Car parking - the future

Council Leader, Cllr John Griffiths, has this week reaffirmed St Edmundsbury's commitment to making sure the management of car parking in town provides the right number of spaces at the right times for our shoppers and visitors.

1) Extra car parking can be built in the future. St Edmundsbury is committed to keeping all options open, such as decking St Andrew's Street North car park, moving Bury Town Football Club to provide more spaces in Ram Meadow, or a permanent park and ride.

400 additional spaces can be provided at St Andrews Street North by adding a deck - a proposal that could be linked with extending the bus station. A study into this has already been commissioned by St Edmundsbury. The advantage of this car park is that, with the right signage, visitors can be encouraged to walk into town along St John's Street, boosting trade there.

Space could also be created at Ram Meadow by relocating the football club, creating a bigger venue for the club and 600 more car parking spaces. This would also require an access road from Compiegne Way.

Putting in a permanent Park and Ride scheme has not been ruled out - St Edmundsbury is already working with Suffolk County Council to look at this around the A14.

2) Private car parks are being identified to boost peak time Saturday spaces which will be especially important during the construction period (if the scheme is approved). St Edmundsbury is committed to making the most of every available space, with work continuing on identifying suitable space for extra parking on Wednesdays.

Using private car parks will boost Saturday parking levels (as SCC's Shire hall car park already does). Already, 50 spaces have been negotiated in Cotton Lane at the Primary Care Trust. Others are being identified/negotiated. The 300-space West Suffolk College car park will be available on Saturdays both during and after construction - an option for park and ride during construction and/or in the run-up to Christmas.

Other options are being explored with private land owners for more spaces, and to identify land which could be used during construction as Wednesday park and ride. These are all options which can be in place by the end of the year to help manage the impact that construction work will have.

3) Studies have indicated that there will be enough car parking to cope with demand if the Cattle Market development is built for all but 61.5 hours (2%) a year (mostly in the run-up to Christmas). St Edmundsbury is committed to a seasonal park and ride which will take care of that.

A report by WSP Development (transport specialist with nationwide expertise) showed that Bury St Edmunds currently has excess parking capacity - there is never a time when every single space in every car park is full. Full Council took the decision in January 2004 that it would no longer aspire to meet peak demand for all car parking, especially the demand for long stay parking in the town centre (priority would be given to short stay parking instead). All of the proposed short stay spaces after construction are within a five minute walk of the town centre.

For a couple of hours on some days in the run-up to Christmas there will not be enough spaces to meet the demand. Experience has shown elsewhere that people learn to change the times of their visits (spreading the peak). Meanwhile the seasonal park and ride (successfully piloted at the Christmas Fayre in 2004) will meet the excess demand.

4) There are plenty of spaces available for the other 3068.5 hours of the year - the knack is finding them.  St Edmundsbury is committed to having Variable Message Signing in place by Christmas 2005 which will take care of that.

Variable Message Signing (VMS) will be installed ready for the Christmas shopping peak this year.  VMS signs will be on access roads to direct motorists to spaces available at these car parks: 

·  Prospect Row/Cattle Market (including the underground car

  park);

·  Parkway - surface and decked;

·  St Andrews Street South;

·  Robert Boby Way; and

·  Ram Meadow.

5) Three-quarters of vehicles coming in to town at peak times have only one occupant. Two thirds of those who arrive in town come by car, with half needing car parking spaces. St Edmundsbury is committed to working with Suffolk County Council to find ways of encouraging multi-occupancy of cars and greater use of alternative transport.

The annual survey of vehicle occupancy levels showed that around three quarters of vehicles have only one occupant. Other research, undertaken in support of the planning application, into how people arrive in the town centre has shown that around two thirds arrive by car, with half needing parking spaces. Work can be done on promoting alternatives to the car - especially among businesses where staff car sharing could be an option. Even occasional use of such schemes would impact on the number of long stay parking spaces needed. St Edmundsbury is also working with SCC and First Buses to improve the town bus services (a new Quality Bus Partnership is due to be signed and over three-quarters of a million pounds of developer funding will further enhance the service). If the scheme goes ahead, rural bus services will also be improved using funds from the developer.

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Size versus space?

Shorter stay means higher turnover - instead of one car parked all day within a couple of minutes of the shops there will be several cars using each space.

And why don't we simply dig a bigger hole to create more underground spaces? Because current spaces are costing more than £20,000 each - and the lower you go, the higher the cost. There's also a limit on the road network - too much space availability would cause unacceptable queues in the Tayfen Road area.

Then there's the 600-space multi-deck on Parkway, built in advance of the previous Cattle Market development. This was sited specifically to cater for the development in that area, but the 1990s scheme never went ahead so the multi-deck has been a cost to Council Tax payers because it has not been fully used. Now it will help with the demand for the current proposals (and will finally be in the right place!) while also reminding us of the dangers of building in advance.

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Consultation results

An in-depth report on the extensive public consultation carried out by Centros Miller on the Cattle Market redevelopment proposals has been submitted to the borough council. Full copies of the report – including copies of all the written contributions made by members of the public and by interest groups – are available to view at St Edmundsbury's offices at Angel Hill and St Edmundsbury House in Western Way. A copy is also available at the Bury St Edmunds Library. The main part of the report is on the Cattle Market redevelopment website – www.burysteds.org.uk – where copies of the earlier reports on Phases 1a and 1b can also be found.

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Newsletter: This newsletter is from St Edmundsbury Borough Council, owner of the Cattle Market redevelopment site. Please forward it to anyone you think may be interested in the topic or contact me if you wish to be taken off the distribution list:

marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk