Background
As part of a scheme to deliver additional parking across its network to meet both current and future demand London Midland proposed Berkhamsted station car park as one of the locations to benefit. Initially, the construction of the car deck was scheduled for May 2009, but following a dialogue with local stakeholders the scheme was postponed to consider the objections being made. London Midland took steps to incorporate mitigation measures into the design of the car park. As part of the process of dialogue with local stakeholders London Midland offered to hear further views on its proposals in advance of a final decision on whether to proceed with the Berkhamsted scheme.
Process for ‘Your-View’
A two week period (24 May-7 June) was provided for seeking local views on the proposed car park decking scheme.
Both email and postal addresses were made available for submissions. The consultation was advertised in the local newspaper, posters and leaflets on Berkhamsted station as well as a display of the proposal at Berkhamsted Civic Centre.
Outcome
235 emails and 3 letters were received by the close of the consultation on 7 June.
From the submissions received 90% (214) were opposed to the car park deck and 10% (24) in favour.
Decision
After lengthy consideration of the implications both for and against the car park deck, London Midland has decided to proceed with the scheme. London Midland feels that the mitigation steps we have proposed deal with many of the issues raised. This final decision has been taken based on the longer term car parking benefits that will be provided at Berkhamsted station and for the town.
London Midland responds to the major issues raised:
The current daily price for parking
This was raised by both those in support and opposed to the scheme. As part of the expansion to the car park we are running an online price promotion between 6 September - 3 December 2010 to encourage even greater use of the car park. The discounts of up to 30% are in addition to already having agreed to a price freeze over the coming year.
There are also a number of other incentives that now provide increased value for money for those wanting to use the station car park, including an off-peak rate from 10am on weekdays.
For the environmentally friendly motorist free monthly, quarterly and annual permits are available if the vehicle is registered with the DVLA and has an ‘Electric’ fuel type. Similarly, if a vehicle emits no more that 120g of carbon dioxide every kilometre (120g/km) there’s a 50% discount on monthly, quarterly and annual permits.
If you are travelling by train to London at the weekend and decide to park at the station there’s a new weekend cheaper rate that starts from midday on Friday until midnight on Sunday . And for those buying London Midland car park scratch cards there’s a 10% reduction on your parking costs.
The appearance of the proposed deck
Unfortunately, there is very little we can do to disguise the galvanised steel frame of the deck. However, we will be taking measures to ensure that it is not visible form neighbouring houses. This will involve placing timber cladding along the full length of the deck.
Spare capacity of the current car park
We have monitored usage of the car park over the past few months and there are days when demand is as high as 90 per cent.
This is a good opportunity to plan for the future growth of Berkhamsted and the surrounding areas. The additional spaces also help to support an important element of the local authority’s transport policy, which is to carefully manage and improve parking congestion and traffic movement in the town.
Like any business we need to plan for the future and the car park deck will help us to be ahead of the certain demand curve for spaces. If we postpone today, there will not be the opportunity to finance the scheme in a few years, when there are even greater demands for spaces.
Safety and security
This is our top priority and we plan to put in place as many measure as possible to ensure the safety and security of car park users and residents living next door to the station. We are planning to install wood panelling to prevent visibility into the houses adjoining the car park. There will be lighting on both the top and bottom of the decking in conjunction with 24 hour monitored CCTV.
