Parking – finding solutions that work for local businesses and the Council

Parking has always been a hot topic for businesses in Brighton and Hove but, with the recent raising of parking charges, this topic has become a scorcher. Last week, the Business Support Partnership sought to separate fact from fiction with a meeting that put the collective views of businesses in the city to the Council Leader, Councillor Jason Kitcat.

The business view

Julia Chanteray, President of the Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce, asked for volunteers to feed back on the main concerns for businesses. Nick Mosely, of the Tourism Alliance, said that local attractions had reported that visitors were spending less and that parking zones and parking maps were confusing.

Gavin Stewart of Brilliant Brighton, representing 517 businesses in the Business Improvement District, stated the increase in parking charges was a hot topic and it was felt to be detrimental to businesses. Many businesses had reported a significant reduction in income compared to the same time last year. However, Gavin also agreed there were other factors such as the poor summer weather and road works.

Trevor Freeman,representing the Federation of Small Businesses’ members, felt that the Council had misjudged the ability of businesses and residents to absorb the numerous incremental increases and he was concerned that, by the time the Council reviewed the evidence, it would be too late to reduce the cost (if that were an option).

The Council view

Julia Chanteray asked Cllr Kitcat to explain why the charges had been increased, what evidence the Council had regarding the impact of the increases and the Council’s plans for reviewing the charges.

Cllr Kitcat responded with four reasons for increased parking charges:

• Growing congestion in the city;
• Pollution is now a serious problem, with some areas breaching EU limits;
• The multi-storey car parks are underused compared with on street parking, so the pricing was reset to encourage people to use the multi-storeys
• A complexity of tariffs, partly as a result of the historical merger of the two boroughs.

He went on to say that the Council’s aim was that it would always be cheaper to park in the multi-story car parks.

The Councillor set out the current parking charge zones. There are now three zones – cheap, less cheap and most expensive (in the centre). The Council have produced a map that demonstrates the cost of parking in each zone for the first hour.

In addition, there had been a three year waiting list for a trader’s permit. Increasing the cost of these, and issuing more permits, had improved this.

Cllr Kitcat had to admit: “some people are deterred by the increase in parking charges, but that’s the point so we can encourage them to use other methods like buses”.

Overall, the Council-run attractions have seen an increase in visitors, the car parks take more money when the weather is hotter, and Brighton & Hove Buses have reported a small increase in passenger numbers although this could be attributed to a number of factors.

Not widely known is that any surplus from car-parking must be spent on transport and currently most of the money goes to pay for the subsidised bus routes and the older persons ‘free’ bus passes.

The discussion then turned to the poor state of some of the car parks. Cllr Kitcat noted that: “It is true, some need work, but we have done the Lanes and London Road, now we are in the process of refurbishing the Trafalgar Street and Regency Square car parks”.

Solution suggestions

Easy to understand maps

Turning to the business community, what other measures could help the situation? The Partnership felt that better signage for car parks and the areas within the city would certainly help. Maps that tell you the cheapest place to park for half a day, a whole day and an evening – not just the first hour. Also, having the privately owned NCP car parks on the parking map.

Technology and investment in sustainable transport

For those of us who spend more time than we would want searching around for the right change for parking machines, there is some hope. When the NSL contracts to run the enforcement service for the Council come up for renewal at the end of 2012, the Council will be asking the new contract suppliers to use technology to enable us to pay by credit card or by phone. The city is also bidding for a share of £24m to use technology to improve transport and parking in the city
 
Next steps for the Business Support Partnership and the issue of parking

• We will work with the council to help them improve the maps available;
• Longer term, we’ll look for a way to provide up to date information to help you park cheaply;
• We’ll try to tell the business community the real story about parking in the city and how we are trying to solve the problem.

Julia Chanteray noted: “The Business Support Partnership pulls together all the business organisations in Brighton and Hove and, between us, we represent thousands of businesses in the city.  This meeting gave us a chance to talk about the impact of parking charges and to look at what can be done to improve parking in the city, so it becomes easier to do business in Brighton and Hove. 

We recognise that there are some serious issues to be tackled, and look forward to getting cracking on one potential answer, a guide/map which will steer businesses, their staff and customers to the less expensive parking slots.”

If you are a business and have a topic that you’d like us to debate on your behalf at the Business Support Partnership, get in touch with us at the Chamber or through any of the other business organisations in the city

The Business Support Partnership is an initiative run by the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce to bring together all of the major business groups in the city to work together to improve the city’s economy. This is the first of a series of meetings with the Council to resolve issues which affect businesses in the city.

By Susan B Bentley - Comms with a Conscience

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk