How to manage parking in protected areas

There are locations like churches, listed buildings, areas of outstanding natural beauty, and heritage sites with parking facilities that are open to abuse.

Because of the listed status and a need to protect the look of a site, you might assume that these sites are not able to be fully protected against their car parks being misused. However, there are a number of car park management solutions, that when implemented thoughtfully, can enforce rules, and keep parking spaces on protected sites free for legitimate users.

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The impact of abuse

Many protected sites see abuse in various forms. Whether that is a church near a shopping area that sees their car park being used by people going elsewhere, restricting access for the congregation. Or a quiet car park near an area of outstanding natural beauty, having to deal with anti-social behaviour and fly tipping due to its secluded nature.

These issues can severely impact a location, either in terms of cost to clean up the mess, damage to reputation, or an emotional toll if your site feels like it isn’t supporting a community to the level you want it to.

What these sites need are solutions that support them while overcoming the specific issues they face and have to deal with due to the locations they are in.

The obstacles to overcome

Listed buildings have specific legislation and rules to adhere to when it comes to making changes to a site or completing any work. This includes anything that harms or changes the character of the building.

This means that the addition of specific solutions and equipment to a site needs to be executed with an increased level of care and attention to provide the support a location needs, without detracting from its appearance and remaining in line with the planning regulations for protected sites.

When it comes to installing car park management solutions, this might mean finding innovative approaches. For example, if there’s a protected feature where it would be ideal to put an ANPR camera or having to work with specific materials to maintain the look of a site.

Careful support

So how can you protect a car park, or enhance it, without harming a site or falling foul of planning regulations?

Simplicity is often key. Discrete solutions such as cameras with a tablet housed on-site to validate parking for example. This allows you to put car park management in place with minimal risk to the building.

Signage is crucial too. There could be places on-site where signs cannot be placed, which means finding the right locations to ensure the rules are still visible and providing the tools and means to communicate changes to a car park to its legitimate users. This could be providing fliers or a poster for a church notice board for example.

Helping you retake control of your car park

Putting car park management solutions in place on a car park, particularly one attached to a protected site like a listed building, requires a delicate approach and expertise.

At Parkingeye, we work closely with your site at every stage of your parking journey, understanding the needs of your site, your business, and the end user, then putting the right blend of solutions in place to help your car park reach its full potential. Our expert Onboarding and Account Management teams, coupled with our Installers, are able to help you implement cost-neutral parking solutions whilst respecting the unique requirements of your location.

To find out more about how we could support your site or to talk about your specific parking requirements, get in touch.