In London, Ealing Council’s Parking Services gained the Safer Parking Award for Springbridge Road car park.
Richard Bickell, Senior Regional Development Manager of the British Parking Association, presented the award. The local authority reports tha the car park has undergone work to increase security, including the installation of CCTV cameras, new lights and lifts.
The £900,000 invested by Ealing also paid for the replacement of the surfaces and ceilings, colour-coded floors and parking/pedestrian areas. There are now new signs and lines and the entrance and exit have gates so the car park can be closed during non-operational hours. All the measures are designed to make the car park a more pleasant and secure place to park, the council says. The Safer Parking scheme is an initiative of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and is aimed at reducing both crime and the fear of crime in parking facilities. It is managed by the British Parking Association and supported by the Home Office. The scheme which has been running for 12 years as the Secured Car Parks Scheme, has now been revised and the new modernised Safer Parking Scheme was launched in April 2004.
The award is reassessed each year, and the car park must continue to operate at the same high standard in order to retain its status as a secured car park.
What they say
Cabinet Member for Transport and Planning, Councillor Stephen Sears said: "This is our second Secure Car Park award and I’m really pleased that the high standards our Parking Services team achieved at Herbert Road car park in Southall last year are now also available to drivers in Ealing town centre. Car parks can be dark and dingy places, but the investment we have made at Springbridge Road should make parking a nicer, safer experience for everyone that uses it."
