Car parking at Bristol Parkway

[whole diary]

[alan_s]

Hi there

This weekend I will be making 2 separate journeys from Bristol parkway. Leaving today at 1800 returning tomorrow at 2200, then leaving Sunday at 0830 returning Tuesday at 1100.

Since parking charge is per 24 hours, if I pay for both journeys separately it will cost me 5 days. But if I pay once for the whole period, it's only 4 days.

Will I be liable to penalty ticket if I pay for 4 days (from 1800 today to 1800 Tuesday) but leave the car park and return later? I know how acpoa like to fine for any minor transgression

Cheers,
Alan

[JayMac]

I can't see how it would be a problem. You'll have paid the required fee to park there for four days. Whether you actually keep your car there shouldn't make any difference.

If APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area), do have some silly rule about exiting and re-entering using the same ticket, then that will not be backed-up by any legislation and will merely be a non-enforceable speculative invoice masquerading as a penalty charge.

Only a magistrates court can fine you, and whilst it's possible that the car-park at Bristol Parkway is covered by Railway Byelaws, none of the ones relevant to taking a vehicle onto railway property cover this situation.

[alan_s]

Great, thanks for the speedy reply.

Alan.

[alan_s]

Well, it seemed to work fine, came home saturday and went back sunday - managed to get exactly the same space as before, got back today and no rude notes on the car!

Alan

[bobm]

Glad to hear it worked ok.

[JayMac]

Wow, someone doing something that may not be within the narrowly defined rules of what a Private Parking Company deem acceptable. Glad to hear there were no problems alan s. Although I would have been at a loss to understand what car park 'rule' you would have broken, it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility for APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) to have made one up.

PPCs are a law unto themselves. But thankfully their 'Parking Charge Notices' for indiscretions are nearly always speculative invoices which can be safely ignored.

In 2011 there were 1.8m 'Parking Charge Notices' issued by members of the British Parking Association. 65% were paid up without being contested beyond any appeal to the PPC itself. Of the remaining 35% (630,000) Only 845 of those were lodged as a small claim in the County Court, with only 49 going as far as a hearing in front of a judge. Less than half of those 49 resulted in a win for the PPC.

With 1.27m 'Parking Charge Notices' being paid at an average of ^75 each, that's near ^100m for these modern day freebooters. That's over and above the wholly legimate income from parking tariffs. Managing private car parks on behalf of landowners is a lucrative business, particularly while people continue to pay up after receiving a legally dubious 'Parking Charge Notice'.

[Red Squirrel]

They've started:

Bristol Parkway work begins to build 710-space car park

Work has started on a ^13m multi-storey car park at Bristol Parkway train station in order to create 710 extra spaces.

The work is being carried out by Network Rail (NR^» (Network Rail - home page)) and is expected to be completed by the end of next March.

Sarah McManus, from First Great Western, said the move would help both regular and infrequent customers.

Alternative parking will be available at nearby Parkway North and a shuttle bus service has been put in place.

Some residents living nearby have raised concerns about commuters continuing to park along nearby streets to save on parking costs.

One of them, Margaret Ryan, said: "We know people are parking in the streets because of the cost of parking in Parkway and because it's quite close.

"What they're doing is parking and walking up to save the cost of the parking."

Network Rail hopes the new car park will encourage more people to use it as access in and out of the station will also be improved.

Source: BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

What Margaret Ryan and her neighbours need is an RPS..! 

[TonyK]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Liberal Democrat councillor Pat Hockey said the car park had made the council "look stupid".

If you think that makes them look stupid, wait until they get Bust Rabid Transit in 2017

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Anger over Bristol Parkway railway parking shortage


A multi-storey car park will provide an extra 710 spaces at Bristol Parkway station

Motorists in Bristol are complaining of a shortage of parking spaces while work is carried out to build a multi-storey car park at Parkway station.

People are having to use nearby Parkway North but the car park does not have enough spaces forcing some to park illegally outside of the marked bays.

On Wednesday, Craig Sear paid to park but was fined ^50 for parking outside a bay along with 40 others, he said.

South Gloucestershire Council said it had a duty to enforce parking rules.

Speaking of the car park at Parkway North, Mr Sear said: "It is quite frustrating when you are trying to catch a train first thing in the morning and it is stressful not being able to park, it's ludicrous."

The new multi-storey at Parkway is set to be completed by the end of next March by Network Rail to create an extra 710 spaces.

Mr Sear said: "Cars were parked around the perimeter which wasn't obstructing any other cars or causing any other problems so I did the same. I paid my ^5 for the day and went back to the station. I came back in the afternoon from London and I'd been ticketed as well as 30 to 40 other cars, which beggars belief."

He added that he did not want to park in residential areas as it would upset residents and the council's approach was "profiteering and entrapment".

The council has said since July, from when work started at Bristol Parkway station, it has issued a total of 74 parking fines.

A spokesman said motorists could appeal any fine handed out by the council.

"There are details of the appeals process on the back of every ticket issued, and we will consider each case on its own merits," the authority said.

[TonyK]

Nice little short-term earner for SGDC.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bristol Post:

Minister drops by to see work on new car park


Transport Minister Stephen Hammond at Bristol Parkway station with station manager Linda Swainger and First Great Western boss Mark Hopwood  Photo: Barbara Evripidou

A Government minister has made a flying visit to South Gloucestershire to see the work taking place on a multi-million-pound car park at the district's busiest railway station.

Transport Minister Stephen Hammond arrived at Bristol Parkway to inspect the work being carried out on the new car park, which will provide 700 extra spaces.

The minister has made the headlines in recent days thanks to his fondness for chauffeur-driven cars. It has emerged that the Conservative politician is one of the most prolific users of ministerial cars, despite living just six miles from London. The news is all the more embarrassing because of his brief overseeing public transport.

Mr Hammond took the decision to arrive by train, even though services in the Bristol area have been affected by the bad weather in recent weeks. He said: "We have 50 similar schemes across the country and it is important for me to see how they are progressing. Anything that can be done to improve facilities for passengers has to be welcomed. We are doing everything we can to encourage as many people as possible to use public transport."

The new car park is one of the largest schemes being managed by Network Rail. At the moment the car park has 1,100 spaces and is almost always full on weekdays.

First Great Western's managing director, Mark Hopwood, said: "Bristol Parkway station serves almost three million rail passengers a year and this is expected to grow significantly when the line to London is electrified." He said the car park would cater for current and future passenger demand.

Patrick Hallgate, who is in charge of Network Rail Western, said: "This scheme is a fantastic example of the rail industry, local authorities and other organisations working together to improve the passenger experience. Bristol has one of the highest predicted growth rates on the Western route over the next decade, and this improvement will meet that future demand. Expanding the car park at Bristol Parkway is the start of many plans we have in the pipeline to help the local economy here continue to thrive and grow."

The new building will be clad in materials in keeping with the surrounding area and is designed to reduce light and noise pollution. The car park is expected to open for business by the end of March.

[alan_s]

Hi all, does anyone know whether the car park construction will be finished and it will be possible to park at parkway again?  I saw March somewhere, is it still on track ?

Alan

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for posting that query here, alan_s! 

Quite opportunely, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Bristol Parkway: Residents angry over size of new car park


People living in nearby Brins Close in Stoke Gifford say they were not properly consulted about the car park

People living beside a new multi-storey car park at Bristol Parkway railway station say it is too big and will create extra noise and light from cars.

The ^13m 700-space car park is due to open in April and operator First Great Western says it will stop rail passengers parking on nearby streets.

However, people living next to the building in Stoke Gifford say they were not consulted about its size.

Land owner Network Rail did not need planning permission to build it. The structure has been built on the site of the former car park, so the company was within its permitted development rights for the area.

Anita English, whose house in Brins Close is adjacent to the building, said she felt "stressed" about the situation and said residents had not been consulted about the size of the car park. "Also we don't know what to expect when it opens with the cars going in and out and with the lighting and the omissions," she said.

Fellow resident Kevin Cook said he felt the "duty of care" residents had received from First Great Western had been "ropey".

A First Great Western spokesman said: "We have been consulting on a regular basis since the very beginning of this. If that has not touched these residents then I'm very sorry. But this will take a lot of cars off the relatively small roads in Stoke Gifford and put them where they should be."

[alan_s]

Ah, thanks for that 

[JayMac]

Stress? Caused by a car park? 

And what are these 'omissions' that Ms English is worried about? I love the spelling mistake (the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)'s) when quoting someone with that surname.