elaine, chief financial officer, have grown the company from an office in their home to a business with more than 50 employees. The couple’s twin daughters, marketing manager Laura and bid manager Sarah, are supporting the company’s growth by opening a new Lo

Hectronic has taken over the on-street parking system division of Kienzle Argo. Three staff of Kienzle Argo will continue to be employed in the Berlin branch of Hectronic Vertriebs -und Service (VSG).  Kienzle Argo, which focuses on the sale and servicing of devices and systems in the automotive industry, has been a sales partner for Hectronic in Germany. The acquisition by Hectronic, Kienzle Argo completely withdraws from the parking sector. Existing customer maintenance and service con

Jason Barbour is resuming his role as managing director of Barbour Logic, which provides automated back office and public engagement solutions for the parking sector.  The move comes as Barbour Logic’s current managing director leaves the company and it also appoints a chief technology officer. In recent years Barbour has focussed on product development, with business development being managed by Fiona Deans, who been managing director since 2016.  Deans was tasked with helpin

Access control specialist Nortech has developed a long-range reader based on semi-active RFID technology that enables automatic vehicle identification at distances of up to 10 metres and speeds of up to 125 mph. The TRANSIT Ultimate reader from Nedap is designed for use in both high security applications and vehicular access control applications.  Nortech says it is suitable for use in: staff car parks; industrial site access control; fleet and parking management; and for priority vehicle

Proposed legislation that will create a single code of practice for the private parking management sector is now being discussed by a committee in the House of Commons. The new code would be overseen by the government and supersede ones drawn up by the two UK parking organisations – the British Parking Association and Independent Parking Community. Adhering to the code of practice will enable parking companies to access vehicle keeper data held by DVLA when they are seeking settlement of u

A majority of people are against a UK-wide pavement parking ban, a survey undertaken by YourParkingSpace suggests. The online parking marketplace undertook the survey in the wake of the Scottish Government’s decision to proceed with a nationwide pavement parking ban. The survey of 500 people reveals that 55% of respondents do not want to stop motorists from being able to park their cars on a pavement. The YourParkingSpace research indicates that 10% of motorists park on a pavement every

Motorists across Scotland can now appeal parking and bus lane penalties online using a new service introduced by the Parking and Bus Lane Tribunal. The body, which deals with appeals rejected by councils, launched its online platform this month.  The platform being used is a customised version of the Fast Online Appeals Management (FOAM) system developed by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for England and Wales outside London. Motorists receiving a penalty in areas where parking is decrimina

“Park Smart and put children’s safety first” is the message being delivered to parents in Surrey. Surrey Heath Borough Council has teamed up with Surrey County Council and Police to encourage safer parking around schools, particularly at drop-off and pick-up times. The partnership says parking on pavements, zigzags and yellow lines surrounding schools, reduces space and visibility for drivers and pedestrians, making accidents more likely, especially at busy times.  The

Slough Borough Council has awarded Indigo a new five-year parking enforcement contract. Indigo has worked for the council since 2010. The contractor has made a commitment to employee development, sustainability and technical innovation. The company will upgrade the Berkshire town’s entire pay & display machine portfolio. It has also pledged to use only electric vehicles and bikes and launch an apprenticeship scheme. The company will replace the current fleet of vans with an electric

Unless parking operators and debt recovery service providers take decisive action to educate and rebuild consumer confidence, motorists will continue to resort to spurious and bad advice. And that will not only prove costly to motorists, but will also push the prospect of improved trust and greater respect in the industry further into the long grass.  Today, we are more connected and have more information at our fingertips than ever before. The advantages of such connectivity are obvious a

Every day millions of journeys end in a parking space. We all want to live in a cleaner, safer, less congested world, yet without effective parking management there would be chaos, and access to places and people would be significantly harder. The British Parking Association (BPA) is the recognised and leading authority within the parking sector. We have 50 years’ worth of experience. We work closely with government, stakeholders and members on driving excellence in parking for all. We do

Delivering a consistent and professional service to motorists is a key ambition for Zulfiqar Ali, the new president of the British Parking Association (BPA) on 27 June. Ali, who took up the office at a reception held at the House of Commons on 27 June, is now the voice of a parking organisation that has over 700 corporate members drawn from both the public and private sectors. Ali takes over from Peter Lowe, managing director of consultant RTA Associates. It was confirmed that John McArdle will

SEA launched an eco-friendly version of its mobile traffic enforcement system at Parkex 2018. The zero emissions platform is based on a Citroën C-Zero electric vehicle housing the latest version of SEA’s ROADflow system for traffic enforcement in problems areas such as bus lanes, schools, yellow box junctions and restricted parking areas. There are currently over 50 active ROADflow mobile enforcement systems operating throughout the UK. Besides introducing a green vehicle, SEA has up

Barbour Logic unveiled the next generation of its letter-generating system at Parkex 2018.  Response Master 4.0 has been totally redesigned to deliver  greater efficiencies for local authority parking teams.  The new system builds on Barbour Logic’s decade of experience of developing correspondence systems for its 65 local authority customers.  Response Master 4.0 harnesses new web development methods and usability practices to offer back office teams an “intui

Keltic Clothing staged a fashion show celebrating the changing look of parking patrol officers at Parkex 2018. The fashion show saw members of the British Parking Association team don a range of uniforms ranging from those worn by police traffic wardens in the 1960s and ‘70s, local  authority parking attendants in the 1980s and ’90s, and more contemporary looks adopted by civil enforcement officers. “The fashion show had a lot of positive feedback,” says David Bar

Igor Karpovich has joined Passport, a US-based mobile payments provider working in the parking and transportation industry. Karpovich has been named chief corporate development officer. Karpovich most recently served as the senior vice president of Verifone in London. After earning his MBA from Harvard Business School, he led teams for companies such as GE Capital, where he was the vice president of strategy and business development. He was also Citigroup Global Wealth Management as the managin

Proposals to re-design street layouts across Dublin to provide new bus and cycle lanes will require the removal of on-street parking bays and sections of front gardens. The Irish National Transport Authority (NTA) has published a discussion document - Core Bus Corridors Project - which sets out draft proposals to improve bus journey times and cycling priority along an increasing number of congested corridors in the Dublin region. The project is part of the NTA’s Government funded €2

Parking is one of the cornerstones of enabling ‘smart cities’ across the UK. It offers the opportunity to reduce pollution and congestion and enable new mobility solutions such as car sharing, electric vehicle and ride sharing infrastructure. But to achieve that, the UK parking sector has to modernise and enable, rather than hinder as it does today, these much-needed developments. Achieving connected transport systems are a critical part of the plans for UK smart cities and parking i

If Hercules had faced a thirteenth labour, it surely would have been parking in a crowded town centre on a Saturday afternoon. For many, parking conjures up visions of endless searching, pricey car parks and frantic dashes to feed the pay & display machine to avoid a penalty. Those days are coming to an end. A new wave of technology is ripping through the parking industry, changing the status quo and profoundly altering the parking journey and changing consumer behaviours. What does this mea

For many people, their day begins and ends in a car park. The majority of parking operators play their part by supplying an easy, fair and transparent experience for motorists. Millions of drivers park their cars without issue, and the minority that are given a parking charge notice either accept that they were in the wrong, or use the appeals system available. A few rogue operators, however, are casting a shadow over the profession by using confusing signs and scare tactics to take advantage o

The International Parking Community (IPC) has held the first of its new quarterly forums for local authority parking managers. The forum’s members include county, metropolitan and district authorities, including Birmingham City Council, Milton Keynes, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire County, and Derbyshire Dales, Wycombe District Council and Aberdeenshire. Attendees at the first meeting at the IPC’s head offices in Macclesfield, Cheshire, discussed the ability to capitalise on ANPR techn

There appears to be overwhelming support for a footway parking ban in Scotland, a report published by Transport Scotland suggests. The Improving Parking in Scotland report considers the views of stakeholders and individuals who answered a series of questions on pavement parking and double parking. Transport Scotland conducted a public consultation on parking between March and August 2017. The consultation found that 83% of people support an all-out ban on footway parking and 70% have experience

Australian parking technology and management company Smart Parking has reported an increase in earnings, including an improved share of the UK market. First half results for the 2018 financial year show its overall growth trend continuing with increased margins as well as the delivery of new systems.  Group revenues stood at A$16.1m (£9m) up 26%. Its earnings before tax, interest and tax (EBITDA) was A$3.8m (£2m), up 115%. Smart Parking chief executive Paul Gillespie said: &ld

Julie Lennard has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), a role she has filled on an interim basis since March.  Lennard is the first woman to be appointed as DVLA’s chief executive. Prior to this she was DVLA’s director of strategy, policy and communications, a post she has held since August 2014. In this role she oversaw a directorate that also includes data protection, Parliamentary liaison and communications. Department

Brighton & Hove City Council has approved additional civil enforcement officers (CEOs) to patrol the roads around schools during drop-off and pick-up times. During the last academic year, 45 schools in Brighton & Hove asked the council for enforcement visits to deal with inconsiderate and dangerous parking on school ‘keep clear’ road markings. Three additional CEOs will join the two assigned officers currently patrol streets around schools during morning and afternoon schoo

Eight local authorities have been named as finalists in PATROL’s annual search for the best local authority parking reports. Annual reports are used by councils undertaking civil parking enforcement to present their parking policies, parking information and details about performance to the general public.  PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London) is the body that represents local authorities across England and Wales that have adopted civil enforcement. As part of its

Plans to improve overnight lorry parking and to ease traffic in the event of cross-Channel disruption in Kent have been announced by the Department for Transport. The new plans for ‘Operation Stack’ are designed allow traffic to travel in both directions between junctions 8 and 9 of the M20 while lorries are being queued for the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel. That means drivers can access these junctions, rather than being diverted onto smaller local roads. The DfT said this will be

The intu Potteries shopping centre in Stoke-on-Trent has retained its Safer Parking Scheme Park Mark award for car parks for 16 years running.  The retail and leisure destination’s multi-storey and surface car parks were assessed for quality management, appropriate lighting, effective surveillance and a clean environment. This year Park Mark status has also been awarded to the surface car park adjacent to its leisure complex, which includes seven restaurants and a 9-screen cinema.&n

UK Parking Control was fined almost £6,000 after refusing to provide CCTV footage from a car park in Lincoln that had been requested in connection to an investigation into flytipping. Last September North Kesteven District Council was investigating the dumping of car parts and other materials near Leadenham. When searching the materials, the council team found a receipt for food bought from McDonald’s on Tritton Road in Lincoln. The council asked McDonald’s to provide interna

Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire has awarded Indigo a new parking enforcement services contract. Indigo has been providing parking services for Dacorum in towns such as Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead for 14 years. Indigo was previously known as VINCI Park Services. The new contract, which came into effect on 9 April, is for five years with a potential four-year extension.  Indigo is investing in upgraded technology, including new IPS pay & display machines on-street and in ca

Mid Sussex District Council has been awarded the Disabled Parking Accreditation in 15 of its car parks.  Car parks are awarded this accreditation, created by Disabled Motoring UK, after an assessment has demonstrated it meets criteria for the provision of spaces, accessibility and clear enforcement of disabled bays. Seventeen of the Mid Sussex District Council car parks also retained their Park Marks under the Safer Parking Scheme.  Cllr Gary Marsh, portfolio holder for service deli

Shortcomings in signing mean that Coventry City Council’s city centre parking scheme is not easily understood by motorists, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) has ruled. Instead of road markings such as double yellow lines, the RPZ scheme uses ‘gateway’ signs placed at each entry point to the city centre to inform motorists that parking is restricted at any time. Coventry City Council argued that the appellants should have realised that parking was restricted since they must h

Every day, millions of us go about our daily lives because parking is managed fairly and responsibly to make sure we can all access the shops, leisure facilities, hospitals and supermarkets that might otherwise become congested. We understand that no one likes getting a parking ticket, and we always advise motorists who believe they have received one in error to contact the operator who issued it in the first instance. All of our members managing parking on private land subscribe to Parking on

Emerging technologies provide the key for improving mobility and delivering smarter, better and safer experiences for urban communities. But the real driver for change is coming from society itself. Technology is already helping to improve urban mobility but, today, we’re only scratching the surface. The potential of technology to truly transform the way we move in and around our towns and cities is absolutely huge. Two-thirds of adults now own a smartphone with mobile internet access and,

Somerset is a quintessentially English county with rolling hills and a wealth of historical and cultural heritage as well as vibrant market towns and a number of popular seaside resorts along a 60-mile coastline. For local residents and around 26 million day and staying visitors every year, accessibility and effective parking management around the main retail areas and public venues and facilities in the county’s main towns is of great importance.However, the fact that this predominantly r

Smart Parking has been selected to supply its sensor and analysis technology to the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Sharing Cities and Low Emission Neighbourhood initiatives. Greenwich is a culturally significant area in south-east London. It is a complex urban environment with a mixture of historic sites, urban housing, businesses and green spaces. It is the location of the Prime Meridian, Greenwich Observatory, Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum and a university. Greenwich council is ke

Highland Council has modernised existing pay & display machines using a third party upgrade solution produced by International Parking Systems (UK). The Scottish local authority has adopted IPS (UK) equipment in 19 Metric Accent machines located in the towns of Fort William and Inverness. In addition, two of IPS’s own MS1 pay & display machines have been installed in Fort Augustus.  All the machines are installed with contactless payment technology. Richard Boultbee, execut

Parking technology company ZatPark will be showing its new statistical analysis package at Parkex 2018. ZatStats is an AppleTV based application that enables ZatPark clients to view their company statistics in a clear and concise manner.  The system’s ‘drag & drop’ interface allows users to pick from a range of ‘widgets’ to customise a holistic view of how all areas of their business is performing.  Featured widgets include:  • Top perform

Technology firm Grid Smarter Cities has made 7th place in an annual list that ranks UK companies based on their intellectual property (IP) assets and value. The 2018 IP League Table was developed by Metis Partners, a company that advises companies on how to monetise their IP. Grid develops smart city solutions and systems from its head offices at The Core in Newcastle upon Tyne.  Grid has been granted UK, European and US and other international patents in solutions relevant to parking, f

Employees at a hospital in Romford, Essex, have been told they must sign up to a carpooling scheme if they want to qualify for a parking permit. As part of a parking permit reallocation at Queen’s Hospital last month, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHR) said that only those who signed up to the Faxi carpooling app would get a permit. So far, more than 328 employees have registered as drivers while 83 have signed up as passengers, said Faxi.  “W

The government may give councils the power to make pavement parking illegal unless they expressly grant permission, potentially landing offenders with fines of £50 or £70. The move would bring the rest of England into line with London, which has had an all-out ban on pavement parking for more than 40 years. Two years ago, the Department for Transport (DfT) suggested that a review of pavement parking would be carried out as part of a reform of measures designed to promote more cyclin

Training and skills development does not have to be dull, in fact it can be fun. That is the mantra at Gemini Parking Solutions, which has recently embarked on using a different kind of training and development programme for staff that it feels gets the best out of employees.  Gemini Parking Solutions has adopted “experiential training” that goes against the grain of traditional classroom-based training and instead uses fun training sessions. The training is provided by the Caf

Local authorities using systems and services provided by parking and smart cities IT specialist Chipside have relaunched its user group as a forum for discussing and delivering enhanced parking experiences. The Modern Transport and Parking Forum was unveiled at the inaugural Chipside Conference, which was held in London on 16 March. The forum’s membership is the 160 local authorities now using Chipside’s MiPermit, Case Manager and mobile computing systems as well as the Oppidatim sm

Open Parking has appointed Sharon Silcock as its business development manager with responsibility for the company’s interests in the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland. Silcock was previously a sales account manager for NCP and sales director of Parking Scheme, a company specialising in salary sacrifice parking schemes. “I’m relishing the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of Open Parking’s refreshing approach to parking management for the benefit of organ

Universities are being invited to join a forum for sharing knowledge and best practice to improve the quality, resilience and fairness of parking arrangements for students, staff and visitors.  The International Parking Community (IPC) has launched the Education Forum to offer both city centre and campus universities a way to learn from each other’s experiences at quarterly meetings and via a dedicated online platform.  “Having insufficient parking spaces to meet demand i

Councils throughout the country now have the power to almost double the cost of on-the-spot fines for littering.  The maximum fine for littering and graffiti increased from £80 to £150, from 1 April. For the first time, local authorities can penalise vehicle owners if it can be proved that litter was thrown from their vehicle. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimates that keeping the country’s streets clean cost local councils almost £700m i

Essex County Council’s highways team is extending its use of bus lane CCTV enforcement to improve the reliability of public transport and the safety of pedestrians in busy urban areas. The expanded CCTV operation is being developed with enforcement solutions provider Imperial, which has worked with the county since the end of 2016.  Essex says that since it started working with Imperial there has been a marked increase in motorists complying with bus lane regulations and a dramatic i

The London Borough of Newham has installed a CCTV-based Videalert system to provide unattended enforcement of bus lanes and moving traffic contraventions with a special focus on box junctions. The contract was awarded to OpenView Security Solutions, a provider of CCTV systems to local authorities, under the ELS framework agreement, which is available to all London boroughs. “An important factor in the decision-making process was to ensure that the chosen solution was open-standards based

Moving into new offices has been the focus for parking software company Unity Five, creators of ZatPark, over the past couple of months. The ZatPark team have moved to bigger premises at their base just outside of Exeter to house a growing team.  Unity Five has also invested in a new IT infrastructure that will give the team more room for growth than the existing network of over 50 servers across four data centres in three countries. David Herbert, chief executive of Unity Five, said: &l

A parking availability and payment system developed by Parkmobile Group and BMW was named Overall Winner of the Intertraffic Innovation Award last month. Five category winners and one overall winner were revealed during the opening ceremony of Intertraffic Amsterdam 2018 on 20 March in the presence of HRH Prince Constantijn van Oranje and Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Dutch minister of infrastructure and water management.  The Overall Winner was Parkmobile Group with its On-Street Parking Inform

Secure cycle parking areas are being rolled out across the Dutch rail system. The Netherlands has a long-standing culture of commuters using cycling as the initial part of their journey, with 400,000 passengers using their bikes to travel to the station every day, according to NS Stations figures. The rail station operator has appointed Siemens to improve cycle parking at 47 railway stations by installing self-service cycle parking solution. These will provide cyclists with a s

Software enabling the implementation of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be developed for Transport for London by Siemens, which will build on experience gained from working on the city’s Congestion Charge scheme. Over the next 12 months Siemens will carry out work enabling the software to be deployed for service preparation activities leading up to the ULEZ scheme going live on a 24/7/365 basis from April 2019. Paul Cowperthwaite, TfL’s general manager

Pavement parking is a common issue for local authorities and communities around Britain, but PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London) suggests there may be more than one solution to solving the issue and multiple benefits to be derived.  In August 2017 a draft Transport Accessibility Action Plan was issued for public consultation by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC). The action plan includes a section on unauthori

One of the civil enforcement sector’s key technology providers has launched a new identity to better reflect its service capabilities in traffic and environmental management and smart city applications. Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions has been rebranded as Imperial, launching a new logo format and colour branding. The new branding means the ICES acronym will no longer be used.  “It’s now well over three decades since Imperial made its first mark in systems integratio

Youth and experience were both honoured at the British Parking Awards 2018, which were held in London on Friday 9 March. The awards ceremony saw a group of six people recognised as the Young Parking Professionals of the Year. The recipients carry out a wide variety of roles, including traffic consultancy, structural engineering, project management within local government, financial control, customer and client relationships. One of the group, structural engineer Andrea Piniella from Stripe Con

Parking apps, sensors, empty space mapping and bay reservation systems are among the technologies competing for recognition in a European transport innovation awards. A jury of international transportation experts has selected the shortlist of nominees of the biennial Intertraffic Amsterdam Innovation Awards. A field of 60 entries has been narrowed down to the final 15, leaving three nominees in each of the five categories: Infrastructure, Parking, Safety, Smart Mobility and Traffic M

Traffic enforcement and management solutions provider Videalert has upgraded its Digital Video Platform so that it simultaneously supports the enforcement of civil traffic contraventions, traffic management and community safety applications. The upgrade includes integration with mobile enforcement vehicles from third party suppliers including TES and SEA, a new analytics engine and an enhanced evidence pack review function. Tim Daniels, sales and marketing director of Videalert, said: “V

The body that represents civil enforcement agents engaged in debt recovery has appointed Russell Hamblin-Boone to a new position of chief executive officer.  The Civil Enforcement Association (CIVEA) hopes Hamblin-Boone will give the organisation a new voice and direction at a time when the industry is facing a review of regulations and needs strong representation in policy debates. His appointment comes ahead of the review of regulations under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act an

The British Parking Awards 2018 attracted around 100 entries from across the country, from which a short list of finalists has been selected. The entries have been assessed by a panel of experts made up of parking managers, transport and parking consultants, representatives from the major parking associations and bodies representing the motoring and freight sectors. The winners will be revealed at a gala lunch to be held in London on 9 March. To see the list of finalists click here The diverse

Alpha Parking will be introducing a new parking management course in September. The training will be in modular form, last around six months and have City & Guilds certification. The course will develop parking management skills, knowledge and personal attributes to raise individual competencies in the parking environment.  It has been designed to be suitable for parking managers in both the public and private sectors who are looking to extend their knowledge and skills. Alpha says the

The Training & Development Academy, launched in partnership by the IPC and TRACE Training, is now delivering half-day and full-day courses across the country as well as skills development programmes. The academy is designed to develop workforce skills and competencies for any parking services provider. Since being launched at the IPC’s annual conference last November, the Training & Development Academy has delivered courses on the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), skills

I first started working in the parking industry as a parking attendant in 1999, on a three-month contract, enforcing the on-street restrictions in the Heritage City of Bath. In the 19 years since then, almost everyone I’ve encountered has expressed an opinion on parking, especially on the money councils make from it. The common refrain is: “It’s not the money, it’s the principle…” Anyone that has worked in parking for any length of time is likely to have hea

Hazel Brown, a former civil enforcement officer for Luton Borough Council has died aged 67. She transferred to Luton’s new parking services team in 1998 from Bedfordshire Police, where she had worked for many years as a senior traffic warden. Brown continued to manage her service within Luton Borough Council until her retirement in August 2013. In early 2017 she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and passed away o

The threat from pavement parking and terror attacks involving cars could be dramatically reduced by a device installed in kerbs that quickly punctures tyres, according to its inventor. The CatClaw is half the size of a small orange and is designed to be installed along kerbs and pavements. It was invented by Yannick Read, who designs bespoke vehicles for TV productions and promotional purposes. Read explains the name is inspired by the Cats Eyes that line major roads in Britain and that compre

Drivers are now being asked to turn off their engines when parked in the London Borough of Southwark. Civil enforcement officers (CEOs) are engaging with drivers of cars, buses, taxis and HGVs whose engines are idling. Failure to comply will incur an £80 penalty charge notice (PCN). Southwark cabinet member for public health and regeneration, Maisie Anderson, said: “Needlessly keeping your engine running pollutes roads, schools and children’s lungs. Asking people to turn off t

The government has given its blessing to a Private Member’s Bill that seeks to place regulation of the private parking sector on a statutory footing. The Bill had already been endorsed both by organisations representing the parking sector and motorists. The Parking (Code of Practice) Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday 2 February. It was presented by Sir Greg Knight MP and supported by a cross-party group of MPs comprising Jacob Rees-Mogg, Daniel Zeichner Kevin

Communities secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed that government will support new legislation aimed at raising standards in the industry. The government is supporting a Private Member’s Bill that is due to have its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday 2 February. Sajid Javid said: “For too long drivers have suffered from unjust fines at the hands of dodgy parking firms. We need a f

The London Borough of Lambeth has adopted Barbour Logic’s correspondence technologies to create letters replying to drivers who have contacted the authority about penalty charge notices (PCNs) that they have received.  Response Master uses decision-making software to create letters in Plain English. The system takes account of PCN regulations, the council’s specific policies and a range of questions and explanations raised by motorists.  Lambeth is the latest London borou

The British Parking Awards 2018 have attracted around 100 entries from across the country. The annual awards encourage both public and private sector organisations to nominate people and projects that represent the best in parking management, design and innovation. The diverse nature of the parking sector means that the competition encompasses buildings, technology and people. The British Parking Awards spans both the on-street and off-street sides of the parking sector. This year’s entr

People with hidden disabilities could soon have greater access to Blue Badges under new plans from transport minister Jesse Norman. The proposals would help remove barriers to travel for people with conditions such as dementia and autism, allowing them better access to work, shops and amenities. The Department for Transport says the changes are part of a drive for greater parity between the treatment of physical and mental health conditions. About 2.4m disabled people in England have a Bl

Sales of 100% electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles achieved record-breaking levels of popularity in 2017, according to tigures released by Go Ultra Low. Registrations increases by more than 27% on the previous year with an expanding range of plug-in vehicles available to motorists. The total number of plug-in cars on UK roads passed 130,000. From January to December, motorists flocked to buy ultra low emission vehicles, with 46,522 registered in 2017. Every quarter of 2017 out-performed 201

Nearly a quarter of a million vehicles were broken into in 2016, with 26 police forces in England, Scotland and Wales, more than half, seeing more thefts from cars than the previous year, according to data seen by RAC Insurance. A total of 239,920 vehicle break-ins were reported to 42 police forces – 8,698 more than in 2015 (231,222), representing a 4% increase. However, this is a 9% reduction on 2013 when there were 263,574 thefts from vehicles. Responses to a Freedom of Information req

The International Parking Community (IPC) is taking steps to develop its membership support services and online resources. The move will see the accredited trade association introduce a programme of service developments and new online platforms to meet the specific needs of private parking operators, universities and local authorities as well as other corporate members.  The IPC’s chief operating officer Charles Clowes has confirmed plans to recruit a head of membership to oversee th

A Scottish politician has launched a consultation on legislation that he hopes will clarify on the way privately operated car parks are enforced. Murdo Fraser, a member of the Scottish Parliament, says he has received hundreds of complaints about private parking penalty notices. The Conservative MSP wants to introduce a Member’s Bill in the Scottish Parliament that will provide greater consistency and transparency.  The consultation will last for three months. Parking tickets issued

Brighton & Hove City Council is tasking one of its civil enforcement officers (CEOs) with focussing on inconsiderate parking that obstructs buses in a bid to improve air quality by keeping services moving. The CEO works for the city council via contractor NSL. The officer selected has worked as a CEO in the city for the last nine years but has tended to focus on checking car permits. The CEO’s new role includes ensuring bus stops have the correct instructions for cars and, in turn, t

An ANPR-based traffic enforcement system has been introduced by Trading Standards in Oxfordshire to help protect one of the oldest river crossings on the River Thames at Newbridge. The Siemens solution identifies traffic that exceeds the weight limit on the A415 between Abingdon and Witney, and can also maintain an enforcement schedule and permitted vehicle lists. The schedule will allow for selected enforcement periods required for other types of restriction, with the permitted vehicle lists i

Newcastle City Council has awarded parking IT company Imperial a new contract that covers the digitisation of permit services.  Imperial has been working with Newcastle for the past decade. The new contract with Imperial is for an initial period of five years, with the option for two further extensions. Craig Mordue, service manager, parking services, said: “The new contract we have now signed with the company will see the introduction of new smartphone technologies fitted with Rialt

Leeds City Council is using a new CCTV vehicle to provide unattended enforcement of a range of offences including parking on city centre bus stops and school keep clears. The mobile enforcement vehicle has been supplied by Videalert after a two-year pilot scheme resulted in a reduction in offences of more than 74% and faster journey times for public transport users, said Mark Jefford, Leeds City Council parking manager. “The new mobile enforcement vehicle provides us with the flexibility

Four national organisations have written to transport minister Jesse Norman urging him to prohibit pavement parking across England and Wales after what they regard as years of inaction from the government.  Living Streets, Guide Dogs, the British Parking Association (BPA) and the Local Government Association (LGA) have co-authored a letter highlighting the danger they say pavement parking poses to vulnerable pedestrians.  The organisations argue that people living with sight loss or

Transport for London (TfL) is to increase the Congestion Charge penalty charge notice (PCN) from 2 January 2018. A rise in the cost of PCNs issued on the capital’s ‘red routes’ is also being planned. In the past five years there has been a 12% increase in the number of motorists issued with Congestion Charge PCNs. TfL said the rise from around 1.3m in 2011/12 to around 1.5 million in 2016/17 is a clear indicator that the effectiveness of the current PCN fine has reduced over t

The winners of the British Parking Awards 2018 will be revealed at a gala ceremony held in London during March by the comedian Lucy Porter. The competition is free to enter and, as is now traditional, the deadline for submissions has been extended to Monday 8 January. According to Time Out, Lucy Porter “is one of the most talented comics on the circuit”. Having had 11 Edinburgh Fringe shows and international tours, Lucy is a well-established and loved comedian. On TV, she has

We are passionate about parking annual reports at Brighton & Hove City Council. We have been producing them since 2008 and were fortunate enough to win the very first PATROL PARC Award, and have been shortlisted for the past eight years, winning the last two awards. Annual reports are an excellent way to communicate key facts about your parking team’s performance and priorities to stakeholders. Annual reports also let you explain how parking services fit into wider traffic management,

Historically, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) offered telephone hearings, personal hearings and postal cases. Motorists can now appeal through the tribunal’s website thanks to the development of FOAM (Fast Online Appeal Management).  Rather than filling out a paper form, as they used to, motorists can now create an account online and raise an appeal. FOAM is a transparent process so the appellant can follow the process right the way through, resulting in a better understanding of t

Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London (PATROL) has 310 member local authorities from across England and Wales. The towns, cities and counties that PATROL represents are very diverse. By enabling local authorities to work in partnership, PATROL offers substantial economies of scale, which allow it to invest in things that maybe would be prohibitive for a single authority. One example of that is the shared investment in our digital appeal platform FOAM (Fast Online Appeal Management) which

The principal objective of PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulation Outside London) is to provide independent adjudication to its member authorities for parking and traffic appeals in England and Wales excluding the London authorities. This is delivered through the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.   With 310 members, PATROL ranks as one of the largest Joint Committees across England and Wales because of the devolved nature of traffic regulations. PATROL has used its economies of scale to invest in

When I was interviewed in 1992 to be the very first parking adjudicator for the new decriminalised enforcement scheme in London, I said that my first objective was to have the best tribunal in the country, and my second was to have no work.  I think the Traffic Penalty Tribunal is now perhaps the most advanced tribunal in the country, something the Courts & Tribunals Service agree with, especially regarding our technology. But we are still busy. When I said I hoped there would be no wor

The economics of parking are very complex because we are at the interface between what is a public service and what is a commercial product. Much of parking is based in the public sector either because it is on the public highway or it is under local authority control. In the public sector there are politics involved, usually with a small ‘p’, but sometimes a capital ‘P’, which does complicate the issue. On the other side, a lot of aspects of how we manage parking are en

Almost 17,500 appeals against parking charges issued on private land were heard by the Independent Appeals Service (IAS) last year. The service provides motorists with independent redress in matters concerning the issue of a private parking charge by members of the International Parking Community’s Approved Operator Scheme. The appeals are adjudicated on by a panel of independent, practicing solicitors and barristers. The lead adjudicator is Bryn Holloway, a barrister, who has just publish

Parking operators are increasingly engaging with motorists in the digital domain, and this is something that their representative bodies will also have to do. This was a key message delivered by the International Parking Community (IPC) at its 2017 annual conference.  IPC chief executive Will Hurley urged delegates to embrace new technologies and new opportunities with confidence. “Recognising responsibilities and securing the insight required to take change in one’s stride are

English councils generated a surplus of £819m from their parking operations in the last financial year, according to a study undertaken for the RAC Foundation. The figure for 2016-17 is 10% higher than the £744m made in the previous financial year. It is 40% higher than the £587m made in 2012-13. The RAC Foundation said the £819m total is £37m above what councils themselves had forecast for 2016-17. The findings come from an annual analysis for the RAC Foundation b

The DVLA sold 1,429,703 vehicle keeper records to the private parking firms in the second quarter of 2017-18, the RAC Foundation has revealed. The motoring organisation calculates that this is 1,177% (or almost 13 times) higher than the 111,944 records sold a decade earlier in the second quarter of 2007-8. The information is used by parking companies to pursue vehicle owners for parking charge notices (PCNs) of up to £100 issued to drivers who have infringed parking regulations on privat

The on-going spate of vehicle thefts exploiting keyless entry systems has prompted Thatcham Research to offer security advice to drivers of  keyless vehicles. The advice was released following news coverage of CCTV footage capturing the theft of a car with apparent ease. Chris Pearce-King, from Solihull, has released CCTV footage of three masked men taking his £35,000 Land Rover Discovery from the driveway of his home. West Midlands Police is investigating. Pearce-Kin

All five council-run car parks in Loughborough town centre have secured the Park Mark award under the Safer Parking Scheme. The accredited car parks are Beehive Lane, Granby Street, Browns Lane, Southfields Road and Southfields Road offices. Beehive Lane has held the accreditation for 13 years, while the others have secured it for the past nine years. This year Granby Street Car Park was also awarded a Disabled Parking Accreditation (DPA) from Disabled Motoring UK. This popular town centre car

A government plan to build a lorry park in Kent to ease traffic congestion caused by Operation Stack has been dropped. The Department for Transport has withdrawn its application to build a £250m lorry park near the M20 at Stanford, near Hythe. The lorry park was due to built at Junction 11 near Folkestone to alleviate disruption caused by Operation Stack and lorry drivers parking near public roads. The plan to create parking for 3,600 lorries had generated opposition from Stanford Paris

The winners of the British Parking Awards 2018 will be revealed on Friday 8 March by the comedian Lucy Porter. Parking Review launched the British Parking Awards in 2002. Now in their 17th year, the annual competition encourages both public and private sector organisations to nominate people and projects that represent the best in parking management, design and innovation. The competition is 

Apprenticeships for the parking industry are being developed by a group of organisations in the sector who are liaising with the Institute of Apprentices. The Parking Apprenticeships are being created within the context of a new government approach that sees large organisations having to pay 0.05% of their annual salary costs into an Apprenticeship Levy since 1 April 2017.  Organisations that will be contributing to the Apprenticeship Levy include private companies, such as private car par

The Hammerson-owned Central Retail Park in Falkirk has received Park Mark, the Safer Parking Scheme award.  Central Retail Park is the first site run by property management company Workman Retail in Scotland to receive a Park Mark. Harry Devine of Workman Retail said: “As part of our policy for excellent car park management, we are very proud to receive the Park Mark Award for this car park within our retail portfolio. As a service provider that works in partnership with our clients

Almost a quarter of people in the UK have been affected by a dispute over parking, a survey suggests. An estimated 12m have seen or involved in parking disputes, according to a survey of 500 people conducted by online marketplace YourParkingSpace.co.uk. The survey suggests that parking arguments often escalate from verbal exchanges, with nearly four million people in the UK having been threatened with physical violence. Harr

A secure cycle parking system that sees a rack of bikes overlooked by a lighting post equipped with CCTV cameras has been unveiled. Shuffle Cycle has been developed by lighting company Schréder UK working in collaboration with cycle parking specialist H-B Designs. The Shuffle Cycle docking stations are overlooked by a tall lighting post that features an LED light ring that indicates the availability of spaces from a distance. The Shuffle Cycle post comes with in-built CCTV, a public addr

Imagery of a camouflaged car being wheel clamped is at the centre of a new DVLA vehicle tax evasion campaign. The campaign artwork features a car that has been painted to look transparent in a bid to evade detection. The campaign tagline is: “Even if you think you’re invisible to DVLA, you’re not – tax your car or lose it.” The month-long campaign, which launched on 3 November, will run across media, on radio, on catch-up TV, in newspapers and online. DVLA chief

Wrexham County Borough Council has become the first local authority to adopt parking technology company JustPark’s new mobile cashless payments service. JustPark has historically specialised in providing an online booking and payment service for off-street parking, meaning the company has worked with local authorities on pre-booked parking services, but this is its first full mobile payments partnership. JustPark founder and CEO Anthony Eskinazi announced his company’s intention to

Parking technology company JustPark has appointed Gavin Manger as its new commercial relationship manager to bolster its efforts in taking on cashless payments contracts for local authorities. JustPark offers drivers a parking booking and payment service. In recent years it has expanded its portfolio from domestic driveway parking to include commercial and local authority car parks. The company now also offers drive-up cashless payments via a mobile app and interactive voice recognition (IVR) p

Universities and colleges face an ever growing demand for access to parking space on their campuses. In order to ensure their limited parking supply is used by staff, students and visitors with the most needs, many further and higher education establishments have introduced paid and permit parking controls, which in turn depend on enforcement to be effective. This is the case at the University of York. A major challenge facing the managers of university campuses is ensuring that their parking c

Up to 12m driving licence holders receive a penalty notice each year, meaning that maybe as many as a third of Britain’s 40m drivers are now penalised annually, suggests new research produced for the RAC Foundation. The extent of traffic and parking enforcement by the police and local authorities is highlighted in a report, Automated Road Traffic Enforcement: Regulation, Governance and Use, produced by Dr Adam Snow, a lecturer in criminology at Liverpool Hope University. Camera-based

Civil enforcement officers patrolling the streets of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea are now riding electric bikes as an alternative to petrol-powered mopeds. An electric bike, or e-bike, is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor that can be used for propulsion. E-bikes retain the ability to be pedalled by the rider and are therefore not electric motorcycles. NSL, the council’s parking service provider, says switching to e-bikes makes both economic and environmental se

Q: How will self-driving cars change the way in which towns and cities manage parking? Q: How can local authorities create electric vehicle charging facilities that are both environmentally and financially sustainable? Q: Will local authority parking teams be key players in tackling poor air quality caused by vehicle pollution in town and city centres? Q: What are the data protection rules that apply when rolling out cashless payment, virtual permits and other digital parking services? Q: Ho

The need to recognise how quickly technology is evolving, and the way this is changing driver behaviour, emerged as a key theme at 18th European Parking Association (EPA) Congress. The benefits of harmonising standards and protocols across borders was also a recurring motif of the biennial event, which took place in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam from 20-22 September.  The three-day event saw a number of initiatives developed and showcased in the main conference and at a number of break-

A man who tried to run over a teacher after being told that he could not park in a school car park to pick up his partner’s daughter has been jailed for 10 months. Rainer Schoeman, 22, rammed the teacher sending him flying over the bonnet of his Volkswagen Golf and nearly knocked two children off their bikes. The incident happened at 3pm on 20 February. Schoeman was picking up the child from The Winston Churchill School in Woking, Surrey, when he stopped to speak to a teacher, Gareth McC

Motorists have serious concerns about the poor practices of some private parking companies, says motoring organisation the RAC. The motoring body’s annual report calls for legislation to curb what it regards as the excesses of some private parking operators. The RAC’s 2017 Report on Motoring covers a wide range of subjects including rising costs of motoring, speed limits, potential impact of diesels on air quality and health, and the poor state of local roads. The report is based o

An underground car park that uses a spiral ramp approach to create structure with a minimal number columns has been named the Best New Car Park in Europe.  The Park Primo Maggio, in the Italian town of Udine was among the winners at the European Parking Awards. The 387-space car park has been designed so cars park on a gently sloping spiral as well as decks that have been configured as clearspan environments. The Best Renovation Award was also won by an underground car park project. Cont

The number of vehicles stolen in England and Wales has increased by a shocking 30% in just three years, according to RAC Insurance. A Freedom of Information request showed that a total of 65,783 vehicles were reported stolen in 2013 to 40 police forces in England and Wales, but by 2016 this had risen to 85,688. More vehicles are stolen in London than anywhere else in the UK with 26,496 thefts being reported to the Metropolitan Police Force in 2016, equating to nearly a third of all vehicles s

A campaign encouraging motorcycle riders to consider additional security measures has seen almost all machines now parked in Birmingham city centre being protected. Following an increase in the theft of powered two wheelers (PTWs) from Birmingham City Centre during the early part of the summer, West Midlands Police started running a ‘Lock it or lose it’ campaign. The campaign has been delivered in partnership with the Motorcycle Industry Association’s MASTER (Motorcycle and S

The International Parking Community (IPC) has formalised its partnership with the People’s Parking accreditation scheme for car parks. The accreditation scheme is now being adopted as an IPC standard, and the scheme’s founder, Helen Dolphin will be representing the evolving interests of consumers for the IPC’s steering committee. The scheme highlights car parks that provide spaces for visitors with a disability and parents with children. It also promotes charging points for e

School crossing patrols in West Sussex are being issued with body-worn cameras in a bid to deter inconsiderate driving and encourage more parents to walk their children to school.  The River Beach Primary in Littlehampton has become the seventh school in the county to trial the body cameras. Michelle Padwick, who has been the school’s crossing patrol for nearly four years, said all the parents she had spoken to had been supportive of the camera scheme. “I think it will definit

A van used in fly-tipping offences has been seized and crushed by Manchester City Council. This is the first time the city council has made use of special powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 - that allows the seizure and sale or destruction of a vehicle involved in such offences. The vehicle, a white Ford Transit, was reported to have been involved in eight separate fly-tipping offences in south Manchester between December 2016 and July 2017. The council’s environmental cri

Police are looking into bogus notices warning people not to park on the streets of a Nottingham suburb. The fake letters, which have been attached to railings and fences, warn drivers that they could be fined for leaving their car on Marham Close in the Sneinton area. The letters claim to have been issued by Nottingham City Council’s traffic department. The notices warn drivers they could be fined £120 or have their vehicles removed by “a toe truck” [sic]. The writer

Roads around three primary schools in Croydon are being temporarily closed roads at the start and end of the day to see if this encourages parents to use cars less. The roads by Heavers Farm and St Chad’s in Selhurst and Woodcote in Coulsdon are now restricted on the morning and afternoon school runs. The schools signed up to the six-month Croydon Council scheme because of their concerns about parking and pedestrian safety. The council said if the trial proves successful, the scheme wi

Drivers overwhelmingly support government regulation of the private parking sector, says the RAC. Almost three-quarters (73%) of members of the RAC Opinion Panel said they see an end to the sector ‘self-policing’ through membership of a trade association. The survey showed that 73% of motorists understand that penalty charges may be necessary, but generally feel they are excessive or disproportionate for the level of parking contravention. Of the remainder, a fifth (21%) claim that

The active enforcement of supermarket parking bays designated for people with disabilities reduces their misuse, reveals a survey conducted by the charity Disabled Motoring UK (DMUK). Overall levels of disabled parking abuse came in at 18.5% across the supermarkets surveyed. Where enforcement was used this figure fell to 15.6% and where no enforcement was evident the overall level of observed abuse rose to 21.5%. The supermarket with the lowest levels of disabled parking abuse was Sainsbury&rs

Parking Review magazine has launched the 2018 edition of the British Parking Awards. Now in their 17th year, the competition encourages both public and private sector organisations to nominate people and projects that represent the best in parking management, design and innovation. The awards encompass both the on-street and off-street sides of the parking sector. The diverse nature of the parking sector means that the competition has categories that cover buildings, technology and people. Bri

The public support fining motorists who abuse parent & child parking bays at supermarkets, a survey suggests. There was also support for use of temporary bans where motorists use parent-and-child parking spaces when they do not have a child in the car. Some 500 people took part in the survey, conducted by online parking marketplace YourParkingSpace. While a third of respondents backed fines of up to £25, a quarter wanted to see fines of more than £25. One-in-ten actually wanted

The Mount Retail Park in Kingston-Upon-Hull has been awarded a Park Mark under the Safer Parking Scheme award for a seventh year running.  The retail park, which is run by AEJ Management, has 560 public parking spaces and 26 disabled spaces. Marc Dias, crime reduction officer at Humberside Police said: “The Mount is really impressive, in that the operator has put in place measures that help to deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour, thereby doing everything they can to pre

Collaboration and communication will be central to the development of a more public profile for the International Parking Community (IPC), a trade organisation that counts private and public sector providers among its members. The IPC has formalised its vision, values and core purpose as it takes steps to achieve an increasingly influential position within the industry. The values have been developed by the IPC’s executive in collaboration with the association’s steering group. The I

Many local authorities and private parking operators now outsource the processing of penalties issued by their enforcement teams to specialist bureaus such as Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions’ Business Processing Unit (BPU). The unit, which is located in Northampton, processes penalty charge notices (PCNs) and fixed penalty notices (FPNs) on behalf of city, county and district councils. It also processes parking charge notices issued on private land by The Forestry Commission and univ

Norwich was the first city in the UK to introduce a pedestrianised street in the late 1960s and, in recent years, moves have been made to limit through-traffic in other central areas. Bruce Bentley, Norwich City Council’s principal transportation planner, says reducing through-traffic has enhanced the experience of shoppers and visitors. This, in turn, is encouraging new investment in the city centre. “Removing general traffic from congested medieval streets and ensuring the centre

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, in Surrey, says that it is both making savings and increasing parking revenue by encouraging use of a cashless phone service instead of pay & display terminals. Last year the council started upgrading or replacing pay stations it its public car parks so they can accept the new 12-sided £1 coin. However, while each car park still has payment machines, the council decided to reduce the overal population of units. It decided not to replace 16 pay

Local authorities could be enabled to charge utility companies by the hour during roadworks, under proposals being consulted on by government. Transport secretary Chris Grayling has suggested hourly lane rentals could halve delays to motorists caused by utility companies digging up busy roads. The proposals would allow local authorities to charge utility companies by the hour to carry out works on selected routes, encouraging the companies to avoid busy roads and peak times and incentivising t

Local authorities across England and Wales can now add their traffic regulation orders (TROs) to an online database hosted by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT). Councils create TROs to apply traffic management controls to their roads and car parks.  TROs specify parking restrictions and the conditions under which vehicles may park. Bus lanes are also created by TROs.  The TPT currently hosts 19,000 TROs in its TRO library on behalf of local authorities.  The TROs can be ac

Projects to improve the Blue Badge parking schemes, trials of autonomous vehicles and more accessible toilets on trains are among initiatives the government is backing to improve transport for people with disabilities. The Department for Transport (DfT) has published its draft accessibility action plan, which is now out to consultation. The department said it wants to hear views and ideas on how to best improve accessibility on roads, rail, water and in the air. The consultation runs unti

A north London takeaway that was caught repeatedly dumping its commercial waste in a residential recycling centre has been fined £10,000 plus costs. Papa Winny’s Caribbean takeaway in Holloway Road faces a total bill of £11,015, including costs, after magistrates handed down five fines of £2,000 for fly-tipping, the largest-ever fine for the offence in the north London borough. Cllr Claudia Webbe, executive member for environment and transport, said: “This prosecu

Up to 130 sets of car keys and a number of vehicles have been stolen from a site used by a meet & greet company offering long-stay parking near Manchester Airport. The company, Car Park Manchester, is not affiliated with the airport. In total four cars have been taken from the Car Park Manchester site in Hale, Trafford.

The average British motorist wastes £968 and spends nearly five days stuck in traffic each year because of congestion, analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals Traffic congestion has a serious impact on economic development, quality of life and public health, the Local Government Association (LGA) warns in a new report. The average British motorist wastes £968 and spends nearly five days stuck in traffic each year because of congestion, analysis by the LGA suggests

A driver has been jailed for causing the death of a friend after he crashed while trying to reach 100mph for a video to be posted on social media channel Snapchat. As Ricafort Gamboa sped along country roads near Aberystwyth in West Wales last July, friends inside the car filmed him on their mobile phones. Gamboa's friends could be heard encouraging him to drive faster on mobile phones recovered from the crashed car. As he sped up, Gamboa he began taking corners on the wrong side of the road. B

Police forces across Wales will now accept ‘dashcam’ footage recorded by the public to investigate driving offences following a pilot scheme in North Wales. Operation Snap was trialled by North Wales Police during the autumn of 2016. The scheme encouraged drivers to upload video evidence of possibly dangerous driving to a police website. Dangerous driving includes people being distracted while using handheld mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts and speeding. North Wales Police rece

Islington Council has been fined £70,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after failing to keep almpost 90,000 people’s information secure on its parking ticket system website. The north London council’s Ticket Viewer system allows people to see a CCTV image or video of their alleged parking offence. However, the ICO said that design faults meant the personal data of up to 89,000 people was at risk of being accessed by others. The data included a small amou

Thefts of farm vehicles are on the increase, with Land Rover Defenders and quad bikes being a particularly popular target, a report on rural crime has revealed.  Besides vehicle and livestock theft, fly-tipping and illegal waste dumping are also increasing problems for farmers and landowners, often costing tens of thousands of pounds to clear up. Rural crime is costing the UK economy £39m a year, according to NFU Mutual, the insurance arm of the National Farmers’ Union. The an

Two cars parked by holidaymakers on streets near Luton Airport have been vandalised. A windscreen and windows were smashed and the cars daubed with messages complaining about people not paying for airport parking. Luton Council said it was consulting with residents about introducing parking permits in the areas affected. Luton Airport said it would always urge passengers to use the on-site parking.

City of Edinburgh Council has launched the third phase of its roll-out of 20mph speed limits. The council says that calming traffic has widespread public support, with 65% of Scots in a recent poll in favour of a 20mph default limit in urban areas. A survey of more than 50,000 people earlier this year found 70% backed the roll-out of 20mph zones across Edinburgh. Signs and road markings have been put in place across the Phase 3 areas, marking which streets have changed to 20mph. As with the who

Gareth Hughes, chief executive of civil enforcement specialist Marston Holdings, won the Transformational Leader prize at the London and South EY Entrepreneur Of The Year awards, which took place at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly. The annual awards celebrate men and women who are building dynamic businesses. Marston Holdings operates a number of debt recovery companies that collect a range of road traffic, parking, council tax and other debts for around 250 local authorities. The company also col

Parking on private land was put in the spotlight by ITV’s Tonight current affairs strand on 10 August. The programme, called The True Cost of Parking, looked at how, with a record 30m cars on Britain’s roads, the services of the private parking industry have spread to shopping centres, supermarkets, railway stations and NHS hospitals. Reporter Fiona Foster’s programme suggested that the millions of parking tickets now being handed out to motorists each year by private parking

Car manufacturers are being urged by the government to combat threats from hackers as vehicles become more intelligent.  The new generation of internet-connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) will have to be better protected from hackers, under new guidance issued today. Measures to be put before Parliament will also mean that insuring modern vehicles will seek to provide protection for consumers if technologies fail, said the Department for Transport. “Smart vehicles are incr

The City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council has been using specialist correspondence software to provide drivers contesting parking fines with prompt and clear responses. A team of 85 civil enforcement officers patrols the city and neighbouring towns and local areas. The authority issues over 100,000 penalty charge notices (PCNs) a year for parking, environmental and bus lane contraventions. Where drivers contest a PCN their challenges and representations are handled by an 11-strong back

ZatPark, a provider of hosted cloud IT solutions for parking management, is investing in new staff to manage a rise in business and is launching a user group to improve its client services. Dave Herbert, chief executive of ZatPark, said over the past six months the company has also been upgrading its mobile and hosted software in order to deliver measurable improvements to its clients and their own customers. “We have rolled out product enhancements including: Video Suite, which was recog

There is a very real risk of organisations throughout the public and private sectors sleepwalking into the minefield of significant and far-reaching new data protection regulations. While we should take comfort that the new regulations on the horizon will help to safeguard the use of our personal data, the compliance challenges facing any organisation with a responsibility for managing and processing such data are considerable. And we should be under no illusion; the financial penalties for non-

A Private Members’ Bill calling for a single code of practice for the private parking sector is to be debated in the House of Commons. The Parking (Code of Practice) Bill, which had its first reading on 19 July, will make provision for a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking. The Bill is sponsored by Sir Greg Knight, Conservative MP for East Yorkshire and is supported by MPs Kevin Brennan, Pete Wishart, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Daniel Zeichner

Crime in England and Wales has seen its largest annual rise in a decade, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The total number of crimes reported to and recorded by the police rose by 10% between April 2016 and March 2017 to almost five million, 458,021 more than the previous year.  Increases in rates of burglary and vehicle theft suggest that the long-term fall in these higher volume offences may be coming to an end.

Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, unveiled the design of the new £10 note featuring the author Jane Austen on the 200th anniversary of her death. The note is printed on polymer and is the first Bank of England banknote with a tactile feature to help blind and partially sighted users. It joins the Churchill £5 in the first family of polymer Bank of England banknotes and a new £20 note featuring JMW Turner will follow in 2020.  The £10 note contains new se

About 200 moped drivers and motorcyclists blocked traffic in Westminster on 18 July before marching on foot, calling for stronger penalties for those caught using acid as a weapon. The protest came in the wake of five acid attacks that took place in less than 90 minutes in east London on the night of 13 July. Not all the victims were delivery drivers, but all were riding mopeds at the time of the attacks. At least one of those attacked has suffered ‘life changing’ injuries. The pro

Campaigners from the charity Guide Dogs went to Downing Street to hand in a petition signed by more than 31,000 people calling on the government to introduce a new law to end problem pavement parking The charity said that cars parked on pavements are dangerous for pedestrians, especially people with sight loss, who are particularly affected as they can be forced into oncoming traffic that they cannot see. It said pavement parking also effects parents with pushchairs, wheelchair users and other

A British computer science student studying in California is expanding an online service that generates automated parking appeals to offer free advice on a wide range of legal issues in the UK and USA. Joshua Browder made international headlines when he launched the DoNotPay website for challenging parking tickets. In its two years of operation, Browder estimates the ‘chatbot’ has beaten 375,000 tickets across the UK and in the US cites of New York and Seattle. Now DoNotP

A pair of retail parks in Telford have been presented with the Park Mark award for safety and recognised for being accessible to disabled users with the Disabled Parking Accreditation (DPA). The Telford Forge Retail Park and Wrekin Retail Park are managed by facilities management company AEJ. “The parks attract customers from neighbouring towns with glowing reviews.  It is important for us to continue to maintain these high standards for our customers,” said Jayden Walton, AEJ

The AA is calling on English local authorities o invest parking revenues into maintaining their highways. A survey conducted by the motoring organisation found that 62% of English authorities have cut their budgets for the 2017/18 fiscal year by half-a-million pounds compared with 2016/17. The reduction is from £12.1m to £11.6m. AA president Edmund King said: "Far too often drivers are viewed by every level of government as wallets on wheels. We think it is time to redress the balan

Over 70 members of NHS staff have been told by a court that they have to pay parking charge notices (PCNs) issued at a hospital in Cardiff. The court case involved three people working at University Hospital of Wales (UHW), but the ruling on these lead cases will affect 78 in total. Last month a judge at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre ruled that parking operator Indigo Park Services UK could collect the charges from University Hospital of Wales staff. Indigo holds a contract to manage and maintai

The British Parking Association and what it stands for means a lot to me. It is an association that brings together all aspects of our industry, strives to achieve consistent, fair and high standards of service and provides a wealth of knowledge sharing, helping to bring industry providers together.  My role as president is to reach out to our members and stakeholders. Our sector and profession continue to change and evolve and I am delighted by how our association is responding by listeni

Over two-thirds of London boroughs provide a good online experience for residents applying for parking permits, according to a survey carried out by Socitm, the society for IT practitioners in the public sector.  Parking is one of the key services assessed by Socitm’s Better Connected performance surveys. Some 67% of London boroughs provided ‘good’ or ‘very good’ online service based on the survey, which was conducted in January. Vicky Sargent, Better Connect

Primary school children in Edinburgh have been creating 20mph-themed artwork to support of the city’s rollout of slower speeds to residential, shopping and city centre streets. As work begins to install signs and lines for the third phase of the project, primary four pupils at Flora Stevenson's Primary School have produced 20mph-themed posters featuring slogans such as "30's dirty - so don't do it; 20's plenty - so do it" and "Go Slow - 20's plenty" to drive home the message that slower s

A police officer will enforce taxi rules and regulations in Bristol and South Gloucestershire as part of a campaign to tackle cabbies and private hire drivers who operate illegally. PC Patrick Quinton, an Avon and Somerset Police officer, will dedicate his time to working with the taxi trade and council licensing teams to tackle illegal practices. He will patrol the city on an electric bike.

The Safer Parking Scheme is promoting the Park Mark using an advertising campaign based around camouflage body art. The advertising campaign focuses on the safer parking scheme criteria that are known to reduce crime and the fear of crime in car parks and aims to bring the scheme’s brand into people’s consciousness so that they know what to look for. 

A Canadian ANPR parking enforcement system that can be fitted on a motor scooter has been trialled in Belgium. The AutoVu Motoscan from Genetec is a lightweight, low-power automatic number plate recognition camera unit designed to be mounted on a small motorcycle without compromising the balance and stability of the vehicle.

Brighton & Hove City Council was named as the winner of the Best Report at the PATROL Parking Annual Reports by Councils (PARC) Awards, which were presented at the Houses of Parliament last month. The Best Concise Report Award was presented to South Lakeland Borough Council, while Chichester, Devon and Durham were recognised for best practice. The PARC Awards were created by PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London), which represents 309 local authorities in England and Wales

Essex has emerged as a model of partnership working when it comes to parking management and enforcement. The boroughs and districts have entered into two formal alliances – the North Essex Parking Partnership and South Essex Parking Partnership – in order to pool their knowledge, management and buying power. The partnerships are also committed to the use of in-house frontline staff, coordinating on-street and off-street parking and working across boundaries. However, there was a peri

Whether it’s on-street parking enforcement, congestion in off-street parking facilities, confusion about how to pay, or even just the frustration of trying to find a parking space, this all adds up in the mind of the consumer to a negative experience. Parking is important because parking is an issue that plays on the minds of people when deciding where to visit. A negative experience or perception can lead to more online shopping, more out-of-town retail park visits, and ultimately fewer t

Apprenticeships in the UK have undergone major change. In April the government introduced an Apprenticeship Levy that is designed to encourage more companies to invest in apprenticeship programmes. The new levy is part of a raft of changes that also see employers given more control over the content and delivery of apprenticeships. The new approach also enables employers to design apprenticeships that better reflect their activities and skills needs. This opens up opportunities for parking opera

Dyslexia and autistic tendencies long presented barriers to office work for Simon Hamilton, who found himself working in manual jobs for over 20 years. However, his acute observation skills have enabled the 45-year-old to undertake a career change. He is now reviewing video evidence at Imperial Civil Enforcement’s Business Processing Unit in Northampton. In this role his particular skills and attention to detail are proving to be invaluable. Hamilton grew up in Northamptonshire and after

Ensuring that new recruits and existing employees receive consistent training presents a major challenge for companies that operate on a nationwide basis. This was the situation facing Indigo Park Services UK, which has over 70 contracts for public and private sector clients from Plymouth in the South-West of England to Dundee in the North-East of Scotland. For many years, employee training at Indigo UK had been delivered using a traditional classroom-based approach. However, the company’s

Cambridgeshire Constabulary is conducting a crackdown on bad parking in villages using information collected via its website.  Residents were asked to submit information about anti-social and dangerous parking via a parking web page. The web page was the idea of Chief Inspector James Sutherland, area commander for South Cambridgeshire. Over 300 reports were received and used to coordinate an enforcement action on 18 April. A total of 79 drivers were pulled up for parking issues and 29 fin

Over 10,000 people signed petition on a single day calling on the government to stop problem pavement parking. The petition, launched by charity Guide Dogs, urges the government to make pavement parking illegal, except in certain areas allowed by local councils.  The Pavement Parking Petition Day on 19 June built on previous Guide Dogs campaigns on the issue, such as the campaign being a guest petition on the website Mumsnet. Cars parked on pavements pose a serious danger to people with s

“The more visible the security, the less visible your scooter is to thieves: adding extra security makes it harder for them to steal.” This is the message of a Metropolitan Police advertising campaign that urges riders of scooters, motorcycles and mopeds to use more security to avoid the theft of their vehicles. Commissioner Cressida Dick launched the campaign on 23 June at a popular parking bay in St James’s Square in Westminster, a borough that has been widely affected by th

Milton Keynes’ residents can now buy visitor parking via the RingGo Resident Visitor Permit (RVP) solution developed by Cobalt Telephone Technologies.  To apply for an RVP, residents must visit the company website (www.myRingGo.co.uk/permits) and complete the form online, uploading proof of residency if required.  However, Milton Keynes is also validating address details using RingGo’s verification solution, rather than asking applicants to upload documents

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is now using a camera system to detect drivers trying to avoid paying for parking by tailgating when leaving its barrier-controlled car parks. Besides representing a loss of revenue, tailgating causes safety issues as drivers seeking to cheat the car park have to race to beat the barrier to avoid payment.  Problems with tailgating in its car parks meant that the airport needed a means of identifying and dealing with car park cheats. It turned to ANPR Internat

A parking permit system produced for the Austrian capital Vienna has won the innovation category of the 2017 FINAT Label Competition. The jury of the European association for the self-adhesive label industry (FINAT) presented German printing company Schreiner Group with the award at the European Label Forum in Berlin. The annual FINAT Award recognises the best pressure-sensitive labels and related products. Some 300 print products were entered in this year’s competition

Steve Brown has joined Dukes Bailiffs as parking services director. He moves to Dukes from rival civil enforcement agent Equita, where he was business development director. At Dukes he will be responsible for expanding the company's market share of unpaid road traffic debt across England. After a career in the army, Brown entered the parking sector in 2003 as parking enforcement manager at Colchester Borough Council, before joining Equita in 2007. 

The International Parking Community (IPC) has appointed Charles Clowes as its new chief operating officer. Clowes joins the accredited trade association from National Car Parks (NCP), where he was head of commercial.  The creation of the chief operating officer role will see Will Hurley becoming chief executive of the IPC. Hurley said: “This is an influential and significant role and our search for the right person has taken quite some time. However, our patience has been worthwhile.

The British Parking Association (BPA) has achieved the Investors in People Gold Standard. The BPA has held the IiP Silver Standard since 2013, but decided to aim for the next level when renewal came around. In order to achieve the Gold Standard, the BPA looked at how its leadership worked, how it managed strategy development and recruitment. “Silver is great, but why wouldn’t you want to do better? Plus, the things you have to put in place in order to achieve Gold improve employee

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) says new proposals announced by the Mayor of London for road charging based on elements such as distance travelled and vehicle emissions could be a positive step for freight operators, provided they don’t simply add cost. The organisation, which represents half the UK’s road fleet, says it is interested in distance-based charging as an alternative to broad schemes such as congestion charging and low emission zones. However, the FTA says the pr

The world of parking was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, with Caroline Sheppard, chief adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal awarded an OBE, and Anjna Patel, principal officer at Sandwell Council becoming an MBE. The Honours List recognises individuals who have excelled in various endeavours and have brought distinction to British life. This year marks the centenary of the modern day honours system. Honours lists are published twice a year at the Queen’s official

A common problem for many disabled motorists is not being able to park at their desired destination, especially at their local supermarket. A frequent complaint is that the disabled bays are all occupied with cars not displaying a Blue Badge. Disabled Motoring UK is currently undertaking the 2017 edition of its Baywatch survey, which assesses levels of abuse of disabled parking spaces at supermarkets. The survey and further information about Baywatch can be found by clicking here The Baywat

A Hackney resident has launched a campaign to turn surplus on-street parking spaces into car-free ‘people parking bays’. Brenda Puech contacted the London Borough of Hackney to request an annual parking permit as she wanted to install a bench, cycle stands and plants in the bay outside her home. Her request was turned down by the authority, which said the permit could only be used for parking a vehicle. Undeterred, Puech organised a ‘direct action’ event on 26 May, tran

Some 20 years from now the way in which we travel may have been transformed by the widespread introduction of autonomous and connected electric-powered vehicles. Much of the research and discussion being undertaken at the moment is, necessarily, focussed on understanding the way in which the next generation of vehicles function. However, it is also important to understand the impact autonomous, connected and electric vehicles will have on the infrastructure of towns and cities.  For exampl

Nottingham City Council’s pioneering scheme to transform the city by funding greener transport through a workplace parking levy and Birmingham Big Bikes scheme have shared the 2017 Ashden Award for Clean Air in Towns and Cities. The Ashden Awards are presented to pioneers in sustainable energy and are a globally recognised measure of excellence. Along with 12 other organisations, Nottingham City Council will receive its award on Thursday 15 June at a prestigious ceremony at the Royal

Paul McCartney turned his encounter with a traffic warden into the exuberant and jaunty love letter ‘Lovely Rita’, which appeared on The Beatles’ classic album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Rita the Meter Maid, one of The Beatles’ most memorable musical creations, was brought to life as part of Liverpool’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt Pepper. International performance artist Meow Meow staged a three-part pageant last

The accuracy of ANPR enforcement systems used in supermarket car parks was challenged by Radio 4’s You and Yours in June. The programme took up the case of Kevin Ayres, who received an £85 parking charge notice (PCN) from ParkingEye after visiting a Lidl in Aberyswyth. The PCN was issued after he appeared to have parked at the store overnight, in breach of its terms and conditions. Ayres said he drove to the store in the evening to buy oven chips. No oven chips were available so he

The British Parking Association (BPA) has published a ‘Manifesto for Parking’ to ensure parking has a central place in government policy-making after the General Election. The BPA’s chief executive Andrew Pester said: “As the recognised authority in the parking sector, the BPA is driving change and we want commitment from the next government to act to ensure a smarter and more sustainable future for everyone.” The BPA said it wants to see more consistency in the wa

King Arthur Pendragon, a senior druid, lost his legal challenge against parking charges introduced by English Heritage at Stonehenge. Pendragon had argued that a parking fee of £15 for the 2016 Summer Solstice breached his human rights. At an initial court hearing in January, Pendragon said the claim was not about money or costs, but because the fee unfairly targeted his religion and forced him to “pay to pray”.  However, Salisbury County Court ruled that introducing ca

Pay & display machines have been attacked or stolen outright by criminals attempting to steal cash left in overnight, reports the British Parking Association (BPA). There have been reports from of thieves ripping machines straight from the ground under the cover of darkness in Bristol and Birmingham. The BPA also reports a number of beak-ins in which thieves have drilled into the side of machines in an attempt to access the cash box. The association says it has been informed of have been i

The recently upgraded car park at the Lower Precinct shopping centre in Coventry has retained its Park Mark status. Last autumn a Triflex system was installed to waterproof the rooftop as well as the relining of existing pathways to increase visibility and safety. The renovation contributed to the centre securing a Park Mark under the Safer Parking Award for the second year running. The Park Mark was renewed following a risk assessment conducted by the police and the British Parking Association

The Disabled Parking Accreditation (DPA) has been awarded a Certification Mark by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the official UK government body that is responsible for patents, designs and trademarks. The DPA scheme, which was launched by Disabled Motoring UK (DMUK) in 2014, recognises off-street parking facilities that are accessible to disabled motorists.  A certification mark is a specific type of trademark that provides a guarantee that the goods or services bearing the mark

The next president of the British Parking Association (BPA) will be Peter Lowe of consultant RTA Associates. He will take over the office from Steve Brown at the BPA’s AGM in July. Lowe has been a member of the BPA for many years and is the chair of the BPA Wales Parking and Transport Group, a position he has held since 2010. As an independent parking consultant, he has worked with and advised more than 175 local authorities, equipment suppliers, software companies, enforcement agents, co

Barbour Logic, a developer of parking correspondence software, has appointed Faisal Basharat as customer service manager.  Basharat’s background is in the field of web-based communications and media technologies. He has held a variety of customer service roles with organisations such as Orange, The Independent, Chitter Chatter, Bookatable and CommuniGator.  Fiona Deans, managing director of Barbour Logic, said: “Faisal’s experience in highly competitive technology-l

British Parking Award winner Jade Neville has joined Legion Parking as client account manager. Legion Parking is part of facilities management specialist OCS Group. Neville previously worked for APCOA Parking, where she started as a civil enforcement officer supervisor in 2007 before being promoted to the role of operations manager in 2014. She received the Front Line trophy at the British Parking Awards 2014 in recognition of her work as a ‘hate crime ambassador’, a role that saw

Traffic enforcement and management solutions company Videalert has appointed Jamie Robertson to the new role of operations and projects manager. Robertson will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations, including partner engagement and project management of Videalert installations across the UK.  Robertson has over 15 years’ project management experience. He joins Videalert from Civica Education where, as head of operations, he was responsible for managing support and ser

Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions has recruited Leadley Wilson as its training and systems consultant for northern England and Scotland.  Wilson joins the company from Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, where he worked on the major digital transformation programmes, helping to upskill staff across a range of software, systems and communication technologies.  He is an information and communications technology (ICT) and systems trainer, professionally qualified in Human Resourc

Croydon Parking Services has adopted a new look for its civil enforcement officers (CEOs), who now patrol the south London borough in two-tone uniforms that feature the council’s corporate purple colour as a key element of their design. The CEOs’ uniforms are not just a fresh colour, they represent a transition to a workwear created by Keltic Clothing made from materials that are more comfortable to wear. The council currently employs a total of 30 CEOs: 10 mobile officers on motorb

Parking is an emotive and potentially sensitive aspect of hospital life, but an NHS trust in the West Midlands is working to take the stress out of finding a space. Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust faced a parking conundrum that is all too familiar for hospital management teams all over the country: not enough car parking spaces to meet the demand from staff and visitors.  The trust is responsible for delivering healthcare services for well over 500,000 local people. It emp

Parking payment systems have been upgraded at three hospitals within the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The new pay-on-foot systems have been installed at North Tyneside General Hospital (NTGH) in North Shields, Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital (NSECH) in Cramlington and at the Wansbech General Hospital. The hospitals have been equipped with Designa’s ABACUS parking system comprising ANPR cameras linked to entrance and exit barriers and payment terminals. All t

Ofcom has been warned that proposals to open up part of the radio spectrum used for tag and beacon services to other communications services could create problems at bridges and toll roads. Intelligent Transport Systems (UK) has written to Ofcom on behalf of toll operators in Britain in response to the communications watchdog’s consultation on opening up the 5.8 GHz spectrum to Wi-Fi and other communication. This part of the spectrum is currently used for electronic tolling and other shor

A director of a leading property company has expressed concerns about the use of ANPR enforcement in retail car parks. Allan Lockhart, property director at New River Retail, told Radio 4’s You and Yours consumer affairs programme that his company tends to “shy away” from using an enforcement-based approach to managing parking at its 45 shopping centres. Lockhart said that limited stay regimes enforced by cameras are not customer friendly. “From our perspective, running

The cost of parking at hospitals hit the headlines during the General Election when Labour announced it would scrap parking fees at NHS sites in England. Whether or not to charge fees is a decision for individual NHS trusts in England. In contrast, hospital parking fees were abolished in Scotland and Wales in 2008, although a number of hospitals still charge where they have contracts with private parking companies. Parking may be charged for in Northern Ireland. Speaking in Worcester on 7 May t

Charging-based Clean Air Zones should only be implemented if absolutely necessary to bring nitrogen dioxide concentrations down to legal levels, the government has told English local authorities. The plan has been published following a long legal battle with environmental groups. The plan, titled Improving air qua

Pupils and teachers across Edinburgh have joined a campaign to discourage inconsiderate parking at school gates.  The ParkSmart initiative, which was launched on 28 April, aims to cut congestion at the beginning and end of the school day while promoting active travel amongst children and their families. The scheme aims to awareness of the hazards caused by drivers parking on yellow zig zag lines, double parking or mounting the pavement. Instead, parents are being encouraged to consider al

Parking management software provider ZatPark has announced its move into the on-street enforcement sector. Until now the company specialised in providing enforcement, permit and payment technology to the off-street sector, but has now developed an app-based approach for civil parking enforcement (CPE). ZatPark has brought in Michael Cosentino, whose background is in providing enforcement systems to the local authority, to lead its move into the CPE sector (see panel). “The back office ap

Drivers’ chances of successfully challenging penalty charge notices (PCNs) varies significantly across the country, suggests research conducted by the Press Association (PA). While English local authorities approve only one in 10 appeals against on-street PCNs, others accept nearly every challenge, reports the PA, which obtained data from 98 English local authorities through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. The figures cover initial challenges to on-street parking fines received fro

Michael Cosentino has joined parking IT specialist Zatpark to the new role of local authority business development manager. His main task is to bring the newly launched iZatPark on-street enforcement app to market. Cosentino was previously technical director at Civica, a company providing enforcement notice processing software used in civil parking enforcement. He worked for Civica for 24 year and was product director for civil enforcement systems when he left the company in late 2013.

Steve Brown has left civil enforcement agency Equita after 10 years to pursue new opportunities. Brown has been the bailiff company’s business development director since 2007.  Prior to joining Equita he was head of parking services at Colchester Borough Council. He entered the parking sector after a 23 year career in the Army.  After a long illness, in 2015 he underwent a major organ transplant and made a  speedy recovery, enabling him to take up the role of elected presi

Stephanie Harling has joined Bristow & Sutor’s client development management team, where she will work with local government clients in the north west of England. Harling was previously with Callcredit, where she was a client manager for the public sector with responsibility for providing credit and fraud solutions to local and central government.  She has 10 years’ local government experience working within revenues and benefits departments at Craven District Council and

The travails of President Trump, the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, carnage in Syria and the politics of Brexit have all been dominating the headlines for months, so it was a surprise to see one of the world’s most influential business publications, The Economist, devoted a leader article (‘Aparkalypse now’) and a feature piece (‘Sacred spaces’) to parking’s impact on the health and vitality of cities. “Parking can seem like the most humdrum concern

From automated electric cars to supersonic trains and fare paying rocket ships, Elon Musk has bold visions when it comes to how we will travel. But The Wall Street Journal recently explored how the American technologist is having to get to grips with a far more mundane issue: how to accommodate all the growing number of employees who want to use the staff car parks at his offices and factories in California. “Parking is, like, one of my biggest nightmares. Like, where do we park everyone?

Local authorities in Scotland made a £40.3m surplus from their parking activities in 2015-16, according to analysis conducted for the RAC Foundation. This is 12% higher than in the 2014-15 financial year when £36.1m was reported. Data analysed for the RAC Foundation shows that Scotland’s 32 councils had a combined income from their parking activities – charges and penalty income from on-street and off-street parking – of £79.3m. However, the combined cost

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on how to deliver a more consistent approach to managing parking in Scotland. Transport Scotland’s Improving Parking in Scotland consultation seeks views on how to address the issue of pavement parking, as well as views on how best to manage disabled parking provision, and determining what parking incentives local authorities can provide for the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles.  In May 2015, Sandra White MSP, introduced the Fo

Keltic Clothing showcased two enhancements to its footwear range at Parkex. The ankle support of the Magnum Impact boot features a material called Armourgel, which reduces injuries associated with walking. The boot also now has a Michelin technical sole that offers better grip in wet conditions. Keltic’s director David Barry said that because frontline parking staff (CEOs) do a lot of walking, their feet impact the ground thousands of times every shift. This means their ankles are at risk

A car covered in yellow parking charge notices (PCNs) is being used to remind motorists to be careful when leaving their vehicles on private land.  The ticket-plastered vehicle is the brainchild of Costas Constantino, director of FlashPark, a company specialising in ‘self-ticketing’.  The ‘Ticket Car’, which is covered in parking charge notices, demonstrates how an ignored notice or fine can proliferate. It will drive round major UK cities and towns beginning

The Metropolitan Police will be among the first fleets participating in the Ford Transit plug-in hybrid van (PHEV) London trial, starting this autumn. Ford is working with Transport for London (TfL) and the UK Government-funded Advanced Propulsion Centre on the project, which designed to explore how lower-emission plug-in hybrid electric vans could support cleaner air targets, whilst boosting productivity for operators in urban conditions. The project features a 12-month trial of 20 new Ford

A map of the moon, a miniature music box, a collection of coins and a parking ticket are among the artefacts in a time capsule that will be locked away for 300 years. The James D Robinson Time Capsule, which has been put together by a County Durham photographer, is to be stored at Durham County Record Office. Robinson, whose photos are includ

Back in 2015, together with the Guide Dogs, we worked with Simon Hoare MP to sponsor a Private Member's Bill in Parliament which would prevent people from parking on pavements except in places exempted by the council. At the time, the government agreed that this was a really important issue and asked us to withdraw the Bill so that they could conduct their own research into the best way forward. Following that, we were part of a roundtable chaired by Andrew Jones.  Following that meeting

‘Smarter choices’ have been in the news again recently. The Behavioural Insight Team reported that several ‘low-cost behaviour change interventions’ designed to reduce commuting to Heathrow Airport made no measurable difference. Their comments on evaluation methods (“don’t trust self-reported surveys”) have re-opened a long-running controversy: how do we know any of these measures actually work? ‘Smarter choices’ is a catch-all phrase, encom

A former winner of The Young Parking Professional of the Year Award has been appointed as client account manager at NSL.  Beth Rutherford has joined the outsourcing company following earlier roles as a parking officer and parking quality assurance officer at the London Borough of Ealing.  Rutherford will be mainly based at NSL’s offices in Camden where she will take responsibility for managing the London council’s contract as well as assisting with NSL’s Camden cont

Laws allowing local authorities to ban pavement parking in London should be rolled out across the country to crack down on inconsiderate motorists endangering lives, councils say. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, says all councils need extra flexibility to introduce bans if needed.  The association said pavement parking bans could free up congested pavements and make it safer for pedestrians.  The LGA says pavement

Transport minister Andrew Jones publicly defended he relationship between the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the private parking sector during a Westminster Hall debate in the Houses of Parliament. MPs voiced their concerns about the sale the appropriateness of a government agency selling vehicle keeper data to private companies on 21 March. To read the full debate click here Responding to the discussion, Jones

Back in the 18th Century highwaymen such as Dick Turpin regularly robbed mail coaches, now a new generation of highwayman is likely to appear, spurred on by the arrival of automated delivery droids, drones and driverless vans. Autonomous deliveries are already happening. Amazon drones have delivered parcels in Cambridgeshire, droids have carried food and goods in London, and driverless vans are operating in Greenwich. But as technology takes over, a new generation of cyber-criminals will be ben

NSL has launched an academy for apprenticeship training. The NSL Academy aims to help public sector organisations and private companies capitalise on the government’s new apprenticeship levy, which will come into effect in April. The NSL Academy will focus on leadership and management development programmes. Jason Stevens, an organisation development consultant, has joined NSL as programme director for the new operation. “When the new levy is introduced, the onus w

The North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) has filmed a recruitment video that encourages people to take up a career as a civil enforcement officer (CEO). NEPP is a coalition of local authorities undertaking parking enforcement from bass in Braintree, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Tendring and Uttlesford. By focusing on a young mother who works as a CEO and her interaction with the public, the partnership hopes the video will challenge misconceptions about what par

Patrick Troy, former chief executive of the British Parking Association, has admitted charges of outraging public decency in court. Troy, 56, pled guilty to committing an act outraging public decency at Westminster Magistrates Court and was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years. The court heard Troy, who resigned from his position at the association in February for personal reasons, was made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which prohibits

Buyers of new or nearly new cars should check who has access to the data their car generates and how that data will be used to their benefit, before they sign on the dotted line.  This is a warning made by Smartdriverclub, a connected car service, which states that most motorists are unaware of the data their car is generating and how this is being used by manufacturers. Penny Searles, chief executive of Smartdriverclub said: “Data from connected cars is being gathered by motor man

Parking in the City will be the theme of the 18th European Parking Congress. The congress is the biennial gathering of the European Parking Association (EPA),  which will take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands from 20-22 September 2017.  The EPA Congress brings together participants from more than 30 countries worldwide to discuss future developments and best practices of the European parking industry.  The congress also hosts the presentation of the winners of the European Parki

Some would have us believe that technology has the answer to everything. True, new technologies have opened our eyes to all kinds of new opportunities, new possibilities and new aspirations.  One area that has developed rapidly is the ability of new systems to produce copious amounts of data, often output in real time. But, it’s not outputs that ever make the difference. It’s the way those outputs are applied and exploited to deliver what really matters – the right outcom

Barbour Logic will be marking a decade of working in the parking sector at Parkex 2017. It is 10 years since the company introduced its correspondence technology to help local authorities reduce risk, ensure consistency and improve efficiencies in answering queries from motorists who have received a penalty charge notice (PCN).  At this year’s Parkex, Barbour Logic will be showcasing the latest developments with its Response Master system.  “Response Master has created ov

Bournemouth Borough Council is taking the first steps to deter inconsiderate parking outside schools by deploying CCTV cameras. Six cameras will be deployed as part of a year-long pilot scheme at an initial three school locations where illegal parking on the yellow ‘keep clears’ has been identified as putting children’s lives in danger.  Elaine Smith, Bournemouth’s deputy parking services manager said: “The zigzag lines provided outside our schools are there t

When the first traffic wardens took to the streets of London in the 1960s, they were dressed in the black Police uniform of the time, with woollen tunics and trousers, and shiny hats.  Their yellow epaulettes were the only hint of colour, so these monochrome meter maids and masters cut a severe figure against the backdrop of the Swinging Sixties. What a difference half a century makes. With the decriminalisation of parking enforcement, frontline parking staff or civil enforcement officers

Parkex, the British Parking Association’s annual conference, celebrates its silver jubilee this year. The three-day parking event runs parallel to Traffex at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC). Over 70 companies will be showcasing the latest products and services available to the parking sector in Hall 5 at the NEC between 4-6 April. Companies on show will include payment equipment manufacturers, digital parking solution developers, enforcement IT specialists and traffic

Debt recovery group Marston Holdings won the Responsible Approach to Consumers award at the Chartered Institute of Credit Management’s 2017 British Credit Awards. The jury said: “Understanding that leadership is vital in creating a culture of customer first, Marston has demonstrated a clear approach to treating customers fairly and managing the most vulnerable in society.” Gareth Hughes, chief executive of Marston, was also named Credit Professional of the Year, with the judg

Home to the West End, Oxford Street and a host of landmarks, Westminster City Council attracts a lot of traffic. It has just 10,000 public street parking spaces, which means it has long been on the leading edge when it comes to parking, pioneering concepts such as cashless parking, using bay sensors to monitor street parking activity and adopting a marshalling approach to kerbside management. Besides managing congestion and making efficient use of limited public parking, the city council is look

There’s no getting away from it: surveillance cameras are everywhere in the UK. A survey by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) carried out three years ago estimated up to 6 million CCTV cameras in the UK. It’s said that in an urban area on a busy day a person could have their image captured by around 300 cameras on 30 different systems. Under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the Home Secretary issued the surveillance camera code of practice with 12 guiding principl

APCOA has appointed Ken Stone as the its new regional manager south. Stone will be responsible for all of APCOA’s southern contracts, including London, as well building client relationships, driving innovation and securing new business. Stone has worked in parking enforcement management roles in both the public and private sectors. He has served with councils in Newham, Camden, Horsham, Lambeth, Barnet and Barking & Dagenham.  Stone said: “After six years of consultancy w

Parking & Property 2017 8 June: 15 Hatfields, London Parking & Property is the only annual event dedicated to off-street parking. Over the past 7 years the conference has provided a forum for debate and sharing best practice among public and private sector car park owners and operators, developers, planners and companies supplying design and equipment services. The conference content is developed by Nigel Williams, managing director of Parking Matters, and Mark Moran, editor of

Parking projects that seek to make the lives of children safer and easier where among the winners at the British Parking Awards 2017, which took place on Friday 10 March. Kent County Council won the Front Line Award for its Responsible Parking Squad initiative. The council has devised a toolkit of materials and techniques that can be used by pupils at secondary schools to tackle the problem of dangerous parking and driving, especially during the school run. The London Borough of Wandsworth rec

The winners of the British Parking Awards 2017 will be revealed at an awards ceremony in London on 10 March. The British Parking Awards were launched by Parking Review magazine in 2002 to recognise achievement and best practice in the design and management of parking. With winners selected by a jury of their peers, the British Parking Parking Awards logo and trophy have become a respected and coveted mark of excellence among parking professionals. Below we provide a guide to the finalists. Par

The London Borough of Havering has introduced fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to crack down on dangerous driving and parking during the school run. This is being claimed to b the first use of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) to make anti-social driving a criminal offence in areas around schools. The east London council is piloting the use of PSPOs following attempts to discourage antisocial parking around schools using education campaigns and decriminalisd penalty charge notices. Cllr Osman

Public surveillance systems can safeguard the wellbeing of local communities, says contractor NSL, which works for the London Borough of Hackney’s Civil Protection Service. In just a single month, NSL’s public space surveillance team identified and prosecuted six persistent fly-tippers and located a vulnerable missing 14-year-old girl, a prolific drug dealer and a distressed and vulnerable man in response to specific appeals from the local police. In total, the team dealt with near

Derby City Council leader Ranjit Banwait has been caught on camera parking his car on double and single yellow lines outside a school. Residents took photographs of Banwait’s car on various streets surrounding the school. The council leader said in a statement: “The safety of my children is paramount. But as for many parents, finding the right place to park on the school run can be difficult. In such circumstances we all have to make choices and I haven’t always made the right

A guide designed to help local authorities understand the opportunities and challenges presented by rapidly accelerating advances in transport technology has been published by the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) and ITS (UK). The second edition of the Local Authority Guide to Emerging Transport Technology is targeted at local government officers, elected members and their consultants and explains how technology can aid delivery of a range of policy objectives, from reducing em

Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bentleys were among than £87m of uninsured vehicles saved from potentially being crushed during 2016, according to automotive experts hpi. The £87m figure is £20m up on 2015’s figure of £67m, making it a record year for hpi’s CrushWatch scheme in terms of vehicles saved. CrushWatch was devised in 2009 to allow police forces to check vehicles prior to disposal, giving the option of reuniting finance companies with their assets. More

Patrick Troy has resigned as chief executive of the British Parking Association (BPA), citing “personal reasons”. He joined the association in 2009 from Transport for London (TfL), where he had been of traffic enforcement from 2001. At TfL he was responsible for bus lane enforcement and moving traffic enforcement on the Red Route nework. Prior to working at TfL, Troy was head of parking services at the London Borough of Sutton, overseeing the introduction of decriminalised parking

A £10 charge will be levied on the most polluting vehicles entering central London from this autumn, mayor Sadiq Kahn has confirmed. The Emissions Surcharge has been dubbed a toxicity or “T-Charge” will come into effect on October 23, at the start of the autumn half-term. The T-Charge is part of a range of measures the mayor is introducing to tackle poor air quality in the capi

Brighton & Hove Council has started upgrading its parking machines as it prepares for the introduction of the new 12-sided £1 coin on 28 March. The move will see most parking machines in the city switched to pay-by-card as part of a £1.8m investment to improve reliability and cut down on theft. Some 298 of the city’s oldest machines, which take coins, will be removed and replaced with Parkeon's Strada Evolution pay & display machines that accept both chip-and-pin and

Fake parking charge notices are being sent out via email, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has warned.  The PSNI in Ards posted a Facebook message saying that a woman had contacted police about the notice, which they confirmed was a fraud. It features a CPS Enforcement Northern Ltd label and claims the vehicle holder was parked on “private property”. The police have urged the public to inform family and friends about the scam. CPS Enforcement Northern Ltd asks any

A Colchester councillor is issuing football style ‘yellow cards’ to drivers who continue to leave their vehicles on grass verges in the town. Darius Laws received complaints from residents in the Cowdray Avenue area of a blue van continually using a grass verge on the south side of the road. While investigating the issue, he found that no enforcement action could be taken against the vehicle’s owner because, although his actions are causing a nuisance, the van is not parked o

Councils must do more to make parking fines “fairer”, states a new report from The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). The report - Fairer Fines, Ensuring good practice in the management of Parking and Traffic Penalties - highlights some of the common complaints it receives about parking and moving traffic penalties. The Ombudsman says people are sometimes being treated unfairly and may be paying fines unnecessarily. Common problems include not telling people of their appeal rights (i

Up to 42 towns across Northern Ireland could lose their regular traffic attendant patrols because of the low level of penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued per month. Under new Department for Infrastructure (DFI) proposals, areas with fewer than 10 PCNs issued a month or vehicle drive aways (VDAs) will be removed from the schedule for routine patrols. A review of transport NI’s southern division has already led to seven towns being removed from the patrol schedule. These include Dromore,

The British Parking Association is to cease funding the panel that scrutinises the operation of Parking Appeals on Private Land (POPLA), the appeals service for members of its Approved Operator Service.  The Independent Scrutiny Board for Parking Appeals on Private Land (ISPA) said the BPA would cease providing it with funding from 1 April. This means that it will no longer be able to investigate complaints brought by the public about decisions made by POPLA or review the appeals services

The London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley have jointly awarded APCOA a new 10-year parking contract. The new arrangements, which will start in April 2017, will help to further harmonise the procedures and processes of both authorities and produce efficiency savings.  Bromley and Bexley became a shared service in 2013. To date, these authorities have utilised the services of separate contractors to undertake parking enforcement and other related duties while existing contracts ran their ter

Two Islington residents who sold visitor parking vouchers for profit on Arsenal match days at the Emirates Stadium have been banned from buying any more. The London Borough of Islington has warned it will take similar steps if others misuse the scheme. Visitor vouchers are available for Islington residents who need a parking space near their homes for friends, family or tradespeople.  However, a small number of people have misused the scheme by buying visitor vouchers and selling them on f

All lorry drivers who use satellite navigation systems should be compelled to use commercial models, says the Government Association (LGA). The association also wants central government to enable English councils to take enforcement action where necessary. Villages and rural communities across the country have been affected by a recent spate of lorry smashes, says the association. For example, a historic bridge in Marlow, Bucks, had to be closed for months after a driver reportedly drove a

The car parks serving Resorts World Birmingham has obtained a Park Mark under the Safer Parking Scheme. Located at the National Exhibition Centre campus, Resorts World Birmingham is billed as being Europe’s first large scale leisure and entertainment resort destination. It brings outlet shopping, eighteen bars and restaurants, hotel and spa, casino, conferencing and cinema under one roof. The car park, has two internal car parks with 570 spaces over three floors servicing all aspects

Council car parks in the Nottinghamshire towns of Worksop and Retford have attained the Park Mark standard under the Safer Parking Scheme. Eighteen out of 20 Bassetlaw District Council’s car parks have been recognised for their crime prevention measures and facilities, such as CCTV, lighting and surface reporting. The Park Mark is awarded by the police and British Parking Association (BPA) to parking facilities that have achieved the standards of the Safer Parking Scheme risk assessment.

A judge has told a leading druid that he can take English Heritage (EH) to court to challenge parking charges at Stonehenge.  Parking at the Neolithic monument, which is managed by EH, usually costs £5. The parking fee rose to £15 during the 2016 summer solstice. King Arthur Pendragon argued the £15 breached his human rights and led to 12,500 people being excluded from the event.  A judge at Salisbury County Court granted Pendragon a full hearing at a small claims

Ashford Borough Council in Kent is expanding its uniformed parking patrol and back office teams to enable it to step up enforcement activities aimed at improving road safety and tackling anti-social parking by lorries. The number of civil enforcement officers (CEOs) will increase by four to 12. The CEOs work directly for the coumcil. “Over the past decade, the roles and priorities of the officers have changed and increased. Therefore additional support will help the council deliver a mor

Motorists claiming they were issued parking charge notices in a private car park because a payment terminal did not correctly register their number plates can have the tickets waived, as long as they pay an administration fee. The offer to waive the PCNs was made by the car park’s operator, Premier Parking Solutions (PPS), which runs the Keaton Road car park in Ivybridge, near Plymouth. Drivers displaying parking tickets with an incorrect vehicle registration number were deemed to be brea

Westminster City Council is to start issuing penalty charge notices (PCNs) to drivers of cars, vans, coaches and taxis if they leave engines idling for more than a minute while parked. Over the past year the council has been running a campaign designed to raise awareness about the environmental and health dangers of vehicle idling, which contribute to high levels of air pollution in central London.  The council also says that engine idling creates a noisy environment, particularly affecti

Visitors to hospitals were issued an estimated £13.3m in parking fines last year according to a FOI request by online parking place YourParkingSpace.co.uk. The parking charge notices (PCNs) issued at NHS sites ranged in price from £10 to £100. The company’s analysis, based on 136 NHS trust responses, showed that one in ten of the 159,000 tickets issued were appealed, of which two-thirds were successfully overturned. “The chances of successfully appealing a ticket

A growing population and increasing number of cars on the Isle of Wight will need to be tackled with more consistent parking enforcement and pricing measures, new payment systems and measures to better balance the supply and demand of spaces. Isle of Wight Council’s executive has agreed a parking strategy developed by consultant White Young Green, whose recommendations are based on public consultation, spoke to town and parish councils, business associations and transport operators. The c

The London Borough of Redbridge has been through a period of self-scrutiny, renewal and reinvention over the past 12 months. Since the arrival of new chief executive Andy Donald a year ago there have been big changes, with a new structure comprising four directorates: People, Place, Resources and Strategy. Parking, traffic management and transport now sit in Place, which is made up of three sections – Regeneration & Property, Housing and Civic Pride.  Civic Pride also covers high

APCOA Parking has recognised the achievements of employees at a dinner and awards ceremony. Trophies were presented to 16 members of staff who the parking operator felt have delivered excellent service and often gone beyond the call of duty. The recipients were drawn from across the company’s on-street and off-street teams in the UK and Ireland. They include both front line staff and those working in back office or contract management roles. Many recipients were recognised for engaging w

Douglas Campbell OBE has been appointed chair of the Independent Scrutiny Board for Parking Appeals on Private Land (ISPA). The board’s remit is to ensure that the POPLA service for adjudicating appeals against parking charge notices (PCNs) issued on private land is independent and fair.  The board reviews specific areas of POPLA work and considers complaints raised by members of the stakeholder community, primarily operators and motorists. The board makes recommendations to POPLA fo

There is growing concern among motorists about both the cost and availability of parking around the UK, says the RAC. The motoring organisation is flagging up concerns about parking that were revealed in its 2016 annual report on motoring. Almost a fifth (18%) of the 1,714 motorists surveyed for the report said the cost of parking is one of their top-four concerns, a 50% increase, compared with one in eight (12%) who said this in 2015.  Concerns about the availability of parking have also

The long list of entries to the British Parking Awards 2017 has been unveiled. This year the competition has attracted over 90 submissions that are now being assessed by the jury.The British Parking Awards encompass the worlds of traffic management, architecture, enforcement, technology and property.This year there are entries from local authorities, commercial operators, rail companies, universities, retailers, consruction companies, equipment suppliers and many others. To see the 2017 entry li

There has been much discussion surrounding virtual permits in the parking industry, but we should also consider the possibility of the virtual penalty charge notice (PCN). With the ubiquity of the internet and the ability to transfer PCN information in real-time to back office databases, the virtual PCN seems inevitable. Of course, current government legislation and approved operator schemes require that a PCN issued by a civil enforcement officer (CEO) on-street and ‘in-person’ off

The Sustainable Transport & Health Summit is the key event and showcase of 2017 for transport, parking, public health and urban professionals involved in delivering active lifestyles that help make healthier places. The UK government recognises the important role of transport in building healthy places where people want to work and live and has committed to supporting sustainable travel initiatives. The government has made significant funding available for sustainable travel – some &po

The latest Annual Report from Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA), the first from Ombudsman Services, provides a comprehensive account of the numbers of PCNs appealed as well as providing important clarification on some commonly contested topics. These include interpretation of the 10-minute grace period and how the Ombudsman deals with mitigating circumstances. Since launching POPLA in 2012, the BPA has transformed the management of parking on private land and delivered truly independent a

When Ombudsman Services was awarded a contract by the British Parking Association to operate the Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) service it spent many months preparing before going live at the end of 2015. But, as the organisation’s first POPLA annual report reveals, practice was no substitute for real world experience. When motorists breach terms and conditions in privately owned car parks, their vehicles will receive a parking charge notice. If the notice is left unpaid, the lan

When it comes to parking a car, there are a lot of things that can compromise service standards and antagonise motorists. Among the more obvious bugbears are inadequate or badly located signage, nonsensical traffic regulation orders, poorly maintained facilities, inconvenient payment arrangements, heavy-handed enforcement and the antics of persistent evaders. Faced with such frustrations and a perception that parking is a money-spinner for struggling local authorities and unscrupulous private c

Outsource service provider NSL has appointed Kelly Alderson as its head of human resources. Formerly regional head of HR for Mitie Cleaning & Environmental Services, Alderson has over 15 years of experience in human resource management having worked in facilities management, manufacturing, transport and retailing.

An online system developed for handling appeals lodged by motorists against parking and traffic penalties has won an award. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal and the Parking And Traffic Regulations Outside London (PATROL) joint committee won the Excellence in Technology Award at the North of England Transport Awards 2016 for the online parking appeal system FOAM (Fast Online Appeal Management).  The award was announced on 7 December at the Midland Hotel in Manchester at the prize’s inaugu

Nick Lester-Davis has retired from his role as corporate director of services at London Councils, the cross-party organisation that represents the capital’s 32 borough councils and the Corporation of London. For almost a decade he has been responsible for the London-wide service delivery in the fields of traffic and transport, grant to voluntary organisations, databases in adult and childrens services and improvement of local services.  Lester-Davis has also been the face of public p

The surplus produced from council parking operations in England has reached a record high of just over three-quarters of a billion pounds, analysis by the RAC Foundation has revealed. In the 2015-16 financial year, the 353 local authorities in England generated a combined surplus of £756m from their on-street and off-street parking activities. This is a 9% increase on the 2014-15 figure of £693m, and 34% higher than in 2011-12. The figures are calculated

London’s boroughs marginally won the majority of appeals against penalty charge notices issued for parking heard by the capital’s independent adjudicators. London Tribunals’ Environment and Traffic Adjudicators determined 27,696 appeals against parking PCNs. According the tribunal's annual report for 2015-16, the adjudicators allowed 13,572 appeals, of which 5,803 were not contested by the enforcing authorities, but refused 14,124 appeals. Parking appeals made up the vast maj

Medway Council has started carrying out nighttime parking enforcement patrols on business parks in a bid to stop illegal lorry parking. This is to tackle problems of anti-social behaviour and dangerous parking. The Kent council has received reports of drivers parking on-street and in business parks and sleeping overnight in their cabs. On 1 November the hours of enforcement in Medway were extended to 7am - 1am seven days a week. Previously patrols ran from 7.30am – 10pm Monday to Friday,

The evolution of parking enforcement teams into ambassadors for local authorities is explored in a short film produced by the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE). The film, More than Just the Ticket, looks at Warwickshire County Council’s relationship with contractor NSL to promote the benefits of a multi-functional workforce. APSE is a not-for-profit network that promotes improved ways of working across local government, the police, fire services and the public sector. 

The wheel clamp, a device that has sown much discord between parking operators and drivers, was ironically the brainchild of a musician. Frank Marugg, a violinist with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, came up with the idea in 1944. It was adopted by the city’s police force as a way of ensuring scofflaws paid parking penalties. The success of the ‘Denver Boot’ led to the clamp spreading across the United States and then the world. Now an American company has developed a new means

The Northern Ireland Executive is seeking ways of making the renewal process for Blue Badge holders with life-long mobility issues simpler and more accessible. Department for Infrastructure minister Chris Hazzard said: “For many people with life-long mobility issues, the Blue Badge is a lifeline ‎enabling them to integrate in the community and go about many of the daily routines many of us take for granted. “Many of these badge holders have conditions which are unlikely to chang

Transport for London (TfL) is enhancing its traffic enforcement technology and developing a new parking enforcement mobile application.  TfL has awarded SEA a contract to further develop and provide ongoing support of its Digital Traffic Enforcement System (DTES) and to develop and support a Parking Enforcement Solution (PES) app. The combined contracts are worth in excess of £6.5m and include ten years of support for both systems. SEA, a company in the Cohort group, originally deve

NCP has retained the Park Mark award for nine of its 10 car parks at Birmingham Airport after an assessment by West Midlands Police. It is the seventh consecutive year that NCP has achieved the standard, awarded via the Safer Parking Scheme. Tom Freeman, operations manager for NCP at Birmingham Airport, said: “The safety of passengers using our car parks is our biggest priority, so to receive recognition for our commitment to this is very gratifying. In the last year, we have invested an

All five car parks run by Charnwood Borough Council in Loughborough town centre have had their Park Marks renewed. Four sites – Granby Street, Browns Lane, Southfields Road and Southfields Road office – have received the Park Mark award for the eighth year in a row, while Beehive Lane car park has held the award for 12 years. The sites received the Park Mark for ensuring a safer environment with a high standard of cleanliness, signage, surveillance and lighting. Cllr David Hayes, t

A car park created by farmers to provide spaces for rail users in Northamptonshire has received a Park Mark. Farming family Jackson & Co identified the need for parking at Long Buckby Station after noticing how many cars were parked on adjacent roads. The family obtained planning permission for a 290-space car park, helping reduce the number of vehicles parked on the approach road. The car park is operated for the family by Indigo Park Solutions. The Jackson family said: “We are rea

The efficient management of the kerbside and roadspace is essential to the health, wealth and vitality of urban centres. These were central themes of Parking World 2016, which took place in London on 24 November.  Over 250 people attended Parking World to listen to a programme featuring over 50 speakers from across UK and Europe. There were presentations by local authorities, academics, consultants, architects, technologists, campaigners and contractors. The programme was devised by Mark

The London Borough of Lambeth has made tackling environmental crimes such as fly-tipping, littering, spitting, urinating and dog fouling a priority.  The south London council has signed a contract with APCOA UK & Ireland that will see its civil enforcement officers (CEOs) expand their role beyond enforcing parking regulations to become responsible for issuing fines for environmental crimes.  “Managing our streets goes beyond just ticketing illegally parked cars,” said

The British Parking Awards 2017 are open for entries. The annual competition recognises excellence in parking policy, design and management. The awards span the on-street and off-street parking sectors, encompassing the planning, design and management of both structures and operations. There are also categories that recognise the achievements of individuals and teams working in the parking sector. The awards also categories that recognise innovative systems and business approaches. The categor

#OurDay is a social media event designed to highlight and celebrate the diverse work carried out by local government across the UK. This year’s 24-hour ‘tweetathon’ saw messages posted by council teams running libraries, adult care, lighting, highways and, as we showcase here, parking. #OurDay, which has been taking place for the last four years, seeks to demonstrate the value local government provides to the public, even as councils work in a challenging financial environment

The efficient management of the kerbside and roadspace is essential to the health, wealth and vitality of urban centres. This will be a central theme of Parking World 2016, which takes place at the Kia Oval in London on 24 November.  There will be sessions on: the provision and regulation of parking in town and city centres; the workplace parking levy concept; fighting Blue Badge fraud; and the development of online parking payment and booking services. To book your place click here (Quot

The initials are the same – IPC – but the International Parking Community has a much more ambitious remit than its original incarnation, the Independent Parking Committee. This was the message delivered by IPC director Will Hurley at the organisation’s annual conference, which was held at the Hallmark Mickleover Court Hotel near Derby on 3 November. “It has been an outstanding year for the International Parking Community, with membership continuing to grow under our new a

The Independent Appeals Service (IAS) deals with appeals from motorists issued with parking charge notices for parking on private land issued by members of The Independent Parking Community (IPC). The IAS operates two separate types of appeal: the Standard Appeal process, and the Non-Standard Appeal process. In every case where the Non-Standard service is made available to the consumer, they have already had the opportunity to use a free service but have failed to avail themselves of it. Around

Transport for London’s Retiming Deliveries Consortium won the Quiet Cities Collaboration Award at the Noise Abatement Society’s John Connell Awards.  The group, made up of London boroughs, trade associations and retailers, has retimed 80,000 deliveries across 237 premises to reduce congestion and make operations more efficient. Other benefits include a reduction in the risk of collisions, improved air quality and reduced costs. Natalie Chapman, the Freight Transport Associatio

The award winning parking manager Mirsad Bakalovic has been appointed to the newly created position of head of Civic Pride at the London Borough of Redbridge. He was previously head of parking, mobility and transport services at Tower Hamlets council. Bakalovic’s new role at Redbridge is part of a wholesale restructuring of the council, led by new chief executive Andy Donald. The council has built a new framework, with four new directorates - People, Place, Resources and Strategy - which

Siemens ITS will host its first traffic enforcement user group forum this month. More than 50 road safety and civil enforcement representatives from local authorities across the UK will assemble in London on? 9 November to discuss parking and civil enforcement technology. The meeting takes place at The Crystal, an educational initiative through which Siemens

Southampton City Council has taken delivery of a new mobile camera enforcement vehicle.  The vehicle will patrol the city targeting vehicles that stop unlawfully on the ‘keep clears’ outside schools in response to concerns raised by parents and teachers about children being put at risk by irresponsible parking. It will also be used to enforce illegal parking at bus stops that causes unnecessary delays for other road users and potentially puts people at risk.

People living in, working in and visiting a group of historic towns and villages in Dorset can now order parking permits online as and when they need them. Christchurch Borough Council and East Dorset District Council, which operate a joint parking team, have ended the use of paper-based parking permits and opted for a virtual permit solution to manage access to resident, business, visitor and Blue Badge permits in towns such as Chichester and and Wimbourne Minster, which are popular tourist des

Civil enforcement officers in Sevenoaks are now using electric bikes to patrol the Kent town’s streets. Sevenoaks District Council has bought two electric bicycles in order to help the CEOs cover greater distances and negotiate hills. The council said the e-bikes will be more efficient and help reduce its carbon footprint by reducing the need to use diesel-engined vans. Normal 0

Chichester District Council is introducing a range of cashless payment options in the historic city’s car parks. The council has introduced new machines that take card payments, including contactless cards. Customers should be able to start paying for parking by phone by the end of the year. The West Sussex local authority has also upgraded its web services, meaning that residents and businesses will be able to pay for their parking permits online. A total 14 new parking machines will be

Xerox has unveiled the design of the new Conduent brand for its business process services activities in the transportation, parking, customer care, healthcare and digital payment arenas. Xerox is to separate into two independent, publicly-traded companies, with Conduent Incorporated becoming the identity of business process services company. Xerox remains the name of the digital imaging side of the business. Conduent expects to be se

Tension and conflict over parking spaces provided the drama in the latest run of Parking Wars on ITV. For this third series, the Century Films production team toured the country looking at places where parking restrictions and new payment regimes were causing concern among motorists, local businesses and visitors. The camera crews followed local authority civil enforcement officers (CEOs) as they patrolled the streets in different parts of the country. Reports from Hereford, Romford and Havering

Portsmouth City Council is adding school safety to the range of enforcement applications running on its hosted Digital Video Platform. The council is deploying the Videalert system outside schools where illegal parking on ‘Keep clears’ has been identified as putting children’s lives in danger.  The cameras are being installed after a survey of parents, teachers and school governors showed an overwhelming 84% support for the initiative. Cllr Jim Fleming, Portsmouth City C

The Forestry Commission is to install ticketless parking terminals at over 40 woods and forests across the UK. The commission has awarded a contract to Newpark to install its Fusion pay-on-foot parking system. The Fusion system uses ANPR cameras at the entrance to each car park, automatically raising the barriers and eliminating the need for drivers having to wait for tickets to be dispensed.  A virtual ticket is created upon entry and is used to allow the vehicle to leave by automatically

Vienna’s paper parking permits will be replaced by RFID tags following an extensive trial of the technology. The on-street parking permits were developed by city officers in collaboration with system supplier Schreiner PrinTrust. The credit card shaped tag is based on the Windshield Label Global system. The tags will be attached to the vehicle’s windscreen. They feature an embedded driver identification number and can be valid for multiple permits and used in different districts of

Raising money is a major part of an entrepreneur’s life. Alongside meetings with banks, pitches to angel investors and private equity companies, other ways of raising funds include applying for business development grants, entering competitions, using crowdfunding and even appearing on TV shows. Dan Hubert, co-founder and chief executive of AppyParking, made an appearance on the BBC Two show Dragons’ Den last month, pitching the parking app to a line-up of multi-millionaires from a r

Standards within the parking industry have improved dramatically over the past two decades. Tighter legislation and improved codes of practice have had a major impact. But that’s not all; we shouldn’t lose sight of the determination and efforts of many parking service providers in both the public and private sector to deliver the best possible service for customers. But, whatever standards prevail, there’s no room for complacency.  The industry can be proud of the progres

Cars are more secure than ever before, with manufacturers continually working on new security features. Investment in new technology means that all new cars sold in the UK now have an immobiliser and many are fitted with an alarm and double locking as standard. Car theft has fallen significantly since the mid 1990s when, at its peak, up to 620,000 cars were stolen each year. Current levels of car theft are below 80,000. However, there has been a recent rise in car thefts, with high-end and keyle

With the success of digital marketplaces such as Airbnb, as well as businesses that don’t own any of the inventory they sell such as booking.com, Silicon Valley trawled the world for the next industry it could monetise and found it in parking. So it was that, between 2013 and 2015, a staggering US$243m (£170m) was invested in digital-first parking marketplaces, with over half of that sum invested in the last six months.  These investors are making big bets that they can change

Parking consultancy Buchanan Order Management has moved into larger premises to improve facilities for visitors and to accommodate its expanding team. Buchanan Order Management (BOM) outgrew its premises in Thatcham, but decided to remain in the West Berkshire area. Its new premises in Newbury are in a converted period barn, with modern facilities and easy access for staff and visitors. Trevor Clark, director of BOM, said: “One reason for our expansion is the increased demand from authori

Peter Beasley has been appointed as head of compliance and corporate governance at Creative Parking Solutions. Beasley will be responsible for ensuring that all car parks managed by Creative Parking Solutions meet the guidelines and processes set out by the British Parking Association (BPA).  He will monitor aspects of operations such as the way parking charges are handled and the sites’ signage. He will also be responsible for ensuring the background systems are compliant.  C

Civil enforcement officers working for NSL will act as the eyes and ears of a missing children initiative. Child Rescue Alert was set up by the charity Missing People in partnership with the National Crime Agency and Groupcall to ensure that as many people as possible keep a lookout for missing children.  NSL CEOs have become part of the network of people keeping a look out for missing children featured in Missing People’s alerts.  This initiative follows work by Paul Abbott, a

Motorists are more concerned about parking availability and cost than 12 months ago, according to the RAC. The motoring organisation’s annual report is based on the views of a representative sample of 1,700 drivers from across the UK. The research reveals that the availability of parking has become a greater concern in 2016: 14% of motorists say this is one of their top four concerns this year, compared with 8% in 2015. Around 18% of motorists also say the cost of parking is now

A dozen car parks in the Lincolnshire towns of Stamford and Grantham have retained their Park Mark status under the Safer Parking Scheme. The car parks are operated by South Kesteven District Council, which was recently awarded the Disabled Parking Accreditation from Disabled Motoring UK. Cllr Nick Craft, executive member for the environment, said: “We’re pleased to announce a further award for our car parks that shows we are maintaining good standards year on year.

Blue Badge holders in Northern Ireland can now apply for the parking concession permits online through the NIDirect website. The site enables applicants to upload evidence of entitlements and photos. Payment can also be made online. The Department for Infrastructure hopes this will be a more efficient system and so help reduce a backlog of Blue Badge applications. Northern Ireland roads minister Chris Hazzard said: “In this modern age, online transactions are the norm and this new online

The chair of the panel that scrutinises the British Parking Association’s appeals service for motorists issued parking charge notices on private land has resigned. Nicola Mullany has resigned from the Independent Scrutiny for Parking Appeals (ISPA), but an announcement that the entire board of ISPA had also stepped down has been thrown into doubt. It currently remains unclear whether the board is in place. Parking Review has asked ISPA’s administrators for clarification. The now wi

A man has been jailed for 18 months for an attack that resulted in a civil enforcement officer (CEO) breaking his leg. The CEO, who wants to remain anonymous, was left with semi-permanent nerve damage after the assault in Peterborough last September. Shamal Asaad, 30, attacked the CEO after receiving a penalty charge notice (PCN). The motorist had denied grievous bodily harm, but was found guilty at Peterborough Crown Court. He was also given two further sentences three months each for two furt

Scores of East Midlands Trains stations and car parks have been officially recognised for their safety and security by two national schemes. Some 58 stations on the network have been accredited under the Secure Stations Scheme, which is administered by the Department for Transport and British Transport Police. The scheme represents a national standard for passenger safety and security on Britain’s railway stations. Some 23 of the stations have been newly accredited follow

Lewis Johnson has joined parking information provider Parkopedia in the new role of technical account manager. Johnson joins Parkopedia from Smart Parking. "Technical account managers are responsible for managing all technical aspects of a company’s relationship with its customers,” said Christina Onesirosan Martinez, Parkopedia's marketing director.  “They work closely with the sales and business account management team to win new business and increase sales to existing

Fiona Deans, who has a background in the cinema industry, has joined parking IT specialist Barbour Logic (BL) as managing director. Previously she was chief operating officer of Arts Alliance Media (AAM), a technology and software services provider to the cinema industry.  At AAM Fiona oversaw company growth from start up to a leading technology company with 120 employees, revenues of over £50m and customers in the US, China, Asia Pacific, Latin America and across Europe. Before join

Disabled drivers are all too used to finding bays designated for their use occupied by cars belonging to people with no mobility issues. In a bid to show how this selfish behaviour affects the lives of disabled people, on 8 August a council blocked kerbside spaces in a High Street with wheel chairs. The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead staged the intervention on Ascot High Street to raise awareness of people without Blue Badges about the impact of parking in disabled bays. Windsor &a

Civil enforcement officers are the front line of the UK’s public parking management regimes. These uniformed staff are tasked with ensuring the kerbside operates efficiently, enabling people and businesses to park or deliver and collect goods where and when they need. While civil enforcement officers (CEOs) will bear the names and insignia of local authorities, many will be employees for contractors, and a good proportion will work for NSL, which fields over 4,000 CEOs in towns and cities

Northgate Public Services (NPS) has launched an enforcement and permits management solution designed for local authorities, housing associations and hospitals managing car parks. The NPS TaP system encompasses both parking permits and the issue and processing of charge notices against vehicles that breach regulations. NPS runs a number of transport and ticketing schemes including the national HGV Levy and Blue Badge schemes, as well as being the IT supplier for London Tribunals, which adjudica

Revenue generation is a difficult topic for the public sector to address and embrace. For our part we firmly believe that, with the inexorable pressure on funding and an ever-growing demand for services, councils should no longer be apologetic or defensive about the selective use of revenue generation in certain service areas. Our own experience on this topic has seen our partnerships generate savings and surplus revenue for local authority partners to reinvest in infrastructure and other frontl

Outsourced service provider NSL plans to double the size of the workforce at its operational centre in Oldham. The principal activities at NSL’s Oldham offices are telephony, correspondence, back office processing and vetting for public and private sector clients.   Its local authority parking clients in the North West include Manchester City Council and Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. When NSL moved into offices in Chadderton in 2012 it had 10 members of staff. The company now

The London Borough of Bexley is installing automated enforcement systems to capture moving traffic contraventions.  The mix of fixed and redeployable cameras will supplement the council’s existing fleet of CCTV cars and enable enforcement to be extended to improve driver compliance.  The contract has been awarded to OpenView Security Solutions, a provider of CCTV solutions, under the ELS framework agreement, which can be accessed by all London boroughs and allows direct and fas