University Car Parking Proposals

Below is a statement by John Markey (Facilities Manager E&CS) regarding car parking (27/2/08). There are a number of points to note however;

  1. It is difficult to get emission data for vehicles older than 2001 and London for example will estimate this using engine size, indeed the DVLA will continue to tax pre 2001 vehicles based on engine size. Therefore larger vehicles pay more.
  2. The Unions maintain that the scheme has failed to solve the problem of illegal parking in the last eight years and the 70% increase in offences (stated in point 2) verifies this.
  3. The Campus Unions have not agreed to these proposals.
  4. There are still only limited alternatives e.g. car share and reduced season bus tickets which do not suit the majority of staff or students.
  5. Alumni and Community members of the Sports Centre get a free car parking permit

… I would like to confirm the following:

  • The new car park charges are been linked to the CO2 emissions of the vehicles engine not the engine size (cc) as has been quoted. The primary reason for introducing this form of charging was to link parking and transport to environmental issues. For those vehicles older than 2001 there are relevant databases which we can access to check emissions.
  • There has been a 70% increase in the amount of individuals abusing the disabled car parks on the campus and as a result we are proposing to change the regulations so that on such offence will lead to an immediate ban.
  • Due to the continuing abuse of parking at Alansgrange and Friarscroft by non residents in these area we are proposing to extend the permit scheme to restrict parking to residents only.
  • There also appears to be a misunderstanding with some people as to what we are doing with regard to a root and branch review of the parking rules and regulations, what I said was that we would be reviewing all areas of the regulations and gave examples of things that we will look at but not necessarily introduce. I also gave an undertaking to look at the possibility of involving a wider group in this when we begin the process.

It was my understanding that there was an agreement with the changes we propose to make with regard to disabled parking and the extension of the parking scheme to the student residences above. I was also led to believe that you agreed in principle with idea of linking the permitting scheme to carbon emissions and that your primary concern was the increase in the permit fee for some members of staff. I also stated at the meeting that at present we are projecting at least a £5K deficit for car parking at the end of the year as a result of an increase in operating costs. So as to address your concerns with regard to the increase in costs I have spent some time reviewing the initial proposed fee scale and have come up with a new scale that will reduce the cost of the banding but will still allow us to generate a surplus for reinvestment into travel initiatives. The new charges are indicated below:

Vehicle Emission Figures CO2 (g/Km) Original Proposed Fee Expected Uptake New Proposed Fee
Up to 120 £60 8% £60
121 to 150 £90 18% £90
151 to 165 £120 30% £100
166 to 185 £150 25% £110
Over 185 £195 19% £120

These hew figures would I hope generate a surplus of approx £20K, it would mean that 26% of individuals would pay the same or less than they currently do. The remainder would pay between £10 and £30 extra per annum. I hope that these changes would be more acceptable to you and your members and that the above comments clarify some of the issues raised since our meeting.

Regards John

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