BPA CONFERENCE 2011
Problem solving is order of the day
WITH AUSTERITY MEASURES STILL DRIVING AGENDAS, SPEAKERS AT THE CONFERENCE WERE KEEN TO OFFER SOLUTIONS. SARAH JUGGINS REPORTS ON SOME OF THE CURRENT ISSUES FACING OUR SECTOR
Story 1 Starter for 10
Tis year’s conference was opened by Paul Necus, president of the BPA and head of specialist services at Cambridge City Council. He reminded delegates that two of the main aims of both this conference and the British Parking Association (BPA), through its updated Masterplan, was to work towards efficiency within the industry and to seek to reduce the parking sector’s carbon footprint. Necus introduced Patricia Hayes, director of Road and Vehicle Safety and Standards at the Department for Transport (DfT). She explained that her responsibility within the DfT is to keep things moving on the roads. Hayes said that, although parking was not part of
her brief, she nevertheless understood the crucial role parking plays within the UK’s transport system. ‘Parking is at the centre of the management of the road network. It is something we need to get right,’ she said. ‘Parking is the number one issue for the public,’
continued Hayes. ‘It is a hugely contentious and personal factor for a great many people. I certainly avoid bringing it up at dinner parties.’ She thanked the parking sector, and the BPA in
particular, for building such an open relationship with the government and working in partnership to provide solutions to the issues surrounding parking. ‘Te hot topic is wheel clamping, and the dilemma is how to put an end to the scourge of rogue wheel clampers,’ she said. ‘A lot of time has been spent trying to come up with a set of proposals that balances the rights of landowners and the regulation of the practices currently used by wheel clampers.’
24 OCTOBER 2011 Patricia Hayes
PARKING IS THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE FOR THE PUBLIC. IT IS A HUGELY CONTENTIOUS AND PERSONAL FACTOR
Hayes explained that Te Protection of Freedom Bill is still being amended and one issue under particular scrutiny at the moment is keeper liability. Supporting the BPA’s stance on keeper liability was, she said, an important and sensible step to take, agreeing with the Association’s call for an independent appeals service. ‘I see this work as a really good example of
how government wants to do business. Tere are negotiations, which are sometimes tense but, by and large, all the people around the table have worked well together. ‘By next October we hope the system is up and
running with an appeals service in place.’ Hayes gave an update on the forthcoming traffic
signs review. ‘We have had a hugely strong message from
the parking industry that a set of national and consistent parking signs are essential, but that the current system for putting signs in place was over- bureaucratic.’ On the subject of penalty charges there was
Simon Morgan
a tougher message for local authorities to hear. Although the government recognised the need for public services to be sustained, and while it was acknowledged that levels of penalty charges had not risen for a long while, such was the public mood in the face of recession that any increase in charges would have to be backed by a very robust argument.
www.britishparking.co.uk
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