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Address:
The Guildhall
Frankwell Quay
Shrewsbury
SY3 8HQ
 
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01743 281000
 
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Car parking – new office location

The emphasis of this travel plan is not on car parking, but on encouraging alternatives to single occupancy car use. Nevertheless it has been included because some council jobs can not be carried out easily without the use of a car.

The October travel survey contained questions about car parking allocation and charges, specifically aimed at those members of staff who will be moving to the new single office accommodation in 2004.

The aim is to try to ensure that the allocation of car parking is fair and that there is a relationship between the distance parked away from the office and the need for a car for council business.

Car parking – estimation of need

The following is an estimation of the need for car parking:

  • It is estimated that 270 members of staff will work at Frankwell. Accordingly 157 members of staff propose to drive to work at the new offices, either alone or with a passenger.

  • Assuming all Councillors will require a car parking space (40) and space is required for visitors and the Mayoral car (10 spaces nominal), it is estimated that around 210 spaces are required.

  • It is estimated (no exact figures available) that 94 spaces are currently taken in public car parks in town (although 117 car parking passes are currently issued to staff, a number of staff do hold more than one pass for different car parks).

  • Around 37 spaces will be available underneath the new offices (+3 for cycle storage)

  • This leaves a shortfall of 210 – (37+94) = 79 spaces.

Parking allocation

Within the travel survey, employees and Councillors were given 6 statements regarding parking allocation and asked to rank them in order of preference.

The following table shows the overall results;

 

Parking allocation – options ranked in order of preference

 

Rank

Option

 

Points score*

1

People who go out of the office on council business at least daily should park closest to the office

372

2

People who go out of the office on council business at least weekly should park closest to the office

173

3

People who car share should park closest to the office

117

4

People should be able to park anywhere on a first come, first served basis

97

5

Senior managers and councillors should park closest to the office

52

6

People who go out of the office on council business at least monthly should park closest to the office

29

*Employees were asked to rank their preferred statements from 1 to 3.

Each rank was given a points system and added up.

17 people completed the form incorrectly. Their results are omitted.

There appears to be a clear link overall to see parking allocation based on need and to use this as a method of encouraging people to car-share.

Parking Charges

A similar exercise was carried out regarding car-parking charges with the following overall results;

 

Parking charges – options ranked in order of preference

 

Rank

Option

 

Points score*

1

There should only be free parking for people who use their car at least daily for council business

240

2

Everyone should have a free parking space

 

213

3

Staff who do not need their car daily for council business should use Park and Ride or alternative transport at a lower/subsidised price

132

4

There should only be free parking for people who use their car at least weekly for council business

84

5

There should only be free car parking for people who car-share

57

6

There should only be free parking for people who use their car even infrequently for council business

35

7

There should only be free parking for people who use their car at least monthly for council business

17

8

Everyone should pay for an allocated car parking space at Frankwell

13

9

Everyone should pay for an allocated car parking space somewhere in town

8

10

No one should have a free or allocated car parking space

10

 
The top three preferred statements indicate that employees and Councillors overall wish to continue to receive free car parking, again with the parking allocation based on need of a car for business.
 
There is a strong indication that unless the need to use a car is linked to an employees daily/weekly work pattern, employees should be encouraged to use subsidised Park and Ride or alternative transport to commute to work.

Public transport

Public transport links to and from the site could be excellent. Park and Ride drop-off points already exist on Frankwell Roundabout and in Barker Street (5 minutes walk), the bus station is located nearby on Smithfield Road, and the train station is approximately 800m / 10 minutes walk away from the site. The travel survey results indicate that at least 13% of staff will use one of these methods when they move to the new offices in 2004.

Cycling facilities

Showers have been included within the design brief of the new offices, as has provision for secure cycle storage. The survey results indicate that at least 12% of employees will cycle to work when they move to the new offices in 2004.