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High response to car parking survey

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More than 3,000 people gave their views in an “outstanding” response to a survey about a car parking strategy for St Albans District.

St Albans City and District Council is working on a strategy focused on four main objectives.

These are tackling the climate crisis, improving enforcement, ensuring access to less able drivers and making use of digital technology.

A total of 3,143 people responded to a public consultation with their feedback given to a meeting of the Council’s Public Realm Committee on Thursday 10 November.

Their views will now be further analysed and used to finalise a strategy that is scheduled to be published early next year.

Councillor Helen Campbell, the Committee’s Chair, said after the meeting:

The response to the consultation was outstanding. It shows how important the issue of car parking is to our residents and businesses.

The responses to the survey made interesting and useful reading and I thank everyone who took the time and trouble to take part. I can assure them all views are being taken into account as we complete the strategy.

Asked about the climate crisis, 86% of respondents said they were concerned about air quality while 64% said they agreed or had no objection to parking charges being linked to a vehicle’s emissions.

In another finding, one in five respondents said they would use a car club if more were available in the District.

Regards parking enforcement, 73% felt the Council should deploy fewer officers on streets where people were more likely to park legally in order to focus on problem parking.

The biggest concerns were vehicles blocking dropped kerbs and crossings (53%), parking on yellow lines (37%), engine idling (30%) and a lack of resident permit parking spaces (20%).

On accessibility, 85% of blue badge holders felt there were not enough disabled bays in Council car parks while 92% felt there were not enough allocated on-street parking bays.

The main concerns of blue badge holders were non-badge holders parking in disabled bays (44%), misuse of the blue badge (43%), and it being unclear where the badge can be used (17%).

On the use of digital technology, 59% were in favour of cashless parking and only 34% were against the introduction of CCTV enforcement for moving traffic offences.

Cllr Campbell added:

The survey has given us many useful insights into the public’s views on our parking service and proposals for change.

We want to develop a strategy that is in tune with the needs and aspirations of all our residents and these results will enable us to do that. We can now get on with the work of finalising the strategy.

The full report on the survey results is available here.

Contact for the media: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727-819533,  john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.