Under construction: A new parking landscape

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1 UKC profile Under construction: A new parking landscape There is no doubt that parking is something that permeates the lives of everybody. As a car driver - a shopper, commuter, a visitor to or a user of services such as hospitals, leisure centres, schools, colleges and universities. Or perhaps simply as a resident, whether living in a block of flats, a town centre housing estate or a detached property with a private driveway, parking and where we choose or need to park our vehicles is often a daily consideration, and one that we increasingly have to give more thought to. The British Parking Association (BPA) has been in existence for over 40 years. It is the largest professional association in Europe representing organisations in the parking and traffic management sector with over 700 members, including manufacturers, car park operators, local authorities, health authorities, universities and higher education facilities, airports, railway stations, shopping centres, theme parks and consultants. As the recognised authority in parking, BPA s mission is to actively represent and promote the sector by advancing knowledge, raising standards and professionalism, and using its influence to deliver excellence in parking for the benefit of all. A new Five Year Strategy has just been published, outlining the Association s core objectives. In it, BPA express its desire to raise standards in the parking profession and enable members to provide better services for the motorist. New technology in the sector - including software and apps that help motorists identify and pay for parking, and energy efficient vehicles that are kind to the environment - is becoming more widespread and BPA hope that by promoting innovation, technology and sustainability, the Association can assist in developing, challenging and moving the sector forward. The annual Master Plan for Parking sets out what BPA think it must do with government to achieve success for the parking profession. The issues outlined within this document are by no means exhaustive and continued page 116 > 113

2 WPS provides innovative Car Parking Management Solutions across a wide range of industry sectors. With over 25 years of experience, an established product portfolio and the commitment to working closely with partners, WPS ensures the right solution is implemented on time, within budget, to a high standard and with no surprises. As part of Imtech, the successful International technical services provider, WPS continues to invest both in the people and products, ensuring support is maintained throughout the life of the systems. The Right Solution By listening to the needs of the customer, through both innovation and the use of industry standards, WPS provides products and solutions that are well proven and designed to meet the changing needs of our customers. The latest product design uses the latest technology to communicate allowing easy set-up, solution scalability and operator usability through an internet enabled web browser. Our Approach With years of experience, WPS has found early engagement with all interested parties is the key to success. For this reason, an experienced Project Manager and Technical Manager attend client meetings, along with the sales representative to gain a good understanding of the client s requirements prior to proposing the solution. These key people are assigned to projects to ensure continuity and to maintain relationships throughout the life of the project. The Right Price WPS products are designed to offer exceptional value, not just at the time of purchase, but over the whole life-cycle. This is achieved through good quality product design, consideration to scalability, and attention to the operating conditions in which the products have to operate. Products lasting over 10 years with minimal intervention is the expectation. Partnership and After Sales WPS Project and Service teams enjoy an enviable reputation in the industry thanks to highly experienced and long serving engineers. WPS engineers take pride in working with customers to provide practical and efficient solutions. The use of account engineers builds trust and a good working relationship. This approach is important to WPS and will be found when working with any of the teams within WPS. WPS proven and innovative products have been used in all industry sectors; WPS would be pleased to offer further details and reference sites upon request.

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4 BPA continue to develop the Master Plan each year as its profession matures. By continuing to work in a consultative and constructive manner, the Association aim to achieve the best outcome for the motorist and the wider parking profession. In addition, BPA want to work more closely with stakeholders to achieve its vision of excellence in parking for all. Links have already been forged with the healthcare and higher education sectors and BPA has developed a Charter for Hospital Parking which calls for fair and reasonable parking charges to ensure effective management and provision of service for visitors, staff and patients. BPA encourage all those who manage parking at healthcare sites to sign up to the Charter joining the 75 organisations that have already done so. More information can be found at Hospital-Parking. The Charter will shortly be updated and a higher education version will follow soon after. Another of the BPA s concerns is the numerous aging car parks, which are not properly serviced and maintained. Many are prematurely reaching the end of their useful life and are being closed for safety reasons. Ideally, BPA would like to see owners and operators preparing and implementing a life-care plan and undertaking regular structural safety inspections, which will identify defects and prompt repairs to minimise the risk of structural failure. The closure of a multi-storey car park can have a detrimental effect on the community which the car park serves and works against the regeneration of town centres. Clearly, there should be a much greater emphasis on the need to ensure that parking structures are properly inspected and maintained. To facilitate this, proper servicing and maintenance should be seen as a priority cost of the operation and not a call on so-called surplus funds generated at the car park. Of course there is no point in having a structurally sound car park if it does not feel safe. Reducing crime and the fear of crime is another key initiative of the BPA and the Safer Parking Scheme does just that. It is an initiative of the Association of Chief Police Officers, managed by the BPA and supported by the Home Office, government and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Safer parking status, or Park Mark as it is known by the public, is awarded to parking facilities that have met the requirements of a risk assessment conducted by the police. These requirements mean the parking operator has put in place measures that help to deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour, thereby doing everything they can to prevent crime and reduce the fear of crime in their parking facility. For customers, using a Park Mark Safer Parking facility means that the area has been vetted by the police and has measures in place to create a safe environment. Through the planning processes, BPA s aim is for all new car parks to be required to achieve a Park Mark award. The BPA would like to see wider public awareness of Park Mark and are asking government, police organisations and other agencies to look at the regeneration of safer communities and become more proactive in promoting the benefits of the scheme. Better promotion and public awareness will increase its popularity. And while BPA strives to promote safer parking for all, the Association is also embarking on a major awareness campaign of a different kind. On October 1st this year the landscape for parking on private land in England and Wales will change considerably as a ban on clamping and towing away on private land is introduced. When the clamping ban comes into effect on October 1st, all forms of vehicle immobilisation and removal will be prohibited in England and Wales. It will be unlawful to take any action that might be considered to be immobilising a 116

5 vehicle including the simple action of closing and locking a gate unless acting with lawful authority. Lawful authority applies in cases where specific legislation is in force, which allows for vehicles to be immobilised or removed. There are obvious examples such as the public roads, where road traffic regulations could apply, and those statutory authorities that retain the ability to clamp such as the police and DVLA (and their agents). However, there are also parking areas where particular by-laws have been created that provide for parking enforcement. A good example of this is railway station car parks. Under the Railways Act 2005, the Secretary of State made Railway by-laws which allow for vehicles to be immobilised or removed in certain circumstances. There are many other organisations and public bodies which can establish lawful authority through Acts of Parliament and local by-laws and these include airports, ports and harbours, strategic river crossings as well as some common land. Any terms and conditions imposed by a landowner do not normally in themselves establish lawful authority. The positive news for landowners and operators is that, following lobbying by the BPA, the Act introduces a duty on the keeper to identify the driver when enquiries are made by the landowner or his agent. Failing this, the keeper becomes liable for any parking charges due as a result of the breach of contract or trespass. This will make it easier for parking operators to more effectively manage parking on private land. It should reduce costs for parking operators too. The government indicated that it would not introduce these provisions relating to keeper responsibility until the BPA had established an independent appeals service. This appeals service is in development and will be established and managed by London Councils, who also provide the adjudication service for local authorities in London. For the last few years access to the DVLA s database which enables operators to follow up unpaid charges arising from enforcement action on private land - has only been available to members of an accredited trade association (ATA). The BPA provides this through its Approved Operator Scheme (AOS) which has been in place since 2007 and currently has around 160 members. The scheme has in place a Code of Practice that sets standards of fairness for methods of parking enforcement on private land, including vehicle immobilisation (clamping), ticketing and ANPR technologies. As part of their lobbying in response to the Protection of Freedoms Act, the BPA called for all organisations involved in parking management and enforcement to be a member of an ATA, such as the AOS. Unfortunately, as the Act stands, this is not part of the legislation and could result in some of the rogue clampers becoming rogue ticketers: giving out tickets, and relying on the motorist to pay the ticket without appeal. Time will tell whether this fear is justified. The new Act applies to all private land regardless of who owns it which means, as well as retail parks, supermarkets, leisure facilities and the like, so it will affect local authorities and other public organisations who manage parking on their own private land. There are important implications for local authorities and public bodies here and the BPA is working with the DVLA to better understand their requirements with regard to accessing the DVLA registers in these circumstances. Because the Protection of Freedoms Act provides for such significant change to the way landowners and their operators/agents carry out that management, the BPA s Code of Practice for Parking on Private Land is undergoing a significant revision and will be reissued shortly. The Code will set out the key issues around levels of charging and signage, the two issues which motorists and consumers are most concerned about. As the Act only applies in England and Wales, the BPA is continuing to lobby the Scottish Government for the introduction of keeper liability provisions but this will not happen by October. This means that current law and practice will continue in Scotland, where clamping has been banned for some time. Additionally, in Northern Ireland, immobilisation and towing away will continue to be lawful as the Northern Ireland Assembly decided not to adopt the powers contained in the Protection of Freedoms Act. Working across the borders with partner organisations and members from each of these nations is crucial to the BPA s understanding of the issues that are faced nationwide. There is much that can be learned as well as being able to inform through shared experience and knowledge. BPA members are able to tap into a vast array of this knowledge through a variety of events and resources. A variety of special interest groups helps bring together members from specific fields of expertise to discuss and debate the latest topics and the regional and country network, covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, enables the BPA and its members to come together to impart and garner information that is helpful and often vital to their organisations. Regular communications through traditional and social media channels helps keep all of the Association s stakeholders up to speed with its work and each year the sector comes together for Parkex, Europe s largest dedicated parking exhibition, where all of the latest innovations, ideas and inspirations can be located all under one roof. In 2013 the NEC-located event includes Traffex and Street Design, bringing suppliers, manufacturers and designers from all over the globe to create a truly international flavour. The parking sector is gradually becoming a parking profession as the BPA explore options for establishing the Association as an accrediting organisation for Frameworks of Excellence. There are already many qualifications for anyone interested in a career in the sector. The BPA is dedicated to ensuring it sees a measurable increase in qualification take through a campaign of employer engagement. Whichever way you look at it, the parking sector is thriving and although it does not always get the right kind of attention, it remains a subject that everyone has an opinion on. It is, after all, something that affects everybody s lives. For membership enquires contact Alison Tooze, Events and Membership Manager: alison.t@britishparking.co.uk For more information visit Find a Safer Parking Scheme car park: 117