Car parking strategy
Appendix 2: data review
We have 13 car parks in and around the town centre, which provide 1476 spaces. In addition, there are 3 car parks on the Lyme Valley.
Individual council car parks ticket sales were analysed to assess the usage of individual car parks. The total number of hours available to park was identified and compared to the ticket types sold during 2018-19. In order to do this, it was assumed that for each ticket type the driver had made full use of the time they had purchased. In reality this would have not been the case, and as such this will overstate the percentage utilisation i.e. in a single hour, one space may have been used twice and therefore two 1 hour tickets would have been purchased.
Overnight ticket sales were excluded as the period that one of these tickets covers would significantly impact on the utilisation, when in the majority of instances the car would not remain in place for the full 17 hours.
The utilisation figures are shown below.
2018-19 car park utilisation (excluding overnight tickets and permits)
Blackfriars
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 25
- utilisation: 17%
Cherry Orchard
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 24
- utilisation: 76%
Civic Offices
- weekly hours per space: 14
- total spaces on car park: 55
- utilisation: 20%
Corporation Street
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 9
- utilisation: 77%
Goose Street
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 113
- utilisation: 36%
Hassell Street
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 39
- utilisation: 57%
King Street
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 170
- utilisation: 27%
Merrial Street
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 16
- utilisation: 6%
Midway
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 655
- utilisation: 24%
Ryecroft
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 214
- utilisation: 35%
School Street/Barracks Road
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 40
- utilisation: 83%
Silverdale Road
- weekly hours per space: 42
- total spaces on car park: 65
- utilisation: 26%
Windsor Street
- weekly hours per space: 90
- total spaces on car park: 21
- utilisation: 100%
2018-19 ticket types purchased by car park (including cashless purchases)
| Car park | 30 minutes | Overnight | 1 hour | 2 hours | 3 hours | 4 hours | 6 hours | 24 hours | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackfriars | - | 217 | 408 | 408 | 537 | 151 | 126 | 345 | 2,192 |
| Cherry Orchard | - | 2,518 | 6,941 | 5,499 | 2,439 | 544 | 52 | 807 | 18,800 |
| Civic Offices | - | 145 | 2,043 | 2,066 | 448 | 99 | 15 | - | 4,816 |
| Corporation Street | 8,832 | 3,762 | 10,772 | - | - | - | - | - | 23,366 |
| Goose Street | - | 8,644 | 15,642 | 12,523 | 7,522 | 2,238 | 72 | 1,061 | 47,702 |
| Hassell Street | - | 2,365 | 8,391 | 6,597 | 2,484 | 906 | 68 | 1,055 | 21,866 |
| King Street | - | 1,359 | 2,228 | 2,768 | 4,918 | 193 | 1,833 | 4,290 | 17,589 |
| Merrial Street | 1,244 | 1,202 | 1,396 | - | - | - | - | - | 3,842 |
| Midway | - | 14,683 | 106,731 | 65,278 | 16,751 | 4,913 | 551 | 2,592 | 211,499 |
| Ryecroft | - | 5,181 | 21,262 | 24,077 | 10,507 | 3,310 | 423 | 3,003 | 67,763 |
| School Street | - | 9,802 | 20,818 | 17,087 | 5,432 | 341 | - | - | 53,480 |
| Silverdale Road | - | 3,300 | 4,011 | 2,654 | 2,312 | 87 | 802 | 999 | 14,165 |
| Windsor Street | - | 4,494 | 18,599 | 13,597 | - | 21 | - | - | 36,711 |
| Total | 10,076 | 57,672 | 219,242 | 152,554 | 53,350 | 12,803 | 3,942 | 14,152 | 523,791 |
2018-19 cashless income as a percentage of total car park income
| Car park | Total cashless income received | Total off-street income received | % cashless transactions of total income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackfriars | £826 | £3,937 | 20.98% |
| Cherry Orchard | £3,469 | £30,633 | 11.32% |
| Civic Offices | £390 | £6,553 | 5.95% |
| Corporation Street | £1,113 | £23,867 | 4.66% |
| Goose Street | £2,526 | £73,575 | 3.43% |
| Hassell Street | £2,820 | £35,658 | 7.91% |
| King Street | £7,710 | £35,112 | 21.96% |
| Merrial Street | £266 | £3,944 | 6.74% |
| Midway | £25,966 | £312,511 | 8.31% |
| Ryecroft | £20,738 | £131,624 | 15.76% |
| School Street | £2,230 | £69,535 | 3.21% |
| Silverdale Road | £1,226 | £19,083 | 6.42% |
| Windsor Street | £1,221 | £42,077 | 2.90% |
| Grand total | £70,501 | £788,111 | 8.95% |
Length of stay
- 30 minutes - 2%
- Overnight (3:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.) - 11%
- 1 hour - 42%
- 2 hours - 29%
- 3 hours - 10%
- 4 hours - 2%
- 6 hours - 1%
- 24 hours - 3%
This information on car park ticket type includes both cashless and ticket machine sales. It shows that the vast majority of stays are short stay for 0 to 2 hours.
The number of people using the pay by phone app is slowly increasing. Over the last 12 months there were over 30,000 transactions by 10,000 customers. Over 12 months, 6% of people using the pay by phone app extended their stay benefitting from the option to not return to their car and interrupting this visit. The majority of these people extended their car parking once, however there were several people extending 4 and 5 times possibly due to the court.
Car park condition
Bankside car park (Well Street)
13 spaces (1 disabled), south east of town centre, just outside ring road, numbered bays - permit holders only
Observations
- car park in good condition, refurbished in 2017
- under-utilised (allowing general permit usage at present)
Options for improvement
- no lighting on car park
- market numbered bay permits
Barracks Road
44 spaces, east of town centre, just outside of ring road
Observations
- a well maintained and used car park
- a lot of gym membership usage
- maximum stay 3 hours
Options for improvement
- future new ticket machines
Blackfriars
25 spaces, south of town centre
Observations
- vegetation cleared Spring 2019
- under-utilised
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- site currently being marketed for disposal
Cherry Orchard
24 spaces, north of town centre, just outside of ring road
Observations
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- ticket machine to be replaced 2019-20
Civic Offices
55 spaces, town centre
Observations
- Monday to Friday permit holders only
- Saturday pay and display
Options for improvement
- will be closed with Ryecroft development
- ticket machine to be replaced 2019-20
Corporation Street
9 spaces, town centre
Observations
- a well used car park
- often significant number are disabled vehicles
- short stay
Options for improvement
- review general maintenance
Fogg Street East
14 spaces, town centre, numbered bays - permit holders only
Observations
- small local car park
- car park in good condition, refurbished in 2017
- under-utilised
Options for improvement
- market numbered bay permits
Goose Street
113 spaces, south of town centre, just outside of ring road
Observations
- medium size car park
- well laid out, with lighting, vegetation needs attention/maintaining
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- no disabled or parent and child bays
- vegetation to be maintained
- site provisionally marked for electric vehicle charging points
Hassell Street
39 spaces, east of town centre
Observations
- small local car park, well used
- surface showing signs of wear, vegetation needs attention/maintaining
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- ticket machine to be replaced 2019-20
- vegetation to be maintained
King Street
170 spaces, north east of town centre
Observations
- car park in good condition, refurbished in 2015
- significant use by permit holders
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- no disabled or parent and child bays, consider some?
- site provisionally marked for electric vehicle charging points
- ticket machine to be replaced 2019-20
Merrial Street
15 spaces, town centre
Observations
- a well used car park
- car park in good condition, refurbished in 2018
- often significant number are disabled vehicles; 2 marked out disabled bays
- short stay
Options for improvement
- ticket machine to be replaced 2019-20
- charge for disabled parking
Midway multi-storey
655 spaces, town centre
Observations
- the site has suffered from lack of maintenance and anti-social behaviour
- lighting still insufficient in places
- disabled bays on levels 4 and 8
- parent and child bays on level 8
- mixed generation ticket machines
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- repair/renew drainage system, paint car park, cathodic protection system to be fully commissioned
- greater priority to maintain
- consider parent and child bays on other levels
Rear of High Street
21 spaces, south of town centre, numbered bays - permit holders only
Observations
- 15 currently available (6 within Poundstretcher development)
- small local car park
- access road surface showing signs of wear
- under-utilised
Options for improvement
- re-surface access road
- market numbered bay permits
Ryecroft
214 spaces, town centre
Observations
- area C under-utilised post Civic Offices de-camp
- untidy in places
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- ex-Sainsbury's site being utilised for car parking whilst waiting re-development
- car park needs maintaining, whilst waiting for re-development
School Street
70 spaces, east of town centre, just outside of ring road
Observations
- a well maintained and used car park
- a lot of gym membership usage
- maximum stay 3 hours
Options for improvement
- ticket machines - creative to be removed
Silverdale Road
66 spaces, west of town centre
Observations
- car park in good condition
- variable stay
Options for improvement
- site provisional marked for electric vehicle charging points
Windsor Street
21 spaces, east of town centre, just outside of ring road
Observations
- a well maintained and used car park
- short stay
Options for improvement
- ticket machines to be replaced in the future