Nottingham Parking – a change for the better?

So, as of today the new ‘improved’ parking scheme is in force in Nottingham – will it help, or is it too little too late? Retailers and restaurant owners were up in arms when the council decided to start charging for evening on street parking – and quite rightly so in my view – it was a typically badly misjudged thing to do in such a depressed economy by our local council.

The decision to now remove the time limit on the on street parking is an interesting approach – parking will be £1 for 30 minutes up to 2 hours depending on which zone you are in. But, more importantly, the evening charge will be £1 for the entire night – a much better approach and one that hopefully will help the evening traders in the centre of town.

The removal of time limited parking may have a knock on effect though – up to now it has always been possible to get a space on a meter in town for a quick visit – they may now be taken all day – which would be a retrograde step.

Time will tell…….

 

Is this really an answer to Nottingham’s parking issues?

Nottingham showing cars where to go……

Nottingham is famous for a number of things – most of them great – Robin Hood, Boots, Nottingham Forest, it’s Universities, you get the idea. Unfortunately it is also known as one of the most expensive UK cities to park in. This is not a good record to hold and something that our City Council have not really dealt with in a good way in recent years. In fact the recent extension of paid parking into the evenings was a definite ‘shot in the foot’ which has been universally decried by the local businesses.

On the positive side (yes there is one) I believe that the meter parking has worked well, this on street parking is ideal for short-term visits into the town for shopping or business. I can invariably find a space and then pay for it via the Ringo app on my iPhone (recommended – give it a try).

No, the major issue has always been the cost of longer term parking in the car parks – it is just too expensive and is driving people away (pardon the pun). So the latest announcement from the City Council has left me stunned! The official statement is as follows;

“The new pricing structure sees charges based around a simple £1 fee to give drivers the choice of where they park based on how much they want to pay.  The £1 charge will cover 30 minutes parking in the heart of the city during the 8am to 6pm peak time hours.  Off-peak the £1 charge will cover 2 hours in the centre of the city – Zone One – whilst outside this zone drivers will be able to park all day for a flat £1 fee.

Peak time parking is from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday with off-peak parking every evening from 6pm to 8pm Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday. On-street parking is free between 8pm and 8am.”

So the proposal is to change the charging and time limits on meters – as far as I can find no change is planned for the car park charges – they will remain stupidly high. No, the plan is to allow people to park as long as they wish on meters in £1 thirty minute time slots. That is actually more expensive than it is currently!

So if I have got this right the car parks will still be empty due to the high cost, but now it won’t be possible to get a short-term space because people can park on them all day if they wish (but at a similar cost to the car parks)! The only positive bit is the change on evening parking – although there is still a charge.

To sum up then, parking is still far too expensive in the city, there is still an evening charge for on street (unlike Leicester and many other cities) – Stunning – just remind me why people voted this council back in?

 

So that’s where the Parking Levy money is going!

It takes two to operate apparently!

Nottingham is now subject to the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) – a misguided way of raising money in the short-term for our City Council – once it has managed to drive business outside the city boundaries I assume they will come up with an equally ‘good’ idea to fill their coffers.

As part of the WPL the City Council obviously need to police it, this is managed by way of a car that drives around the city and its estates taking pictures of all the parking spaces and the cars that are using them This is probably as efficient a way of policing it as can be arrived at in the current world – or it would be if it was done using one member of staff. However, in the same way that Traffic Wardens only appear to hunt in pairs nowadays (for protection?) it also appears that the WPL car requires both a driver and a passenger to make it work!

When I saw the car operating last week it was ‘two up’, surely this is unnecessary – or is it just jobs for the boys? One thing is for sure – it is going to become about as popular as the traffic wardens, so perhaps they are just preparing themselves for the worst?

 

Students and parking

Parking is a bit of a thorny issue in Nottingham at the moment, not only do we have some of the most expensive regional parking charges for visitors to our city but we also have the workplace parking levy which has just been brought in. This later charge is going to prove interesting – I am already speaking to occupies in non Nottingham City locations who are asking me if their offices are worth more or at least more desirable to tenants because they are not caught by the tax.

It will be interesting to see if a two tier market appears to develop – I have a feeling it might!

A proper student car!

The latest parking ‘issue’ to hit the press is from the student population – now I am not ‘anti student’ we have a large student community that brings a huge amount to the city. But their concerns at being charged for residents permits in the areas they live does rather take the biscuit! I may well be getting old but do students really need to have a car? I know when I was at Nottingham Trent all those years ago most couldn’t afford one!

I accept if you are a mature student you may well have a car, but the costs of parking are all part of the bigger picture of car ownership aren’t they? And as a student do you really need a car, especially in a city such as ours which has such a good public transport provision?

So yes, I have sympathy for the companies and staff being hit by the workplace parking levy – it is badly misjudged by our council and may come back to bite them. But student parking? Come on, get the bus!

 

4G Nottingham?

Not a good look - but you get the idea.....

We could become one of the first UK cities to get  super-fast 4G mobile broadband if Nottingham City Councils bid  for a share of the Government’s £100 million Urban Broadband Fund – which aims to bring world-leading super-fast broadband and wi-fi to ten of the UK’s cities – is successful.

4G – or fourth generation – is a more advanced version of 3G, the wireless internet that mobiles, laptops and tablet devices use. It is faster and means people will be able to access high-quality video and audio on the move – something that is becoming more and more of our everyday lives.

Only cities with more than 150,000 homes were allowed to apply for a share of the fund and from the shortlist Nottingham faces competition from Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester and Sheffield.

The UK’s four capitals – Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London – are guaranteed to be awarded funding as part of the scheme.

We have to wait until Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget speech later this month to see if the bid has been approved, but there is some additional potential for success – the high-speed data cabling could be laid along tram tracks while the works for line two of the tram are built over the next two years – saving money on the infrastructure costs.

How amazing would it be for Nottingham to be one of the country’s first 4G cities? Not only would existing businesses benefit from increased efficiency and improved connectivity, the city would also be in a much stronger position to respond to the rapidly emerging and anticipated future requirement of businesses.

Time to keep your fingers crossed and hope that the A453 announcement last year wasn’t a ‘flash in the pan’ for Nottingham.

 

Finally some common sense from our council?

I blogged a few weeks ago about the crazy change to the parking rates in Nottingham City centre. The council in their infinite wisdom had decided to start charging for evening parking (which had been free for years). This was not a popular decision from all angles, especially the traders who argued that the change would impact on their businesses and consequently reduce the councils income from parking and rates.

8pm is too late.....

I did not think this view was a particularly difficult one to see, but Nottingham City Council do appear to be somewhat ‘blinkered’ at the moment and are making some less than popular decisions. Now that is fine if it is necessary to balance the books in a sensible way. But if it bites the hand that feeds you it is just plain stupid!

To add to the local traders anguish at the same time Leicester were making more free evening parking available – and publicising it as a positive thing. It was commented on at our insite launch by the mayor of Leicester and was generally considered a good idea by all.

so it is good to hear that after having a meeting with traders the council in Nottingham are finally going to ‘consider’ their decision and initially suspend the Sunday charges. That is a step in the right direction, but lets see the 6 – 8pm charges removed as well, surely it makes sense?

 

Obviously I don’t condone this – but it is funny!

Once in a while we get a classic headline – this is one that appeared last week;

Nottingham tree branch ‘armed’ robber hunted by police

The new weapon of choice....

You have to agree that this headline from the BBC is a classic! I am not sure what it says about Nottingham criminal classes – the national press would have us all believe that Nottingham is the gun crime capital of the UK – which it isn’t – perhaps this supports that claim as there can’t be many illegal firearms around if robbers are resorting to tree branches now!

The story from the BBC website reads as follows;

A man armed with a tree branch who threatened staff at two Nottingham supermarkets is being hunted by police.

The offender first wielded a branch at the Sainsbury’s store in Arnold Lane, Gedling, on 14 January and made off with cash and cigarettes.

The same man is believed to have struck at the Co-operative store in Gedling Road on Wednesday but left empty-handed, Nottinghamshire Police said.

The suspect is described as white, of slim build and in his early 20s.

He was wearing a Nike hooded top, black track suit bottoms with white stripes down the side, black trainers and a scarf covering his face, police said.

No-one was injured in either robbery.

On the basis that no one was hurt I feel comfortable about this blog – sorry if it offends anyone!

 

Nottingham parking – what is the best way forward?

Seeing more 'evening action' now

Parking in cities is always a thorny issue – we have a society that is now so dependant upon the car that we see parking charges as a tax upon our freedom. Perhaps more importantly it can have a profound effect upon businesses in towns or cities with ‘draconian’ pricing policies for parking.

I blogged recently about the changes in Nottingham city centre with regards to evening parking – the City Council have decided to charge for the period between 6pm and 8pm which was previously free and Sundays as a way of controlling long-term parkers. I don’t see this at all and would suggest that it has much more to do with lining their coffers with money.

The issue of managing parking to help the local economy should be at the top of all councils list of priorities, but interestingly neighbouring Leicester City Council have taken the opposite route.

It was November that Nottingham City Council introduced evening and Sunday charges as I have outlined above – it is fair to say that it has been universally unpopular – both with shoppers, traders and the churches!

However, at the same time Leicester City Council opened up 300 free evening spaces with the explicit intention of helping the night-time economy – to me this makes total sense in these hard times.

Nottingham insist their policy was needed to stop ‘some’ motorists taking up spaces for long periods – really? They maintain this will benefit firms and attractions by keeping parking clear for short-stay visitors. My experience is that there were always spaces available before this ruling – there are now lots free as people appear to be staying away. So has Nottingham shot itself in the foot?

I believe so – the amount the city gain through parking fees will be more than lost if the businesses that pay business rates to the council fail. So come on Nottingham, look at the suburbs who started charging and see what happened to them. Put the fees back as they were now before it is too late!

 

Nottingham Tram lunacy

I have commented upon the crazy situation that we find ourselves in with regards to the Nottingham tram before. I am not referring to the new line – that appears to be happening, and is very good news for the city (and our office which will be next to it).

No, my issue is with the lack of joined up thinking in how the bus and tram systems will relate in the city. This is not a problem at the moment because bus and tram services are run by the City Council or companies related to them. Consequently you can use your Easy Rider card on both – greatly appreciated by my stepdaughter. But with the new tram operator this will stop (from the end of January is the current date).

This is crazy – we have an excellent public transport system in Nottingham – as good as any in the UK (and possibly better). But, public transport services have to ‘link’ with other forms of public transport. They do this very well in the rest of Europe, they appear to understand public transport, something that the British just don’t seem to.

This was highlighted to me again today as I renewed Star’s Easy Rider card – the man dealing with the payment asked if I was aware of the tram issue. I was – although the new date of the end of January was slightly better than I had previously been led to believe.

But come on, someone has to get hold of this issue, we need our public transport to work as one – ideally on a national basis, but certainly locally would be a start! Get hold of your local MP and tell him or her that this is crazy and need sorting out!

 

Traffic Wardens with a sense of humour?

Last night I was at an event in Nottingham (hosted by Lloyds Bank) so had to park on one of the meters up towards Harts Restaurant on the edge of the Park – not a problem as I have done it many times before! I am particularly keen now on the Ringo App on my iPhone that allows me to pay over the web on my credit card. I get a VAT receipt emailed to me (good for expenses) and a warning text when I have 10 minutes left on my parking time – very handy!

So last night I did exactly this – two hours on street parking £3.50 – expensive but sorted easily, and no chance of a ticket!

But, (and you knew there was going to be a but) on return to my car I found one of those lovely striped yellow plastic bags attached! I was not impressed and as one does, threw it onto the front seat next to me, questioned the parenthood of the traffic warden, and headed home!

At the traffic lights I thought I would check my ticket only to find that it was a ‘helpful’ notice telling me that I hadn’t got a ticket this time – but would if I parked here again without paying – which I had anyway!

Apparently new parking restrictions came in on the 14th November (but they failed to tell us or change the signs it would appear).

So – a nice surprise – my evening got back onto an even keel! But, why put the notice in a penalty charge notice bag? It is not a very helpful thing to do, some people might be so annoyed that they drive off and have an accident!

Or do Traffic Wardens have a sense of humour after all?