North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking

Strategy Review – Phase 2

Phase 2 Report - DRAFT

April 2018

Report: R02B

Prepared for:

North Hertfordshire District Council

Council Offices, Gernon Road

Letchworth Garden City

Hertfordshire SG6 3JF

United Kingdom

Prepared by:

Markides Associates

floor The Tower Building

11 York Road

London SE1 7NX

United Kingdom

+44 (0)20 7442 2225

http://markidesassociates.co.uk

Markides Associates. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of Markides

Associates constitutes an infringement of copyright.

Limitation: This report has been prepared on behalf of, and for the exclusive use of the client of Markides Associates, and

is subject to, and issued in accordance with, the provisions of the contract between the client and Markides

Associates. Markides Associates accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for, or in respect of, any use of, or

reliance upon, this report by any third party.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02A

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 7

2. CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES ........................................................................................................ 8

3. BALDOCK ............................................................................................................................ 39

4. HITCHIN .............................................................................................................................. 45

5. LETCHWORTH ..................................................................................................................... 55

6. ROYSTON ........................................................................................................................... 63

7. KNEBWORTH ...................................................................................................................... 71

8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................... 75

APPENDIX A: PARKING DEMAND ESTIMATES .............................................................................. 77

APPENDIX B: EXISTING CONTROLLED PARKING ZONES ................................................................ 78

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) have commissioned Markides Associates

(supported by Civix) to review its current Parking Strategy (2009–2019), adopted in 2009

and revised in 2012. This review is being undertaken in three phases.

• The scope of Phase 1 was to review and provide advice on parking tariffs to inform the

Council’s budget setting process for 2017/18 – this has been completed.

• The scope of Phase 2 (this report) is to address and consider wider parking provision

and management issues across the district and to review the Council’s policies in the

Parking Strategy.

• A Phase 3 report will draw together initial views on potential longer-term changes in

parking demand and potential land use changes at some car parks.

In general, the existing parking strategy is sound, and most of its policies appear

appropriate for the future – this report recommends various enhancements and suggested

timescales for taking these initiatives forward as described below.

ON-STREET PARKING

Most on-street parking in the NHDC area is free; this is an anomaly given that off-street

parking is usually charged – typically the more in-demand parking such as on-street is

charged, and is usually at a higher rate than off-street car parks. This encourages more off-

street parking use and higher turnover on-street, and has the potential to free up street

space for urban realm improvements, and also enables funding of enforcement and

parking equipment. However, some free parking, particularly very short stay, can also help

the local retail economy. On balance, it is the view of this report to support the existing

parking strategy policy (Policy 9) that over time on-street parking should be charged –

perhaps initially on a trial basis by using cashless mobile phone technology for ‘premium’

spaces closest to the shops, and in some cases for commuter parking. The matters listed in

Policy 9 to be taken account in these decisions appear appropriate.

MANAGING TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

The report highlights the changing nature of vehicle and parking technology, with less

emphasis on hardware and more on mobile technology. Cashless technology will increase

in use, mainly by phone or other portable devices, making investment in parking hardware

requirements riskier.

COMMUTER PARKING

The growth in commuter parking at all the stations in North Herts continues to pose a

challenge. It is concluded that there is some potential to encourage rail commuter use of

some underutilised car parking, in particular the Woodside car park in Hitchin, the Garden

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Square and Hillshott car parks in Letchworth, and Town Hall and the Warren car parks in

Royston. It is recommended that a trial of premium commuter off-street parking is trialled

in Woodside, Hitchin and the Town Hall, Royston. The conditions encountered in

Knebworth are quite specific, and it is recommended that commuter parking issues here

could be addressed with on-street permits.

BALDOCK

The town centre is performing well (low vacancy rates) and has benefited from a major

town centre enhancement scheme in 2008. It has a stronger evening economy than

Letchworth or Royston. Parking is dominated by free on-street provision and a large Tesco

car park which has substantial spare capacity, the Council only controls one small car park.

On-street parking is fully occupied on weekdays and Saturdays.

Substantial growth in population and employment is planned for the town and it is likely

that Baldock will continue to experience rail commuter parking pressures. There are few

options available to NHDC to increase station parking in the short-term. The immediate

priority must therefore be to encourage the use of alternative modes to access the station

from existing and new residential areas within the town. In the medium term, increases in

dedicated commuter parking in adjacent town centres may draw commuters from further

afield away from Baldock.

Demand estimates indicate that town centre parking demand is unlikely to outstrip supply,

providing the Tesco car park is available for public parking. On-street car parking is

obviously well-used, and given that it is free and very convenient, there is little incentive to

use off-street car parking until no spaces are available.

HITCHIN

The town centre is performing well, with low vacancy rates and Hitchin has the strongest

evening economy of the NHDC towns. NHDC controls some two-thirds of the local parking

supply, and on-street parking in the town centre is limited. There is high demand for short-

stay parking in the town centre with the most central car parks operating at or near

capacity during busy shopping periods, and in the evening and at the weekend. The long-

stay car parks, especially the NHDC Lairage multi-storey, are less well-utilised.

Demand forecasts show that demand for off-street town centre parking overall is unlikely

to outstrip supply within the life of the Local Plan to 2031. The strategy recommends

continuing to manage the town centre car parks to maximise visitor use. This has been the

policy in recent years, with measures aimed at moving longer-stay parking to car parks on

the edge of the core town centre. Phase 1 of this study recommended further changes to

the tariff structure to create price incentives to encourage a shift to the less-utilised late

afternoon period, and a shift to the under-used Lairage Multi Storey.

KNEBWORTH

Knebworth’s shopping facilities are generally in good health, with no reported vacancies in

shop premises. There is one small short-stay public car park in Knebworth (maximum stay

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

four hours) operated by NHDC, and it is reasonably well used. There is controlled on-street

parking providing approximately 120 spaces

in the main retail area, with a maximum stay

of one hour or two hours, these are well used.

Commuter parking is the main issue in Knebworth, and this is likely to increase over time.

Knebworth experiences specific pressure due to the structure of rail season ticket and

parking costs in the NHDC and Stevenage railway car parks. It is recommended that the

solution to this issue requires an increase in the extent of controlled parking zones to cover

virtually all the settlement, coupled with paid on-street parking for rail commuters in a

selected number of bays within the CPZ area to contribute to ongoing management and

enforcement costs.

LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY

Letchworth town centre is under-performing, with high vacancy rates (the highest of the

North Hertfordshire towns). Significant growth in population is also planned for the town,

while projected growth in employment is lower.

There are ten car parks in Letchworth, with NHDC controlling some 611 spaces out of a

total of 1,496. Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation control most of the short-stay

parking.

The overall occupancy level of short-stay car parks was observed to peak at around 60% on

the weekday and 45% on the Saturday. The corresponding occupancy levels for the long-

stay parking were 65% and 20%. On-street parking with a maximum stay of one hour is

provided along the main shopping streets. In previous surveys this has been observed to be

fully utilised.

There is thus considerable spare capacity in Letchworth overall, and demand forecasts

indicate that this is likely to continue.

ROYSTON

The retail vacancy rate in Royston town centre is high, indicating that the centre may be

underperforming. The NHDC Local Plan Proposed Submission Draft proposes a significant

increase in retail floorspace in the centre up to 2031. Significant growth in housing and

population is also planned for the town, while it is also expected to receive around a third

of the planned growth in employment in the district.

There are seven public car parks in Royston, all operated by NHDC and with a total capacity

of 507 spaces. There is on-street parking along High Street, which allows free parking for a

maximum of 20 minutes, as well as on-street parking on Fish Hill which allows free parking

for a maximum of 1 hour.

Parking utilisation rates range from full occupancy around the market place for much of

the day to only half-full in the long-stay car parks. The on-street and off-street parking

spaces around Market Hill and Fish Hill are operating at capacity during the week, but the

Includes spaces on Station Road / London Road / Milestone Road / Pondcroft Road.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

short-stay car parks in Princes Mews are less popular, with an occupancy level peaking at

around 60% on weekdays. Occupancy in the two long-stay car parks is just over 50%

during the week, although the spare capacity in the Warren is used on market days.

SUMMARY OF RECOMENDATIONS

The table below summarises the conclusions and sets out recommended short (1-2 years)

medium (2-3 years) and longer-term measures or policies (3-5 years).

Short-term (1-2 yrs)

Medium-term (2-3 yrs)

Longer-term (3-5 yrs)

Baldock

• Work with the train

operating company and

HCC to encourage mode

shift for journeys to the

railway station.

• Discuss future rail

demand with Network

Rail and the train

operator.

• Discuss with Tesco

options for town centre

parking supply at their

site.

• Convert the highest

demand visitor and dual

use bays to maximum 30

minutes for visitors and

/or developing a trial of

on-street charging in

premium areas using pay

by phone technology.

• Consider increasing the

proportion of dual-use

bays (i.e. resident permit

and town centre visitor

bays) in Hitchin Street,

Church Street and Sun

Street.

• Introduce some evening

enforcement to

discourage anti-social

parking.

• Develop a trial of on-

street charging in

premium areas using

pay by phone

technology.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Short-term (1-2 yrs)

Medium-term (2-3 yrs)

Longer-term (3-5 yrs)

Hitchin

• Trial evening and Sunday

charging at certain off-

street car parks; consider

measures to improve the

security of the pedestrian

routes to/from these car

parks at the same time.

• Improve usage of the

Lairage through better

signing and investigate

use of technology to

show floor occupancy

levels.

• Trial on-street payment

for parking in premium

spaces using pay by

phone technology.

• Discuss future rail

demand with Network

Rail and the train

operator.

• Consider ways to

improve use of the West

Alley disabled car park

• Seek to encourage more

rail commuter parking

through increased

provision at the station or

by encouraging additional

rail commuter parking at

the Woodside car park.

• Seek to improve

pedestrian access to

the core town centre in

the longer term

through planning briefs

of adjacent sites.

• Seek provision of some

public car parking on

the south side of the

town centre,

potentially in any

planning brief for

future use of the Asda

site.

Letchworth

• Encourage use by rail

commuters of the

Garden Square MSCP.

• Trial evening car park

charges in the Town Hall

car park.

• Discuss future rail

demand with Network

Rail and the train

operator.

• Review the traffic access

to the Garden Square car

park – both access and

egress is circuitous, and

this will always affect the

popularity of this car

park.

Royston

• Discuss future rail

demand with Network

Rail and the train

operator.

• Consider offering

premium commuter

parking season tickets in

the Town Hall Car Park to

• Discuss with the BID the

potential for gradually

converting some of the

max 1-hour bays to

charged bays. There is the

potential for achieving

this through pay by

phone technology.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Short-term (1-2 yrs)

Medium-term (2-3 yrs)

Longer-term (3-5 yrs)

increase utilisation

• As highways

maintenance is

undertaken in the near

future, there is an

opportunity to look at

simplifying the range of

types of parking provision

in the town centre.

• It is recommended that

the operating hours of

the Market Place car park

are amended in

consultation with the

Royston Town Council to

reflect the actual practice

on the ground.

Knebworth

• Discuss future rail

demand with Network

Rail and the train

operator.

• It is recommended that

NHDC seek to identify

suitable locations for

designated on-street

bays. These will be

located on streets with

low daytime parking

stress and where parking

bays can contribute to

residential traffic calming.

• Give consideration to

commuters to be able to

apply for premium

parking season tickets on-

street at a cost of around

£80 per month. The costs

of management and

enforcement would be

largely borne by

commuters.

• Review Local Plan growth

and likely impact on on-

and-off-street parking.

Consider consulting on

extended CPZ controls

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) have commissioned Markides Associates

(supported by Civix) to review its current Parking Strategy (2009–2019), adopted in 2009 and

updated in 2012. The strategy seeks to provide and manage car parking in the district over a

10-year period.

1.2. This review is being undertaken in three phases.

• The scope of Phase 1 is to review and provide advice on parking tariffs to inform the

Council’s budget setting process for 2017/18. A separate report on this was prepared

and issued.

• The scope of Phase 2 and this report is to address and consider wider parking provision

and management issues across the district and to review the Council’s policies in the

Parking Strategy.

• A Phase 3 report will draw together initial views on potential longer-term changes in

parking demand and potential land use changes to some car parks.

1.3. This document presents the analysis of Phase 2 of the parking strategy review and builds on

the Phase 1 report. NHDC submitted a new Local Plan for examination in June 2017

following public consultation. The emerging Local Plan covers the period 2011-31, and the

updated parking strategy supports the spatial planning and sustainable mobility objectives of

the Local Plan.

1.4. A Transport Strategy for NHDC prepared as part of the evidence base supporting the Local

Plan was published in Oct 2017. The emphasis in the Transport Strategy is on increasing use

of sustainable modes, in particular walking and cycling in the towns, and reducing car travel

(see Section 2).

1.5. This report is structured in the following manner:

• Chapter 2 describes various cross-cutting issues affecting parking in the district – these

include transport strategy implications, commuter parking, payment mechanisms,

employee parking and technology issues that may affect parking in future.

• Chapters 3-7 provide recommendations for each of the key towns of Baldock, Hitchin,

Letchworth and Royston as well as the settlement of Knebworth.

• Chapter 8 presents conclusions and summarises recommendations.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

2. CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES

Transport Policy and Transport Vision implications

2.1. This section summaries the transport policy context for the Parking Study Phase 2 report.

Relevant policies identified include Hertfordshire County Council documents, North

Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) and Joint Policy Documents for Hitchin, Royston,

Letchworth and Baldock town centres.

Hertfordshire County Council

2.2. The Local Transport Plan 3 was adopted by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) in April 2011.

The Local Transport Plan identifies its long-term strategy including proposals for Park and

Ride Schemes, and the need to reduce car parking provision in town centres to reduce

nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions and congestion.

2.3. The Draft Local Transport Plan 4 / Emerging Transport Vision 2050 was released for public

consultation in Autumn 2016 and adopts a ‘Transport User hierarchy’ policy which gives

priority to more sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public

transport. The Stage 2 Transport Vision 2050 document identified several potential

transport schemes including the use of variable messaging signs (VMS), social media and

emerging technologies to provide better information about on-street parking options within

Hertfordshire’s urban areas.

2.4. There are six policy options outlined in the consultation which could all feature in the LTP4:

• Adoption of a ‘transport user hierarchy’ policy

• Delivery of a step change in cycling in larger urban areas

• Greater facilitation and support for shared mobility (car clubs, lift share, bike share)

• Enhanced public transport connectivity between towns, through bus priority measures

• A priority traffic management network

• Growth and Transport Plans

2.5. The draft LTP4 gives car-based commuter needs a lower priority in the process because of

the contribution they make to congestion at peak times, and because of the urban space

taken up by long stay car parking. The policy seeks to make sustainable travel options more

attractive, with those commuters who have no alternative to their car benefitting from

reduced urban congestion and more reliable journey times.

2.6. The LTP4 public consultation also includes the ‘Transport Vision 2050 – Consultation Report’,

(Autumn 2016) which provides information regarding the future transport strategy and

potential transport schemes for the county. These include a possible priority bus network

which will increase the bus provision and will create a more reliable and sustainable link

between the main town centres, including Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City and Baldock.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

North Hertfordshire District Council

2.7. District Local Plan No.2 with Alterations, was adopted in April 1996 and contains the District

Council’s policies, which provide a framework for guiding and controlling development

within the District. The plan identifies that some large proposals cannot be accommodated

in the town centres due to the lack of space, risk of damage to its character, overloaded

roads, car parking issues and servicing facilities.

2.8. The Emerging Local Plan Pre-submission published in October 2016, seeks to address the key

issues facing North Hertfordshire between 2011-2031. The emerging Local Plan identifies

several transport related policies which will affect NHDC town centres;

• Parking is one tool that can be used to influence travel demand and mode of travel. It

is now recognised and accepted that, in most locations, demand management through

parking is most appropriate at the trip destination (for example commercial, leisure

and retail parking).

• The locations of parking areas should ensure that they create safe and secure places to

leave and access vehicles.

2.9. The emerging Local Plan also identifies retail/mixed land use allocations in Hitchin,

Letchworth Garden City and Royston town centres which could have a direct effect on

parking, and these are identified below;

Hitchin Town Centre

HT11 Churchgate and its surrounding area;

• The site allocation includes the Churchgate shopping centre, St Mary’s Square car park

and both Portmill Lane car parks

• Redevelop and provide approximately 4,000m2 of gross additional main town centre

use floorspace and residential accommodation on upper floors

• Ensure an appropriate level of car parking is retained and/or provided across the town

centre as a whole

• Figure 1 identifies Hitchin town centre’s HT11 site allocation within the yellow

boundary.

HT12 Paynes Park;

• The site allocation is situated on Paynes Park and High Street and includes Jacksons

Yard car park and the Arcade car park.

• Redevelopment to provide approximately 4,000m2 of gross additional main town

centre use floorspace

• Figure 1 identifies Hitchin town centre’s HT12 site allocation within the orange

boundary.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 1: HT11 AND HT12 MIXED USE SITE ALLOCATION

Letchworth Garden City Town Centre

LG19 The Wynd, Openshaw Way

• The site allocation is situated on Openshaw Way and includes a variety of different

land uses and the Openshaw Way car park;

• Redevelopment to provide approximately 4,500m2 of gross additional main town

centre use floorspace;

• Ensure an appropriate level of car parking is retained and/or provided across the town

centre as a whole;

• Figure 2 identifies Letchworth Garden City town centre’s LG19 site allocation within

the yellow boundary.

LG21 Arena Parade

• The site allocation is situated on Arena Parade, Eastcheap and Broadway and includes

a variety of different land uses and the Eastcheap car park and the Town Hall car park;

• Redevelopment to provide approximately 5000m2 of gross additional main town

centre use floorspace;

• Ensure an appropriate level of car parking is retained and/or provided across the town

centre as a whole;

• Figure 2 identifies Letchworth Garden City town centre’s LG21 site allocation within

the orange boundary.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 2: LG19 AND LG21 MIXED USE SITE ALLOCATION

Royston Town Centre

RY12 Town Hall Site, Melbourn Street

• The site allocation is situated on King James Way and Melbourn Street and includes the

existing Town Hall, police station, health centre and Town Hall Car Park.

• Redevelopment to provide approximately 4,000m2 of gross additional main town

centre use floorspace and residential accommodation on upper floors;

• Retention or re-provision of civic uses across the town or onsite

• Ensure an appropriate level of car parking is retained and/or provided across the town

centre as a whole;

• Figure 3 identifies Royston’s town centre’s RY12 site allocation within the yellow

boundary.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 3: RY12 MIXED USE SITE ALLOCATION

2.10. The Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) (Sept 2016) and updated in January 2018 prepared

alongside the emerging Local Plan seeks to identify all relevant infrastructure needs that are

anticipated over the whole plan period, with Table 1 below identifying the housing and

employment projections for each town centre.

TABLE 1 - HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS IN NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE

TOWN CENTRES

Total Allocated Sites 2011-2031

Town Centre

Dwellings

Employment in Hectares with No.

Jobs in brackets

Hitchin

2,477

Hitchin is not expected to see

significant employment growth in

employment land

Baldock

3,161

20.4 (3,200)

Royston

1,243

10.9 (1,750)

Letchworth Garden City

2,816

1.5 (240)

Joint Policy Documents - Urban Transport Plans (UTPs)

2.11. There are three UTPs within North Hertfordshire District Council, covering Hitchin (2011),

Letchworth Garden City and Baldock (2012) and Royston (2012).

2.12. The Hitchin UTP identifies several parking problems within the town centre and surrounding

the station including heavy demand of parking at Hitchin Station which has led to high

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

commuter parking on residential streets. The UTP also identifies that the Lairage Multi-

Storey Car Park is under-used due to its poor access which could also be leading to more

circulatory trips.

2.13. Hitchin UTP also identifies several schemes to solve the parking problems including:

• Increasing parking enforcement and parking permits

• Introducing cheaper car parking in the off-peak period

• Improving awareness of the Lairage multi-storey car park

• Introducing real time information for car parks to show available spaces

• Introducing a residents parking scheme

2.14. Royston’s UTP document identifies parking issues in the town centre which include; the

station is well used and leads to overflow on residential streets, with town centre car parking

being utilised by the local workers more than visitors and free town centre street parking

leaving visitors circulating searching for free parking spaces.

2.15. The UTP proposes potential parking and transport measures to resolve the existing and

future parking issues in Royston, as follows:

• Improve car park signage

• Protect residential areas from rail commuter parking

• Review town centre parking - signage, pricing, controls etc.

• Sustainable transport promotional activities

• Consider the possible redevelopment of the Market Square and Warren car park sites

as promoted in the Royston Town Centre Strategy.

2.16. The Letchworth and Baldock UTP outlines interventions to address objectives and key issues

relevant to Letchworth and Baldock, with town centre parking being a growing problem.

2.17. The UTP highlights several potential measures to address these issues in Letchworth Town

Centre, including:

• General review of existing, and potential new, Controlled Parking Zones;

• Town Centre parking review, including a long/short-stay parking review and; options to

manage on-street commuter parking

• Options to introduce Variable Message Signing for directions/space information at the

town centre car park;

• Options to address obstructive parking through possible verge and footway parking

protection orders and junction protection schemes

2.18. The UTP highlights several potential measures to address these issues in Baldock Town

Centre that have since been delivered, including:

• Recent town centre enhancements enabling a shift in demand towards short-stay on-

street parking.

• A recent residential development on land at Baldock station providing approximately

30 additional rail station parking spaces.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

North Hertfordshire District Council Transport Strategy

2.19. In October 2017 NHDC published a Transport Strategy as an evidence base supporting the

Local Plan. The emphasis in this is on increasing use of sustainable modes, in particular

walking and cycling in the towns, and reducing car travel. It recommends adoption of a

‘transport user hierarchy’ policy to remove the priority of designing roads and urban areas

for vehicle movements and give priority to other sustainable modes of transport such as

walking, cycling and public transport. Car-based commuter needs are given a lower priority

in the hierarchy because of the contribution they make to congestion at peak times, and

because of the urban space taken up by long-stay car parking. The proposed transport user

hierarchy is shown below.

2.20. The strategy does not provide detail on parking issues, given the development of the

separate Parking Strategy, but recognises the importance of parking for demand

management and includes an action to implement measures arising out of the Parking

Strategy. Other parking issues mentioned include:

• Changes to car parking supply and charges in the towns at a scale that would deliver

sufficient reductions in traffic, are likely to have some impacts on the local economy

and be unpopular with local residents. Consequently, a more gradual change in

provision and control is more likely, in conjunction with other proposals aiming to

improve bus services and facilities for walking and cycling to reduce car use.

• Rapidly increased take-up of electric vehicles is highly likely, with higher demand for

electric charging points, and there are potential links that could be made between

emissions and future parking charges.

• Lower car ownership and more provision of travel on demand by service providers

(this could be bus companies or new ‘Uber-type’ transport/mobility suppliers) could

lead to lower car ownership, and potentially lower revenues from parking, with

possible reduced demand for parking at destinations.

Summary

2.21. In summary, the car remains the dominant mode of transport in North Hertfordshire and

Hertfordshire as a whole, however due to growing congestion, increasing CO2 emissions and

growing journey times, HCC’s emerging transport vision recommends a transport hierarchy

putting sustainable travel as the priority. The emerging LTP4 identifies that town centre

employee parking needs to be a lower priority and identifies that there could be a new bus

priority network which will create more reliable and sustainable links to town centres.

These themes are also supported in the NHDC Transport Strategy.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

2.22. The emerging NHDC Local Plan suggests that parking in town centres is a tool that can be

used to influence mode of travel, and that demand management through parking is

important in reducing town centre congestion and promoting more sustainable travel.

2.23. The UTP’s identify that all town centres are suffering with commuter parking overspill on

local residential streets, and that existing car parks need improvement, with the potential

use of technology to increase the use of certain car parks which are currently underutilised.

Commuter Parking Issues

2.24. The NHDC Parking Strategy 2009-2019 identifies rail commuter parking as an issue. The

provision of CPZs has been focussed on removing non-residential car parking in residential

areas, normally long stay and mainly associated with commuters, employees and town

centre users. The CPZ’s implemented to date (see plans in Appendix B) have been successful

in achieving the removal of non-residential parking but experience over the last few years

has shown that:

1. Non-residential parking problems migrate, not always to the most likely areas;

2. Controlled Parking Zones are expensive to implement, manage and enforce.

2.25. Removing long stay, non-residential parking can help promote alternative modes of travel to

town centres, employment areas and railway stations. There are important overlaps with

the Urban Transport Plans in this respect as removing on-street parking may free up road

space for other facilities such as cycle routes or pedestrian crossings. However, these

alternative modes of travel are likely to be focused on the towns near the stations

themselves, encouraging sustainable travel from outlying villages will be much more

difficult.

2.26. The NHDC Parking Study Phase 1 report identified through a policy review, public

questionnaires responses and stakeholder engagement, that there are growing pressures on

commuter parking in all town centres and significant pressures with commuter parking

within Knebworth village centre.

2.27. NHDC’s 2016 IDP provides railway station usage data for all town centres, as well as

Knebworth which are served by two railways lines the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and the

Cambridge Line, with ECML linking central London to Edinburgh and the Cambridge line

Linking London to Cambridge.

2.28. Table 2 identifies the increase in station usage over the last 10 years. Knebworth and

Baldock have experienced the greatest percentage increase of station usage between 2005

and 2015, with Knebworth experiencing a 71% increase and Baldock experiencing a 61%

increase. Hitchin has experienced the highest passenger number usage with 987,000 more

people in 2015 than in 2005. The table conveys the increasing strain on station car parks,

town centre car parks and surrounding residential streets.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

TABLE 2 - RAILWAY STATION USAGE (2015 FIGURES FROM NETWORK RAIL)

Station

Patronage 2005/06

(Million)

Patronage 2014/15

(Million)

10 year %age change

05/06 - 14/15

Hitchin

2.049

3.036

+ 48%

Letchworth Garden City

1.187

1.752

+ 48%

Royston

1.061

1.394

+ 31%

Knebworth

0.344

0.595

+71%

Baldock

0.386

0.624

+ 61%

2.29. The increasing station usage explains the increase in station parking and increasing overspill

of commuter parking onto local residential streets. Should these rates of growth continue,

all station car parks will experience very high levels of parking demand in excess of existing

capacity.

2.30. It is likely that this situation will get worse due to (1) increases in the number of households

in North Hertfordshire (2) improvements to rail services in the areas. In this respect, the DfT

and the rail franchisee, Govia, (who hold the franchise from September 2014 – September

2021) intend to increase the total number of carriages in service by 1,140 by 2019, and

together with 120 more new carriages serving Gatwick the total carriages on the franchised

network will increase to 2,631, or by 27%

. This will mean that living in Hertfordshire will

become more attractive for London commuters.

2.31. The current parking season ticket charges for NHDC operated car parks within proximity to

Railway Stations have been benchmarked against season ticket charges in National Rail

operated station car parks within or close to North Hertfordshire’s town centres. NHDC

season tickets can be used in several long stay Council operated car parks, however not all

long-stay Council operated car parks allow season tickets. All North Hertfordshire town

centres have been included in this analysis, however Baldock and Knebworth centre do not

provide long-stay season ticket parking. The NHDC operated cars parks and the National Rail

operated car parks providing season ticket parking are identified in

2.32. Table 3 below. According to Network Rail all these stations are under the control of the

Great Northern rail franchisee.

2.33.

TABLE 3 – SEASON TICKET CAR PARKS OPERATED BY NHDC AND NATIONAL RAIL

Town Centre

Operator

Car Park

Baldock

Great Northern

Baldock National Rail Station

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rail-franchising-deal-set-to-transform-passenger-services-across-london-and-south-east

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Town Centre

Operator

Car Park

Hitchin

NHDC

Woodside

Bancroft East

Bancroft West

Lairage Multi-Storey

Great Northern

Hitchin National Rail Station

Letchworth

Garden City

NHDC

Hillshott

Garden Square Multi-Storey

Great Northern (APCOA)

Letchworth Garden City National Rail Station

Royston

NHDC

Town Hall

The Warren

Great Northern

Royston National Rail Station

Knebworth

Great Northern

Knebworth National Rail Station

2.34. NHDC operated car parks provide monthly, quarterly, six monthly and annual season tickets,

with free parking on Sundays and bank holidays at all car parks. In the season ticket car

parks, the season ticket holder must abide by the maximum stay displayed on the tariff

boards in each of the specified car parks. Hitchin, Royston Baldock and Knebworth National

Rail operated station car parks provide weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual season

tickets, with no free parking days. Letchworth Garden City station car park provides only

weekly and monthly season tickets.

2.35. Details of the parking season ticket charges for both NHDC operated car parks and National

Rail operated car parks are summarised below in Table 4. All NHDC car parks offering season

ticket parking have the same charges.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

TABLE 4 – SEASON TICKET PARKING CHARGES

Car Park

Season Ticket Charges

Charges

Apply

Weekly

Monthly

Quarterly

Six

Months

Annually

Sundays

NHDC Car Parks

Identified in Table 2.1

£78

£193

£358

£663

Hitchin National Rail

Station

£34

£132

£346.50

£1,135

Yes

Letchworth Garden City

National Rail Station

£22

£85

Yes

Royston National Rail

Station

£34

£132

£346.50

£1,135

Yes

Knebworth National Rail

Stations

£24.20

£96.60

£261.50

£835

Yes

Baldock National Rail

Station

£25.50

£96.60

£261.50

£835

Yes

2.36. Many of the commuters accessing rail services by car can choose from several stations based

on the quality of rail services, the relative cost of a season ticket and the availability and cost

of parking at the stations. Table 5 shows a summary of monthly rail and parking prices. The

reason for the attractiveness of Knebworth as a commuter station is clear. Besides the

perceived ease of parking for free on surrounding streets, even those users who pay to park

at the station save £75 a month relative to Stevenage and the other NHDC stations.

TABLE 5 – COMPARISON OF MONTHLY RAIL AND PARKING SEASON TICKET PRICES

Station

Approx. morning peak

journey time to KGX

(minutes)

Monthly season ticket

to London terminals

Monthly car park

season ticket

Knebworth

23-37

£304.90

£96.60

Stevenage

23-27

£346.80

£130

Hitchin

28-33

£365.60

£132

Letchworth Garden City

33-38

£391

£85

Baldock

37-41

£399.80

£96.60

Royston

37-52

£443.60

£132

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

2.37. Table 6 identifies that the NHDC monthly season ticket sales have increased by 28%, the

quarterly season ticket by 35%, the 6-month season ticket by 65% and the annual season

ticket by 27% between 2015/16 and 2016/17. Season ticket purchases are most likely to be

purchased by long stay town centre employees parking in NHDC car parks and possibly rail

commuters in NHDC car parks in close proximity to the station.

TABLE 6 NHDC SEASON TICKET PURCHASES

2.38. There is no publicly available information on the utilisation of the station car parks (although

site visits indicate that most are at capacity) or plans to increase capacity at them.

2.39. There may be some potential to encourage mode shift to bus, walk and cycle, but this is

beyond the scope of this study, and we recommend that the Council discuss with the rail

operator and HCC the potential for this, as well as any plans by the operator to improve car

park capacity. Excluding any rail operator increase in station car parking capacity, the

solutions appear to be to:

1. allow rail commuters to use underutilised car parks near stations – this is discussed in

more detail below. These spaces could be marketed and branded, and some may be

‘premium’ spaces with allocated parking.

2. expand CPZ’s to restrict commuter parking, for e.g. to reduce congestion on residential

streets or unsafe parking. This however will cost the Council investment and operating

cost – some of this could be compensated for by providing some long-term commuter

bays in appropriate locations, this is a policy in the current parking strategy (policy 25).

3. introduce a limited number of on-street season tickets so the commuters can pay to

park in CPZ’s. We describe a proposed pricing structure for Knebworth in chapter 0.

4. provide more car parking near stations, preferably on Council -owned land.

NHDC commuter season tickets

2.40. We describe below the potential for encouraging some rail commuter use of underutilised

NHDC car parks.

NHDC Season Tickets

Number of Season Tickets

Sold

2015/2016

Number of Season Tickets

Sold

2016/2017

Percentage Increase

Monthly

109

28%

Quarterly

136

183

35%

6 Months

113

187

65%

Annually

289

366

27%

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Hitchin

2.41. Woodside Car Park provides 205 parking spaces and is the only reasonably accessible NHDC

car park to the station and is 730m or a 10-minute walk away, and season tickets are

available here. Weekday occupancy surveys show some 25-50 spare spaces, more if some

short-stay users are encouraged to park elsewhere.

2.42. The Woodside car park is open for 24 hours Monday to Friday, allowing commuters to return

to their cars at any time and with no restrictions from exiting the car park.

2.43. Hitchin National Rail Station is one of the most expensive station car parks, with a monthly

season ticket costing; £132, a quarterly ticket costly £346.50 and an annual season ticket

costing £1,135, the same price as Royston. The car park is located adjacent to Hitchin

National Rail Station and provides 362 car parking spaces, and is open from 24 hours

Monday – Friday.

2.44. The station car park season ticket charges are a lot more expensive than the NHDC operated

Woodside car park. The National Rail operated station charges over £50 more for a monthly

pass, nearly £160 more for a quarterly pass and just over £490 more for an annual parking

season ticket. The NHDC operated car parks currently also offer free Sunday parking, which

the National Rail operated car parks do not. There would appear to be some scope for

marketing the Woodside car park for rail commuter use, perhaps as a trial.

2.45. The premium commuter season tickets should be priced above the standard season ticket

but 15-20% below Hitchin station prices. The initial trial should focus on 40 dedicated bays in

the corner of Woodside nearest to the station. Furthermore, the commuter season ticket

should include up to 1-hour free parking after 4pm in NHDC short stay car parks as an

additional incentive and to encourage commuters to shop in the town centre.

Letchworth Garden City

2.46. Parking season tickets can be used in two NHDC operated long stay cars parks; including

Hillshott car park which is 780m from the rail station (10-minute walk) and the Garden

Square Multi-Storey which is 350m away. The Hillshott car park is open for 24 hours Monday

– Friday and the Garden Square multi-storey car park is open from 6am-10pm Monday –

Friday, allowing commuters to park in both car parks. The Hillshott car park provides 71 car

parking spaces, and the Garden Square multi-storey provides 244 long stay parking spaces

on levels 4-9. The Hillshott car park was observed to have an occupancy of 30-40 spaces

(again just over 50%) for most of the observed weekday

, while the Garden Square car park

was observed to operate with a steady occupancy of around 200 spaces (just over 50%)

throughout the weekday surveyed.

2.47. Letchworth Garden City National Rail Station is located to the east and west of the station

building, and provides 91 car parking spaces and the station car park is open for 24 hours

Monday to Friday. The station car park provides parking season tickets for weekly and

monthly durations, but no quarterly or annual season tickets are available.

The occupancy of this car park is expected to be higher in the summer when greater use is made of the park.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

2.48. As expected, the station car park is more expensive than the NHDC operated car parks, with

monthly season tickets at NHDC operated stations costing £76 compared with £85 at the

National Rail operated station car park. This price differential does not warrant a commuter

season ticket trial at this point in time.

Royston

2.49. NHDC allows parking season tickets to be used in two Council operated car parks; Town Hall

and The Warren. Town Hall is the closest NHDC commuter car park to Royston National Rail

Station, and is approximately 830m (10-minute walk) from the station, while The Warren is

approximately 960m from the station (12-minute walk). Town Hall provides 232 car park

spaces and The Warren provides 114 car parking spaces and both are open for 24 hours

Monday – Friday. Therefore, the lack of restrictions of opening and closing times allows both

car parks to be relied upon by commuters. The Town Hall car park has significant weekday

spare capacity, The Warren has spare capacity, although this reduces to some 30 spaces on

market days.

2.50. Royston National Rail Station car park is situated adjacent to the station and provides 341

car parking spaces. The station car park is open for 24 hours Monday – Friday. As mentioned

above, Royston Station car park is one of the most expensive station car parks, alongside

Hitchin Station, in North Hertfordshire. As discussed in Section 2.6, the station car park is a

lot more expensive than the NHDC season ticket prices. A trial of premium commuter season

tickets with around 50 dedicated bays should therefore be introduced on a trial basis in

Royston.

Baldock and Knebworth

2.51. In Baldock and Knebworth town centres there are currently no NHDC operated car parks

which allow long stay season ticket parking. Both Baldock National Rail Station and

Knebworth National Rail Station car parks are open for 24 hours.

2.52. Baldock National Rail Station provides 64 car park spaces, with monthly season tickets

costing £96.60, quarterly tickets costing £261.50 and annual tickets costing £835. Knebworth

National Rail Station provides 78 car park spaces, with similar parking charges as Baldock

with monthly season tickets costing £96, quarterly tickets costing £261.50 and annual tickets

costing £835.

Summary

2.53. There would appear to be some potential to encourage rail commuter use of some

underutilised car parking, in particular the Woodside car park in Hitchin, and the Garden

Square car park in Letchworth, and Town Hall and the Warren car parks in Royston. It is

recommended that a trial of premium commuter parking is trialled in Woodside, Hitchin and

the Town Hall, Royston. A brief marketing campaign will be required, and detailed

monitoring should accompany the trial to determine target market segments and assess the

impact on other users of the car parks.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Potential for on-street charged commuter parking

2.54. Policy 25 in the existing Parking Strategy makes provision for the sale of permits in CPZ’s to

non-residents. A set of eight considerations are set out, which should inform a decision

about where it would be appropriate to allow this to happen. Regardless of these

considerations, the policy is controversial since residents pay for their permit to avoid others

being able to park on their streets. However, in some areas the cost of managing and

enforcing the CPZ’s is not covered, and additional revenue could lower residents’ permit

prices into the longer term.

2.55. While policy 25 states that the priority for non-resident permits should be local employees,

it is the issue of commuter parking in Knebworth that could be addressed with on-street

permits. The rationale in Knebworth is quite specific:

• The current CPZs in the settlement restrict commuter parking inside the boundary and

shift it to streets beyond the boundary, placing the highest burden on a small number

of streets. Given the size of the settlement and the observed distance people are

willing to walk to park for free, it would be necessary to include virtually all streets as

CPZs to restrict commuter parking.

• The areas outside CPZ boundary include streets where many houses have off-street

parking. Some additional on-street parking can be accommodated in these streets and

may even perform a useful traffic calming function.

• CPZs over the whole of the settlement would likely not be financially sustainable due

to the scale of management and enforcement required, and the high proportion of

houses with off-street parking.

• Charging for a limited number of marked on-street commuter bays would ensure that

the impact is spread more throughout the settlement, and that the costs of residents

CPZs are maintained at a much lower price.

• As shown in Table 5, commuters are likely to be willing to pay a monthly commuter

season ticket price of up £80 and still be considerably better off than alternative

stations.

2.56. The characteristics of the other town centres in North Herts differ from Knebworth, and it is

not proposed that such a scheme be introduced elsewhere now. Monitoring of the impacts

of the Knebworth scheme would highlight if and how such a scheme could be relevant

elsewhere.

New dedicated commuter car parks

2.57. The land to the south of Hitchin station could potentially provide additional rail and

commuter parking, however Network Rail own this land. It is understood that Network Rail

will be investigating the potential for redevelopment of this land as part of their normal

review of landholdings. There is no further information available at this stage.

2.58. A preliminary view of some vacant land to the north of Letchworth station is that ownership

and access rights would need to be determined (Network Rail at this stage do not believe

they have sufficient land holdings near the station for redevelopment). However, the

location and width of this land, access issues and the lack of a gateline (which Network are

unlikely to favour) means that this does not appear to be a strong opportunity.

2.59. In conclusion, no new sites for suitable additional rail commuter parking were identified.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Payment mechanisms

Existing off-street parking payment

2.60. All NHDC car parks are currently operated on a Pay and Display basis. The most recent

replacement of payment machines was completed three years ago, and the indicative

lifespan of the equipment is 10 years.

2.61. Most of the Pay and Display machines accept cash and card payments. While there are still

some cash-only machines still in operation, these are positioned where there is an

alternative cashless machine within the same car park.

2.62. NHDC also has a contract with RingGo for a mobile phone payment system. This operates on

a Pay and Display basis for registered users and can be used to top up the duration of a visit

to the maximum duration permitted. The contract is reviewed on a regular basis.

2.63. The use of two parallel payment systems does cause additional issues for enforcement. If a

user pays using the Pay and Display machines and then subsequently then pays by RingGo,

they could theoretically pay for the maximum duration twice.

Pay on Foot

2.64. Pay on Foot systems refer to where users do not decide on their duration up-front and pay

for parking on their return to their vehicle. Retailers often favour these systems because

they can remove a perceived time threshold and encourage longer dwell time in retail areas.

Traditionally Pay on Foot systems have required physical barriers at the exit to car parks, and

while Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology has developed to improve car

park management, this technology still requires barriers in Council car parks. From the

perspective of parking operators, the switch to Pay on Foot systems can represent a large

capital investment with considerable uncertainty about revenue effects.

2.65. Retailers and town centre managers in NHDC have expressed a strong preference for Pay on

Foot facilities in the key car parks because they feel this encourages shoppers to stay longer

in the town centres. However, the user surveys carried out as part of this study showed that

in Hitchin, Letchworth and Royston only around 30% of respondents in the town centres

perceived that a change from Pay and Display to Pay on Exit (or Pay on Foot) was essential or

beneficial. –

2.66. Evidence from elsewhere

is that there is some indication of customer preference for pay

on foot, but this is not strong, and while some cases have shown additional income from

the system, other cases have indicated little or no income growth. It is suggested that the

Council continue to investigate and explore options.

New payment systems

2.67. The rapid change in payment technology is affecting many sectors and parking is no

exception. While contactless card payment is quickly becoming the norm for small

transactions, the large technology companies such as Google and Apple are seeking to

For example, a recent pay on foot introduction in Chichester, see http://www.chichester.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=26159&p=0

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

promote payment through smartphones and other devices that users carry. Vehicle

manufacturers are also keen to incorporate the payment function into vehicles themselves.

2.68. Commuters (who generally use a season ticket) and shoppers (who have more frequent and

smaller ‘parking purchases;’ have different technology needs. Commuters generally pay for

a full day on the day or by season tickets, so have no concerns over the length of stay in

general.

2.69. The user surveys carried out as part of this study showed that in Hitchin, Letchworth and

Royston around 25-30% of existing users felt that the provision of new payment technology

was essential or beneficial.

2.70. Given the age and lifespan of the current Pay and Display machines, NHDC can observe the

emerging trends in parking payment over the next five years before the next key investment

cycle. The majority of user’s state that they are satisfied with the current technology,

although there is a significant minority who favour investment in new systems. Therefore, in

the meantime, NHDC should make greater use of its mobile phone payment system to trial

innovation in payment mechanisms, thus catering for this technology adopting market

segment.

2.71. The mobile phone payment system can also be used to trial ‘Pay on Foot’, which would be

linked to the maximum stay period. By testing this on a smaller portion of the market NHDC

will be able to monitor the impact on user behaviour, enforcement requirements and

revenue. The current mobile phone payment system does not offer a Pay on Foot equivalent

system. There are other apps on the market which the Council could explore. The options

are:

• NHDC could consider undertaking cashless trials at appropriate locations, such as some

on-street locations;

• NHDC could simply decide to switch the mobile phone payment system to an

app/mobile payment system which only allows ‘Pay on Foot’. The move to a new

system might not be popular with some users since several neighbouring authorities

also offer the same mobile payment system that the Council currently uses;

• Given the rapid pace in technology, NHDC could explore the market further and look at

all options including its current provider.

2.72. We note that the publicly available Electric Vehicle charging posts within the Council car

parks have been upgraded to enable a Pay As You Go (PAYG) capability that is based on

smart phone apps and payment via any form of credit/debit payment card, provided it is

registered either at time of use or pre-registered with the company that manages the

charging points for the Council. The activation of this system would be subject to further

consideration and approval by the Council.

On-street enforcement technology

2.73. NHDC has also recently upgraded the hand-held devices for on-street parking enforcement

in the last 1-2 years. The asset lifespan for these devices is typically up to five years. It is

expected that they will be replaced with devices with enhanced ANPR in the next three

years. This technology should remove the need to display physical parking permits on

vehicles, enable increased productivity of enforcement and administration and potentially

offer more flexibility in charging options for on-street parking. Consideration will also need

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

to be given to how these can support enforcement at on-street EV charging points should

any materialise in the future.

2.74. Considering the above payment issues, it is recommended that the Council update its

current policy with regard to the management of its car parks when reviewing the Parking

Strategy.

Recommended Updated Policy

(Current text to be deleted shown as struck through. New text shown in bold)

Policy 4 – Car Park Management System

The Council will investigate the most appropriate car park management system for the district

with a view to agreeing a programme for implementing a new system with a minimum ten-year

lifespan.

Options to consider will include:

1. Replace current machines with similar coin only Pay and Display machines

2. Replace current machines with coin and ‘Chip & Pin’ Pay and Display machines

3. Provide Pay by phone with either of the above two Pay and Display options, potentially on a

trial basis initially

4. Replace the current machines with a ‘Pay on Foot’ system either in full or alongside Pay and

Display machines in some car parks

The Council will have regard to the wider economic and development

influences on town centres and the likely demand for parking in the

medium to longer term.

The Council will also consider the implications of introducing a charging system for other ‘free of

charge’ car parks.

The Council will maintain its current car park management system for the district for the

foreseeable future. However, technology developments in this field are rapid and the Council

will seek to review and implement a new management system at the appropriate time. In the

meantime, the Council continues to offer alternative payment methods using mobile phones.

The Council will:

1. Retain current Pay and Display machines (coin and ‘Chip & Pin’) for their current life span,

at the end of which consideration will be given to alternative options

;

2. Retain older coin-only Pay and Display machines in workable order, but only where a

second machine offering cashless payment is available;

3. Continue to promote Pay by Phone as an alternative payment method, and regularly

review the terms offered by competing suppliers;

When an individual machine is no longer available through e.g. vandalism or lack of spares, this could provide the opportunity to roll out

alternative options.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

4. Trial the introduction of a ‘Pay on Foot’ system such as by the Pay by Phone system and

monitor the impacts; and

5. Consider cashless payment options.

The Council will have regard to the wider economic and development influences on town

centres, as measured by the Town Centre and Retail Monitoring Reports and feedback from

the town centre managers, and the likely demand for parking in the medium to longer term.

2.75. As part of the ongoing monitoring of its car parks the Council could continue to collect

accurate data on car park usage and will seek to ensure that future systems include the

means to record all vehicles, including season ticket users and those not paying at the point

of use. It is suggested that such data be built around ticket sales data, but with ‘snapshot’

surveys at appropriate times by parking staff of season ticket use and non-payers. Future

technology options such as ANPR could capture data on all users.

Employee parking

2.76. During discussions with stakeholders the issue of the affordability of long stay parking was

mentioned. The retail and leisure sectors have a large proportion of employees on or near

the minimum wage, for whom the long stay parking tariffs represent a significant proportion

of their net earnings. Furthermore, the increasing use of flexible, part-time and zero- hour

contracts means that employees on lower wages are less likely to be able to take advantage

of season ticket discounts

. One of the town centre BIDs has proposed a discounted season

ticket scheme in an under-utilised car park.

2.77. Transport policy in Hertfordshire seeks to encourage commuting journeys by sustainable

transport modes wherever possible. A key requirement of long stay parking tariffs is

therefore that local return bus and rail return fares should compare favourably with them.

However, the economic model of commercial bus services means that commuter fares need

to be priced to maximise revenue from captive peak markets while concessionary fares are

falling in real terms.

2.78. NHDC will consider employee parking schemes proposed by town centre BIDS if they fulfil

certain criteria. Yet in the current situation, long stay parking charges already under-cut

weekly bus tickets by a significant margin in all the towns except Hitchin.

2.79. Considering these initiatives, the following new policy on employee parking schemes is

recommended for inclusion in the revised Parking Strategy.

Recommended New Policy

Season tickets are available at monthly time periods, which should cater for most employees. Consideration could be given in future to

e.g. weekly tickets, but this would increase the administration costs of the scheme.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Recommended New Policy 27 – Employee parking schemes

The Council will consider proposals from BIDs representing employers in any of the town centres

in the district.

1. The discounted season tickets will only be eligible in a defined parking area of one or more

car parks that have been identified to be under-utilised during weekdays. The BID will

reimburse NHDC with a block payment for this allocation of parking spaces and any

associated implementation costs.

2. The BID will manage the application and selection process. NHDC will continue to be

responsible for issuing the season tickets and enforcement of the car parks.

3. The discounted season tickets will be issued (and regularly reviewed) based on a set of

eligibility criteria to be administered by the BID and agreed by NHDC:

• Beneficiaries must demonstrate that they work in the town centre (rail commuters

excluded).

• Beneficiaries must demonstrate that their income does not exceed a threshold value

to be determined and justified by the BID.

• Priority should be given to employees based on a set of criteria reflecting NHDC

transport policy priorities, such as (a) disability, (b) car sharing, (c) low vehicle

emissions, and (d) priority to users who do not live within 10 minutes’ walk of an

hourly bus or rail service.

4. The discounted season ticket scheme should only be introduced where it is accompanied by

a multi-modal Travel Plan produced by the BID and covering the town centre employers with

a stake in the BID.

5. The discounted season ticket price must not be lower than the bus and rail fares from the

town centre employment catchment (the boundary of the core employment catchment can

be determined from the Travel Plan data, and daily return fares are to be used as a

benchmark).

Technology and Parking in the Future

2.80. There are a range of technological, social, economic and regulatory factors that could affect

parking demand between now and 2031.

Patterns of car use

2.81. Since the mid 1990’s there has been a saturation effect in the market for car travel, and in

the early 2000’s the growth in car travel was falling prior to the recession among all

demographic groups except older women. Recent studies have highlighted a wide range of

factors influencing this trend:

• Legislative/regulatory factors, notably the removal of fiscal incentives for company car

use;

• Supply-side factors with little roads investment in the early Blair years; and

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

• A variety of lifestyle factors, with younger people increasingly living in cities, delaying

the transition to car ownership and relying more heavily on public transport, walking

and cycling.

2.82. Insofar as house prices allow, NHDC may attract younger residents priced out of London and

Cambridge. These new residents are likely to be less wedded to a car-borne lifestyle than the

existing residents and may demand change in the design and management of streets and

public spaces. However, indications from age cohort analysis indicates that younger non-

drivers do adopt a more car-focussed lifestyle relatively quickly when they move to areas of

high car-dependency such as NHDC. These factors alone are therefore unlikely to

significantly reduce demand for car parking.

2.83. We note that the HCC 2017 Traffic and Transport Data Report

, shows 1.7% growth in traffic

in Herts in 2016, and the same report predicts an increase in road traffic of 20% by 2031 in

Herts as a whole.

Short stay on-street parking issues

2.84. Most on-street parking in the NHDC area is free; this is an anomaly given that off-street

parking is usually charged – typically the more in-demand parking such as on-street is

charged, and is usually at a higher rate than off-street car parks. This usually encourages

more off-street parking use and higher turnover on-street, reduces circulating traffic

waiting for a free space, and has the potential to free up street space for urban realm

improvements, and enables funding of enforcement and parking equipment. However,

some free parking, particularly very short stay, can also help the local retail economy. On

balance, it is the view of this report to support the existing parking strategy policy (Policy 9)

that over time on-street parking should be charged – perhaps initially on a trial basis by

using cashless mobile phone technology for ‘premium’ spaces closest to the shops, and in

some cases for commuter parking.

2.85. The matters listed in Policy 9 to be taken account in these decisions appear appropriate in

the current Parking Strategy, i.e. the economic vitality and viability of town centres, the cost

of implementing and managing on-street charging, appropriate tariffs for on-street charging

alongside off-street parking charges and appropriate charging times and days for on-street

parking. The category of on street charging areas to be considered include core shopping

streets with the lowest duration of stay and highest turnover of spaces and next to core

shopping streets with short to medium stay duration. Only minor changes are proposed, see

revised policy below.

2.86. We have no detailed information on the exact on-street duration in the town centres, and

there is therefore no information on whether most park for e.g. 20 minutes or 1-hour, or

overstay their duration. We are not aware of evidence from elsewhere about the duration

and impact on the local economy that could be applied to NHDC towns – this is usually a

very town specific issue.

2.87. However, we have suggested some trial locations in the towns, see paragraph 4.29.

www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/trafficdata

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

2.88. In respect of Policy 5 (Reviewing Tariffs) and Policy 24 (Parking at new development and

existing controlled parking zones) the existing policies in the current Parking Strategy appear

suitable and only minor changes are proposed, see revised policies below.

Recommended Updated Polices

(Current text to be deleted shown as struck through. New text shown in bold)

Recommended Updated Policy 9 – On-street Charging

The Council will consider the case for on-street parking charges when off street parking charges

are reviewed. This will be carried out taking into consideration the views of the Executive

Member, Area Committees, Town Centre Management, Hertfordshire County Council and

Hertfordshire Constabulary

Key issues to consider will be as follows:

1. The economic vitality and viability of town centres and the implications of introducing on

street charging

2. The cost of implementing and managing on-street charging

3. Appropriate tariffs for on-street charging relative to off-street parking charges

4. Appropriate charging times and days for on-street parking

The following categories of on street charging areas will be considered in conjunction with the

above:

1. Core shopping streets with the lowest duration of stay and highest turnover of spaces.

2. Next to core shopping streets with short to medium stay duration

3. Longer stay on the edges of town centres, with specific regard to the potential for parking

migrating to non-town centre areas.

4. Longer stay elsewhere e.g. for employee, commuter, or education users.

5. Bays with Electric Vehicle charging points.

Recommended Updated Policy 5 – Reviewing Tariffs

The Council will review tariffs and season tickets every year starting from 2009 on an annual

basis in accordance with its Medium Term Financial Strategy to determine an appropriate level

of inflationary change.

The Council will also undertake a more detailed review of its tariff and season ticket structure

at reasonable intervals in response to economic and social changes, and at least once during

the life of the strategy. This review will consider the following:

1. Usage and demand for car parks within towns as a whole

2. Differences in demand for parking within car parks

3. Differences in demand for parking between days and times of the day

4. Economic vitality and viability of town centres

5. Tariffs used in other private car parks within towns

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

6. Tariffs used in other nearby towns

7. Tariff rebate or discount schemes

8. Short stay tariffs should reflect the key objectives of Town Centre Strategies with specific

regard to supporting duration of stay.

9. Long stay tariffs should remain higher than return local bus or rail fares to encourage

alternative modes of travel to town centres.

10. The practicalities of implementing tariff increases depending on the types of parking

management system in operation

11. Other issues such as the need to prevent unnecessary circulating traffic due to big tariff

differences between on- and off-street parking, and between different car parks

12. Other financial considerations such as the rate of inflation, cost of managing the parking

service and cost of implementing new tariffs

13. the potential and practicality for linking parking charges to vehicle emissions.

Recommended Updated Policy 24 – Parking at new development and existing controlled

parking zones

The Council will adopt and regularly review a Supplementary Planning Document ‘Parking

Standards Vehicle Parking at New Development’ on parking policy and standards for new

development.

The Council will consider the need for including residents of new developments in existing CPZs

on a case by case basis. As general guidance, the following will be considered:

1. The amount of off-street parking provided formally or informally in the new development

2. The extent to which the parking standards used in the new development comply with

‘Parking Standards at New Development’ guidance

3. The availability of existing roadspace for additional residential parking

4. Any constraints on a development site that may have restricted the provision of parking (e.g.

need to retain Listed Buildings)

5. The potential for imposing a limit on the number of permits provided per household for new

developments

6. Any other issues for example Planning Conditions or Legal Agreements that may prevent or

restrict the issuing of permits.

7. Costs for amendments to traffic regulation orders, signs, lines and other set up work

required to add eligible properties to CPZ’s from new developments should be met in full by

developers.

8. Any guidance on Parking provision at new developments needs to be based on car

ownership trends in the future and must therefore take increased levels of electric vehicle

ownership into account and provision of charging facilities at both origin and destination.

Electric Vehicles and Charging Facilities

2.89. Since 2009, the UK Government has sought to provide a framework on which electric

vehicles, or ‘Ultra low emission vehicles’ (ULEVs) can grow. The decarbonisation of both

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

private cars and goods and passenger carrying vehicles is seen as critical to helping the UK

achieve its Climate Change obligations. In 2015, plug-in vehicle registration reached a record

high, with 28,188 new ULEVs arrived on UK roads, however the ULEV registration are below

what the Government was expecting.

2.90. The Hertfordshire 2050 Transport Vision Stage 2: Technical Report identifies several

transport schemes for the County including the Comprehensive Electric Vehicle Charging

Infrastructure scheme. The scheme aims to provide an extensive, county-wide electric

vehicle charging network through the installation of electric charging point and new

emerging charging infrastructure. However, this scheme is not mentioned within the Draft

Local Transport Plan 4 / Emerging Transport Vision 2050, which was released for public

consultation in Autumn 2016.

2.91. There are currently electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities available for public use in the

following long stay car parks in North Hertfordshire;

• Lairage Multi-storey (level 1), Hitchin

• Woodside, Hitchin

• Garden Square Multi Storey (level 5), Letchworth Garden City

• Civic Centre / Town Hall, Royston

• The Twitchwell, Baldock

2.92. EV charging points are typically characterised as:

• Slow charging points – full charge of typical EV battery in 8 hours

• Fast charging points – full charge of typical EV battery in about 3 to 4 hours

• Rapid charging points – full charge of typical EV battery in about 30 minutes

2.93. All the current NHDC EV charging points are ‘fast charging’ points, and this charging duration

has implications for the duration of parking in these spaces. Rapid charging points are

supported by NHDC and are likely to be far more suited to short-stay (and potentially on-

street) spaces.

2.94. Each recharging point has the facility to recharge two EVs at the same time and so two side

by side parking bays will be designated for EV recharging at each car park. This does not

prevent the Council from introducing further recharging points in the future.

Charging Infrastructure

2.95. Electric vehicles can be charged on-street or off-street using different types of charging

points. On-street charging points are footway mounted and off-street charging points can be

floor mounted or wall mount. The main components of a charging point system are shown

below which has been sourced from TfL’s Guidance for Implementation of Electric Vehicle

charging Infrastructure, 2010 document. Error! Reference source not found. shows a typical f

ootway charging point and Error! Reference source not found. shows a typical wall-mounted

charging point.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 4 - ON-STREET RESTRICTED PATHWAY CHARGING POINT

FIGURE 5 - OFF-STREET RESTRICTED PATHWAY CHARGING POINT

Parking Controls

2.96. Parking controls for charging bays vary depending on where they are located for example in

town centres or in residential areas. TfL’s Guidance for Implementation of Electric Vehicle

charging Infrastructure also identifies the most common restrictions are where electric

vehicles permit holders can park and charge for free (albeit they must pay for their annual

permit) for a usual 3 – 4-hour period during certain hours of the day / certain days of the

week. Outside of these hours they can park / charge for as long as they like and are usually

are on-street parking bays.

2.97. Open access charging points can be located on-street or in public car parks such as multi-

storey car parks. Some charge for parking as well as charging, but many do not charge for

parking but have a duration limit – this is the case currently in NHDC.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Existing Electric Vehicle Charging Policy in NHDC and London

2.98. Until notified otherwise by North Hertfordshire District Council there will be no requirement

to pay a parking fee for the use of the EV recharging bay during the stay, provided that the

EV is plugged into the charging post, and currently there is no charge for the electricity used.

(However, the Council and its provider may consider applying a fee for using the points in

future and will continue to monitor usage). A maximum stay limit of three hours is imposed

on the EV recharging bays, and all usage charges and restriction policies will be reviewed on

an annual basis.

2.99. The London Plan’s Parking Standards Minor Alterations document, published in March 2016,

identifies that all development in London must ensure that 20% of parking spaces (both

active and passive) provide an electrical charging point to encourage the uptake of electric

vehicles. NHDC may wish to consider introducing a similar threshold as part of the review of

its parking strategy and its Parking Standards Supplementary Planning Document

Future Trends

2.100. The Department for Transport’s (DfTs) Consultation on Proposed Ultra Low Emission Vehicle

Measure for Inclusion in the Modern Transport Bill document identifies that the government

is on track to deliver their bold ambition of all our cars and vans to be effectively zero

emission by 2050.

2.101. The Government are taking real steps to achieve this including their ambitions of zero car

and van emissions through their emerging Modern Transport Bill and the Industrial Strategy

Green Paper. The Modern Transport Bill was under public consultation between October

2016 – November 2016 and addressed the three particular challenges including; the

consumer experience of using the infrastructure, the interaction of charging infrastructure

with the future provision of infrastructure. Electric vehicles are also at the heart of the

government’s emerging Industrial Strategy, which focusses on designing a smart grid and the

roll out of public charging points. The Industrial Strategy states that;

“Electric vehicles are less polluting and cheaper to run, and have the potential to

provide electricity storage and demand flexibility that could provide benefits to

consumers and our electricity system.”

2.102. In respect of funding of ULEVs, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles are providing over

£900million between 2010 and 2020 to position the UK at the global forefront of ULEV

development and use.

2.103. In October 2016, the government put forward plans to make electric vehicle charge points

more widely available and convenient for motorists. As part of the Governments ongoing

commitment to making transport greener, the Department for Transport (DfT) is consulting

on a series of measure that will make charge points more accessible.

Vehicle Parking at New Development Supplementary Planning Document (2011)

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

2.104. The UK’s government’s official advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, say 60% of new

car sales in the UK should be electric by 2030 to deliver the nation’s carbon cuts at the least

cost.

2.105. Further provision should be made for electric vehicles in publicly-controlled parking, areas

but such parking should over time be subject to the standard parking charges.

2.106. It is recommended that a new policy is included in the revised Parking Strategy thereby

demonstrating the Councils awareness of the Government’s initiatives and commitments to

making transport greener.

Recommended New Policy 28 – Electric Vehicles

The Council will consider the case for electric vehicle charging points in longer-stay off-street car

parks, and review the use of existing bays. While discounted or free parking may be provided

initially, over time these bays will revert to standard tariffs.

All new development should provide active and passive off-street provision for electric vehicles

in accordance with the guidance in the NHDC Air Quality Planning Guidance document. The

Council will review its Supplementary Planning Document ‘Parking Standards at New

Development’ at regular intervals to ensure that sufficient provision is made.

The Council will consider on-street charging points where residents depend solely on this type of

parking. These could potentially be funded by developer contributions, either in the form of

planning obligation payments from new developments or the Pollution Damage Costs

compensation mechanism included within NHDC Air Quality Planning Guidance document for

Major Scale Developments.

Blue Badge Parking

2.107. The LTP3 states that the county will work closely with District/Borough Councils to agree

adequate parking enforcement strategies and ensure that the needs of disabled persons are

considered in all parking proposals (principally Controlled Parking Zones and Special Parking

Areas) and to prevent vehicles impeding the footway.

2.108. NHDC Blue Badge Policy –

• Blue badges can be used in place of a residents or visitor parking permit in areas where

a residents parking zone is in force.

• NHDC car parks enable valid blue badge holders to park free of charge, without a time

limit in any bay, except those that are marked for specific use such as electric vehicle

charging bays. Many car parks have dedicated blue badge bays for ease of access.

2.109. Hitchin provides a dedicated disabled car park – West Alley Car Park – which is near Hitchin

town centre, and allows free blue badge parking for a maximum stay of 3 hours. Parking

surveys completed in the Phase 1 report identified that the car parks highest demand of 70%

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

was reached at midday on the Sunday. However, for most of that Sunday the car park only

reaches 10-50% capacity, with the car park only reaching between 0%-10% capacity in the

evenings. Therefore, this car park is not fully utilised, which may be due to its access to High

Street which travels through a tight and dark alley. It is suggested that the local disabled

stakeholders be asked for suggestions for improving use of this, for example better signage

and lighting. There is no advance signing on Paynes Park road (which is one-way at this

point) of the disabled car park.

2.110. The Council receive a number of complaints of blue badge holders parking on-street within

the town centres. Areas of main concern are along Bucklersbury and Biggin Lane in Hitchin,

where there are reports that they are obstructing loading. The Council also has on-street

disabled bays with different restrictions across the town centres. For example, in Baldock

and Royston most operate 24/7 with some restriction, in Letchworth and Hitchin town

centres they operate from Mon to Sat with mostly day time restrictions.

2.111. We are not aware of a recommended ratio for disabled bay provision, this is normally based

on on-site surveys and population demographics. Given that one purpose behind the blue

badge provision is so people can park near to their destination, there will be tendency to

attempt on-street parking in preference to off-street use.

2.112. No detailed surveys of on-street use by blue badge holders was available for this study, but

we would recommend:

• More detailed surveys will be required where there are issues reported of Blue Badge

parking either being inappropriately used or creating other issues.

• In the ‘balance’ between blue badge on-street provision and other provision, safety

and obstruction issues should take preference. If permitting Blue Badges to park in

loading areas is creating obstruction, these should be designated for loading only, or if

already so designated, a higher level of enforcement is required.

2.113. In the absence of more detailed data on this issue, no changes are proposed to the existing

Blue Badge parking policy.

Expected growth in parking demand 2017-2031

2.114. A key aspect of this Phase 2 report is to investigate the potential future car parking demand

for NHDC town centres and stations up to 2031. The emerging NHDC Local Plan (2016) caters

for growth of an additional 15,950 dwellings up to 2031, and encourages growth of 3,600

additional jobs. TEMPro and Network Rail patronage trend data has been relied upon to

produce potential future park demand projections.

Future growth using TEMPro

2.115. Analysis was also undertaken of future trends using the Trip-End Model Presentation

Program (TEMPro). TEMPro is an industry standard tool for estimating traffic growth, which

assesses the traffic impact of a development on a local highway network. TEMPro forecast

the growth in trip origin-destination and takes into account national projections of;

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

population, employment, housing, car ownership and trip rates – more detail is provided in

Appendix A.

2.116. Data has been derived from TEMPro for several growth factors that relate to the increase of

the parking demand in the future. These include;

• Vehicular trips growth

• Proposed housing and employment growth allocations from the NHDC Local Plan/IDP

• Car Ownership growth

2.117. The growth parameters were investigated using TEMPro for the period between 2017 to

2031.

2.118. It has been assumed for this study that that the Household (HH) percentage increase will be

the best indicator of future town centre parking demand, while the Workers percentage

increase will be the best indicator of future station parking demand. The calculations are

included in Appendix A.

2.119. For station parking, an estimate has also been made based on historic growth rates in

station usage.

Future town centre parking demand projections

2.120. Based on the TEMPro data available; Royston, Letchworth, Hitchin, Baldock and Knebworth

parking demand projections were considered and are included in Figure 6 below.

FIGURE 6 – NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE’S TOWN CENTRE DEMAND PROJECTION

2.121. The future town centre parking projections illustrate that all NHDC operated car parks are

likely to experience broadly a 21-23% demand increase for the town centre car parks in the

period 2017 to 2031 based on TEMPro household projections.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Future station parking demand projections

2.122. Based on the future data available; Royston, Letchworth and Hitchin, Baldock and

Knebworth parking projections were used and are included in Figure 7.

FIGURE 7 – NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE’S STATION DEMAND PROJECTION

2.123. The future station parking projections illustrate that all NHDC stations are likely to

experience broadly a 4-6% demand increase for their station car parks in the period 2017 to

2031 based on TEMPro worker projections.

2.124. These may be underestimates given the plans noted above for significant expansion in rail

capacity in the local rail franchise, and the section below shows a higher prediction using rail

station patronage historic growth.

Future growth using Historic patronage trends

2.125. Network Rail patronage trend data has also been relied upon to provide a future station

parking demand projection. NHDC’s 2016 IDP provides railway station usage data for all

town centres as well as Knebworth, which have been sourced from Network Rail figures.

These railway station usage figures have been presented previously as Table 2, and presents

a 10-year percentage change from 2005-2015, which has been used to create a yearly

percentage trend. These historic trends have used to create a future projection for parking

demand at the railway stations, with the percentage increase for each station presented in

Figure 8 below.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 8 - NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE’S HISTORIC PATRONAGE TREND STATION

PARKING DEMAND PROJECTIONS

2.126. The historic patronage trends for all stations, if they continue at their historic rate, will

experience a dramatic increase in parking demand with Knebworth facing the largest growth

with just under 100% parking demand increase by 2031. Baldock, Letchworth and Hitchin

will experience between a 60-90% increase in parking demand, with Royston experiencing

just over a 40% increase by 2031.

2.127. With most these existing station car parks working at capacity during the weekday peak

hours, the surrounding residential streets are likely to experience increased demand for

station parking.

Conclusions

2.128. The future town centre parking projections illustrate that NHDC operated town centre car

parks are likely to experience broadly a 21-23% demand increase in the period 2017 to 2031

based on TEMPro household projections. This growth may of course be affected by other

factors, such as the rise in internet shopping and general economic impacts on the retail

sector.

2.129. Significant increases are also expected in rail commuter parking, and consequent pressures

on-street around the stations.

2.130. Given this likely growth, the Parking strategy should seek to make best use of existing assets

where possible, for example by distributing parking from heavily used car parks to less used

ones, and by encouraging rail commuter parking in less well-used relevant Council car parks

(see section 2.38 on above, which describes the potential for this in each town. Some

further information is also contained in the Phase 3 Report.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

3. BALDOCK

Key characteristics of the town

• Historic market town, a historical staging post between London and the north as it

forms the crossroads between the Great North Road and the Icknield Way

• By-passed by the A1(M) (1963) and the A505 (2006) which has removed much

through traffic and lowered levels of congestion

• Subject of a major town centre enhancement scheme in 2008 which reduced the

wide carriageways in the town centre to provide extended footways

• An established Community Forum comprising a range of organisations, with a

commitment to promote the town centre’s interest, and employing a Town Centre

Manager

Key Strategy elements

• Discuss with Tesco options for town centre parking supply at their site

• Converting the highest demand visitor and dual use bays to maximum 30 minutes

for visitors and /or developing a trial of on-street charging in premium areas using

pay by phone technology.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• Work with the train operating company and HCC to encourage mode shift for

journeys to the railway station.

• Consider increasing the proportion of dual-use bays (i.e. resident permit and town

centre visitor bays) in Hitchin Street, Church Street and Sun Street.

• Introducing some evening enforcement to discourage anti-social parking.

Summary of Current Situation

Existing Parking Supply

3.1. There is a large Tesco superstore located adjacent to Baldock town centre with over 690

spaces, and which offers unrestricted parking 24 hours a day. There is a single NHDC-

operated pay and display car park in the town centre - The Twitchell – that offers a total of

38 long-stay spaces. The Twitchell has an EV charging point. The car park locations are

presented in Figure 9.

3.2. On-street parking in Baldock is not charged. There are over 250 on-street parking bays

located in Baldock town centre, the majority of which are located on the High Street.

3.3. During the parking survey time periods the available parking capacity at the Tesco

superstore was never more than half full, and the Twitchell was operating at capacity during

the day, with a mix of long and short stay parking. The Twitchell was not heavily used on the

weekends.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 9 - BALDOCK TOWN CENTRE CAR PARKS

Parking Strategy and UTPs Parking Improvement Actions

3.4. The NHDC Parking Strategy Action Plan document (2012) and NHDC town centre UTP

documents (2010-2012) develop a range of schemes and interventions, across all modes of

transport, to address existing problems. The UTPs identified several transport improvement

schemes for further consideration over the life of the plans to help deal with existing and

possible future transport issues and the Parking Strategy sets out a ten-year strategy and

action plan to solve parking issues in North Hertfordshire.

3.5. Table 7 below identifies NHDC’s Parking Strategy actions for Baldock and whether they have

been implemented or have not yet progressed.

TABLE 7: BALDOCK’S EXISTING PARKING STRATEGY ACTIONS

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Review Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) impact

in and around town centre core area

BA1

Implemented

TRO amendments in Baldock if needed

BA2

Implemented

Feasibility for Twitchell car park tariff

BA3

Implemented

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Consider new Parking Management Area(s)

around town centre and station

BA4

Implemented

Implement Twitchell tariff (if required)

BA5

Implemented

Implement PMA in Baldock (if needed)

BA6

Implemented

3.6. The table identifies that all area specific priority actions for Baldock town centre have been

implemented.

3.7. The Letchworth and Baldock UTP (March 2012) identifies a range of schemes and

interventions, across all modes of transport, to address existing problems across the areas

over the next 20 years. The UTP does not identify any parking measures but it does include a

Baldock Town Centre Parking Review covering; demand versus supply issues at Baldock

Station, on-street commuter parking and residential parking allocations, charging and

control structures and lack of coherent controls.

Future Parking Demand 2017-2031

3.8. Parking demand for Baldock town centre has been estimated using the TEMPro 2017-2031

parking demand projections which are presented in Figure 10.

FIGURE 10 - BALDOCK’S FUTURE TOWN CENTRE PARKING DEMAND

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031

Future Town Centre Parking Demand - Baldock

Future Parking Demand Parking Capacity

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

3.9. Figure 10 shows that the existing town centre parking demand in Baldock is currently at 51%

of the parking capacity. Using TEMPro growth rates, the existing parking capacity demand is

expected to grow by 6.4% by 2021 and by 22.4% by 2031 from 2017. By 2031, the demand

for the existing car parking capacity will reach 62%, with some 455 spaces occupied out of

the existing capacity of 729 – this all assumes the Tesco car park is still available. Therefore,

by 2031 it is predicted that the parking demand will not reach the parking capacity.

However, it should be noted that these estimates may underestimate to some extent future

demand off-street, as it does not consider growth in on-street demand that cannot be

accommodated on-street, and may therefore migrate to off-street car parks. Not enough

information is available for on-street demand to estimate this impact.

Station Parking Demand Growth

3.10. Parking demand for rail parking has also been calculated using the TEMPro 2017-2031

parking demand projections, as well as historic rail patronage data which are presented in

Figure 11.

FIGURE 11 - BALDOCK’S FUTURE STATION PARKING DEMAND

3.11. Current parking demand at Baldock National Rail Station is believed to be at capacity.

However, using the TEMPro worker growth rates, the existing parking demand is expected to

grow by 7% by 2031. This is very likely to be an underestimate given the plans for rail

improvements in the area, and the fact that some commuters are already parking on street.

3.12. The historic patronage trends identify that the parking demand is likely to be considerably

higher than the TEMPro-based predictions and will require a parking supply of just under

120 parking spaces, which is nearly double the existing capacity. The station car parking

demand is expected to grow by 61% in the next 10 years, and by 85% by 2031. This may

result in overspill onto surrounding streets.

100

110

120

130

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031

Future Station Parking Demand - Baldock

TEMPRO Future Parking Demand

Existing Parking Capacity

Patronage Trends Future Parking Demand

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Parking issues from Phase 1

3.13. The following parking issues in Baldock town centre were identified in the Phase 1 Parking

Study Report;

• Increased demand for rail commuter parking as noted above

• Conflict between residential (historic town centre houses have no private parking) and

visitor on-street - overall the visitor and shared use bays are better utilised

• Instances of utilisation rates of 100% or more were observed on Church Street, Sun

Street and Whitehorse Street.

• Loading and blue badge bays well used.

• Dedicated taxi bays never observed to be used in survey period.

• From the interview surveys, the profile of users was short duration of stay, services

more than retail, some hospitality

• There was little support for more physical improvements

• There was strong resistance to town centre parking charges (hence our

recommendation below is that this should only be introduced as a premium offer trial

at first).

Town Strategy

3.14. Parking in Baldock has significant spare capacity, and estimates of future demand show that

this is likely to remain the case in future. The supply is dominated by on-street parking and

the large Tesco car park. Should that car park no longer be available (for example if

redeveloped) then parking demand may outstrip supply. It is recommended that the Council

approach Tesco to consider making provision for publicly available parking should changes

be proposed. On-street car parking is obviously well-used, and given that it is free and very

convenient, there is little incentive to use off-street car parking until no spaces are available.

3.15. Some residential properties in Baldock rely on parking on-street in permit and dual use bays.

The following conclusions can be drawn from the parking surveys:

• There is little daytime conflict between resident and visitor parking on the high street

itself, and no change is recommended.

• Pressure for spaces is most acute in Hitchin Street. While not always popular, dual

permit and short stay bays offer maximum flexibility. The maximum visitor duration

could be kept to 30 minutes or charged as premium on-street bays to encourage use of

the high street instead.

• On Church Street and Sun Street, the permit bays were not observed to be fully

occupied during the day while the visitor and shared bays were. Increasing the

proportion of bays with shared use in the day can be justified.

• Whitehorse Street has no permit bays but some shared use bays, which appear to offer

enough capacity in the daytime.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

3.16. Baldock has a relatively large evening economy for its size and there are complaints about

on-street parking in the evening. NHDC should consider evening enforcement in Baldock

subject to consultation with staff and changes to working hours.

3.17. Demand estimates indicate that demand is unlikely to outstrip supply, providing the Tesco

car park is available for public parking. However, on-street parking is well used, and

additional demand here is likely to migrate to off-street as well.

3.18. The strategy recommends:

• Discussion with Tesco in considering options for town centre parking supply at their

site.

• Increasing the proportion of dual bays in Hitchin Street, Church Street and Sun Street

• Converting the highest demand visitor and dual use bays to maximum 30 minutes for

visitors and /or developing a trial of on-street charging in premium areas using pay by

phone technology

• Introducing some evening enforcement to discourage anti-social parking

• Work with the train operating company and HCC to encourage mode shift for journeys

to the railway station.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

4. HITCHIN

Key characteristics of the town

• A historic market town which once acted as a staging post between London and the

north

• A historic core which operates as a pedestrian zone at times

• Several highly-trafficked routes pass through the town, causing significant

congestion at times and in two locations, Stevenage Road and Payne’s Park, levels of

nitrogen dioxide air pollution that have required the designation of Air Quality

Management Areas

• Three major bus stops located close to the town centre and market

• An established Hitchin Town Centre Initiative – now known as the ‘Hitchin Initiative’

promoting the town centre and the wider area, with a well-established Town Centre

Manager role and an operational Business Improvement District (BID) since 2009

Key Strategy elements

• Trialling evening and Sunday charging at certain off-street car parks – improvements

to pedestrian routes to/from these can be considered at the same time.

• Improve usage of the Lairage through better signing and investigate use of

technology to show floor occupancy levels; seek to improve pedestrian access to the

core town centre in the longer term through planning briefs of adjacent sites.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• Seek to encourage more rail commuter parking through increased provision at the

station or by encouraging some rail commuter parking at the Woodside car park.

• Trial on-street payment for parking in premium spaces using pay by phone

technology.

• Consult with disabled stakeholders on the underused West Alley car park and

consider improving signing, marketing and access

• In the longer-term seek provision of some public car parking on the south side of the

town centre, potentially in any planning brief for future use of the Asda site.

• Seek to incorporate a proportion of EV charging points and associated dedicated

parking bays in any additional public car parking provision.

Summary of Current Situation

Existing Parking Supply

4.1 There are 16 car parks in Hitchin with a total off-street parking capacity of 1,850 parking

spaces, 12 of these car parks are operated by NHDC. Six of the NHDC car parks are for short-

stay use (418 spaces) and six are for short and long-stay (844 spaces). The four privately

operated car parks have a total of 588 spaces. Three are short-stay/customer only and one

(42 spaces) can also be used for long-stay. There are also around 350 legal on-street car

parking spaces around the town centre, the majority of which are designated visitor parking

allowing 2 hours free parking between 8am-6pm Monday to Saturday. Hitchin’s existing car

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

park locations are presented in Figure 12 below. There are EV charging points in the Lairage

Multi-storey and Woodside car parks.

4.2. There is high demand for short-stay parking in the town centre with the most central car parks

operating at or near capacity during busy shopping periods. There is considerable variation in

utilisation rates between car parks, and Phase 1 of this study proposed tariff changes for

2017/18 to enhance the efficiency with which car parks are used.

FIGURE 12 - HITCHIN TOWN CENTRE CAR PARKS

Parking Strategy and UTPs Parking Improvement Actions

4.3. The NHDC Parking Strategy Action Plan document (2009) and Hitchin UTP document (May

2011) present a range of schemes and interventions, across all modes of transport, to

address existing problems in Hitchin town centre. The NHDC Parking Strategy Action Plan

identifies Hitchin town centre’s parking actions and measures to improve the Hitchin’s

parking provision quality and capacity. Hitchin’s actions and measures are presented below

in Table 8.

TABLE 8: HITCHIN’S EXISTING PARKING STRATEGY ACTIONS

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Investigate better off-street signing via VMS

HT1

Not Progressed as HCC funding

no longer available

Consider new Parking Management Area around the

town centre periphery

HT2

Implemented

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Lairage upgrade phase 1 (lights, décor etc.)

HT3

Some measures implemented

Lairage upgrade phase 2 (bay monitoring etc.)

HT4

Not Progressed- part of

revised strategy

Consider parking rebate proposal in BID

HT5

Initial discussions taken place

– part of revised strategy

Investigate additional town centre parking capacity

HT6

Undertaken as part of Parking

Study Phase 1 Report

4.4. The NHDC Parking Study identified that Hitchin’s priorities include; better off-street signing,

new parking management areas, Phase 1 and Phase 2 Lairage upgrades and investigate

parking capacity. The only priority that was been implemented is to consider new parking

management areas around the town centre periphery.

4.5. The Hitchin UTP identifies several transport improvement schemes, with the parking

schemes presented in Table 9 below.

TABLE 9: HITCHIN’S EXISTING UTP PARKING SCHEMES

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Increase parking enforcement, for

example through the use of permits

PM1

Covered by the CPZ scheme in the NHDC

Parking Strategy (Ref. HT2)

Introduce real time information for car

parks to show available spaces

PM3

Not Progressed, previous funding

opportunity from HCC no longer available

Introduce cheaper car parking in off-

peak periods

PM5

No Progressed but contained in NHDC

Parking Study Phase 1 report proposals

Review the number of disabled parking

spaces in the town centre

PM6

Not Progressed but covered in this study

Improve awareness of the multi-storey

car park (Lairage)

PM7

Not Progressed as signage is an outstanding

issue, VMS funding no longer available from

HCC

Introduce a residents parking scheme

PM8

Covered by the CPZ scheme in the NHDC

Parking Strategy (Ref. HT2)

4.6. Table 9 above identifies that increase in parking enforcement and the instruction of

residential parking schemes have been implemented through the NHDC Parking Strategies

CPZ scheme. The introduction of cheaper off-peak parking priorities has been addressed in

the NHDC Parking Study Phase 1 report and the provision of disabled parking bays are

reviewed in this Phase 2 report. Real time information of available car parking spaces and

poor signage / awareness of the Lairage multi-storage car parks have not been progressed,

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

and have both have been discussed in this report as causing circulation and confusion issues

in Hitchin town centre. Whilst provided in other towns within Hertfordshire, the use of

variable messaging boards (for all car parks within the town centre) was initially a County

Council priority for Hitchin to ease traffic flows on the A505, however funding for this

scheme to be completed within Hertfordshire is no longer available.

4.7. One of the measures, identified in the Draft Joint Air Quality Action Plan – June 2017

produced as a requirement of the designation of AQMAs in Hitchin, is to ‘Review on-street

parking designation and enforcement at Stevenage Road and at Upper Tilehouse Street’.

(Measure Number 11).

Expected Growth in Parking Demand 2016-2031

Town Centre Parking Demand Growth

4.8. Parking demand in Hitchin town centre has been calculated using the TEMPro 2017-2031

parking demand projections which are presented in Figure 13 identifies Hitchin’s existing

parking capacity and future town centre parking demand growth.

FIGURE 13 - HITCHIN’S FUTURE TOWN CENTRE PARKING DEMAND

4.9. The figure identifies that the existing town centre parking demand in Hitchin is currently at

62% of the parking capacity. Using the TEMPro growth rates, the existing parking capacity

demand is expected to grow by 6.4% by 2021 and by 22.4% by 2031 (from, 2017). By 2031,

the demand for the existing car parking capacity will reach 76%, with over 1,310 spaces

occupied out of the existing capacity of 1,738, in other words there is still likely to be spare

parking capacity. However as noted above in relation to other towns, this estimate may be

an underestimate, as it only assesses off-street demand – similar growth rates applied to on-

street demand which cannot be satisfied by on-street supply would increase pressure on off-

street supply.

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031

Future Town Centre Parking Demand - Hitchin

Future Parking Demand Parking Capacity

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Station Parking Demand Growth

4.10. Parking demand in for Hitchin National Rail Station car park has also been calculated using

the TEMPro 2017-2031 parking demand projections which are presented in Figure 14 which

estimates identifies Hitchin’s existing parking capacity and future demand for station

parking.

FIGURE 14 - HITCHIN’S FUTURE STATION PARKING DEMAND

4.11. Current parking demand at Hitchin National Rail Station is at approximately 100% capacity.

Using the TEMPro worker growth rates, the existing parking demand is expected to grow by

8% by 2031, with an increase in demand of some 25 vehicles. However as noted elsewhere

this is likely to be an underestimate, as it does not consider existing commuter on-street

demand, which will also increase.

4.12. Application of the historic patronage trends, as for Baldock, identifies that the parking

demand could be significantly higher than the TEMPro predicts and will require a parking

demand of over 600 parking spaces, which is 250 over its existing capacity by 2031. Based on

the historic trends, the station car parking demand could grow by 48% in the next 10 years,

and by 67% by 2031. It is understood that Hitchin Station has existing capacity concerns,

with many computers relying on parking on local residential streets as the car park is always

full on weekdays. The historic trends from station usage identify that the pressure on the

station car parking and surrounding street is set to continue in the future if no capacity

improvements are introduced.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Parking issues

Well-utilised short stay parking

4.13. Hitchin town centre is performing well overall, with low vacancy rates. Phase 1 of this study

recommended a series of tariff measures to manage demand and incentivise visitors to

make more use of the under-utilised time periods (late afternoon) and car parks (Lairage

MSC).

4.14. Further demand measures will be needed in the future, potentially including some charges

for on-street parking. Survey respondents in Hitchin viewed certain changes to parking

charges more favourably compared to the other town centres in NHDC. The most ‘popular’

options of those presented to users were to charge for on-street parking, and to charge

more for parking closer to the centre and less for parking further way. Around 45% of those

responding in each case thought these options reasonable or very reasonable, more than

considered them unreasonable or very unreasonable (the remaining respondents did not

have a view).

Phased introduction of evening and weekend parking

4.15. Hitchin has the strongest evening economy of the NHDC towns, with almost 200 hospitality

businesses operating in the town centre. This means that there is high demand for the

popular car parks in the evening and at the weekend. The Phase 1 report concluded that

there is a case in principle for some form of charging in both periods. However, this should

be introduced in phases.

Increasing demand for commuter parking

4.16. Figure 14 above shows the potential increase in parking demand. Hitchin station has a long

surface car park located between the railway tracks and a mature landscape bank providing

362 parking spaces. Unfortunately, under the current rail franchise agreement (2014 - to

2021), there is a lower incentive for the rail operator to invest in increasing parking capacity

at Hitchin Station. The 7-year franchise duration is a short period to plan and build a car park

decking solution that will pay for itself. The result may be increased commuter parking on

residential streets, and increased circulation of commuters searching for free on-street

spaces. However, given the likely pressure noted above, it is recommended that this be

discussed with the operator and Network Rail.

Managing pressure on residential streets

4.17. The number of streets around Hitchin town centre and the railway station that are covered

by controlled parking zones has grown substantially over the last years – see Appendix B.

The resource costs of managing of theses CPZs is likely to increase if commuter parking

demand continues to increase. Likewise, the enforced time periods may need to be

expanded if evening or weekend charges are introduced in the town centre.

Parking issues summary

4.18. The following parking issues in Hitchin town centre were identified in the Phase 1 Parking

Study Report;

• Increased demand for rail commuter parking as noted above, and costs of CPZ’s

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

• In respect of off-street parking, the time profile of demand with peaks in the late

morning/lunch and then in the evening – this led to the Phase 1 proposal to encourage

more use between 3pm and 6pm

• The High Street, Market Place and Sun Street caters predominantly for Blue Badge

parking and loading activity.

• There are popular and high turnover visitor on-street bays in Hermitage Road and

Portmill Lane

• Several other streets on the edge of the town centre – Bancroft, Nun’s Close and

Queen Street offer some short duration visitor parking and operate at capacity at busy

times of week.

• There is frequent illegal parking for short durations

• Profile of users from the interview surveys showed that the centre is a destination

town for shopping, services and leisure/hospitality

• Satisfaction with overall short- and long-stay provision has improved since 2008

surveys

• A significant minority support an alternative charging structure – 39% for charging

closer to town centre, and 40% for charging on-street in town centre

• A slightly higher rate of support for new payment technology than other towns (32%

see this as essential or beneficial).

The Lairage MSC

4.19. Quality issues that result in under-utilisation of the Lairage MSC have long been a concern in

Hitchin. The 2009-19 parking strategy identified two phases of upgrades to the MSC:

• The first phase of works saw some improvements to lighting, décor and CCTV

provision. However, the layout of the site (lack of natural surveillance from the street,

blind corners in stairwells) constrains the opportunities for further improvements in

perceived security.

• Once they have entered the car park, drivers are taken to the top level and can only

exit via the ramp to the ground floor. The second phase therefore proposed a bay

monitoring system to inform drivers in advance of the number of available spaces.

4.20. A further issue identified is the quality of the signage to find the entrance to the Lairage. The

entry sign sits next to a much more prominent Waitrose sign, and drivers who miss the sign

need to do another loop of the one-way system to reach the entry a second time.

Furthermore, there is no signage at the pedestrian entrance on Paynes Park to indicate the

presence of a car park. The poor vehicle and pedestrian signage is presented in the

photographs below. In addition, pedestrian access onward from the Paynes Park exit is via a

signalised crossing, but then is circuitous unless you walk across existing surface private car

parks.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Poor vehicle signage at Lairage MSC and

Waitrose entrance.

Lack of pedestrian signage at Lairage MSC, which

provides access to Paynes Park.

Lairage MSC from above.

Waitrose and Lairage entrances

Wayfinding

4.21. The 2009-19 Parking Strategy and UTP both identified real-time information as a priority to

improve information provision for drivers entering the town centre. In a subsequent review

of sites with potential for VMS, Hitchin was not prioritised by Hertfordshire County Council.

Town Strategy

The Lairage MSC Proposals

4.22. Phase 1 of this study recommended a tariff package that creates a strong price incentive to

make better use of the Lairage, which is shown in the photographs below. The short-term

priorities for investment need to be:

a) Improved signage guiding drivers to the car park entrance;

b) Introduction of a bay monitoring system

to monitor occupancy and inform drivers

of the number of available spaces before they enter; and

There are probably two kinds of systems (1) a basic induction loop ramp monitoring system with signs, circa £50-£75k, or a more

sophisticated bay monitoring system, which is likely to cost £100-£200k.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

c) Test the introduction of longer opening hours since the risk of arriving back at the

car park too late may be a disincentive to some users.

4.23. In the medium term, planning policy could be used to secure a better pedestrian access

route from Paynes Road to the town centre, across the existing surface private car parks.

This could potentially be secured through planning briefs for these sites. There is an existing

Paynes Park planning brief for part of this area

Consideration could be given to amending

this planning brief to allow for improved pedestrian access across the private car parks from

the Lairage to the town centre.

Parking management

Sunday charging

4.24. The changing nature of Hitchin town centre now means that the popular car parks are

operating at or near capacity on Sunday. Competing town centres (Stevenage, Welwyn

Garden City, St Albans) have already introduced a charge on Sunday. It is therefore proposed

that a flat charge be introduced on Sunday between the hours of 10am and 5pm. This flat

charge should initially be set at a low-level equivalent to the 1-hour short-stay tariff at the

time of introduction.

Prior to the introduction of the Sunday charge, NHDC will need to review the enforcement

requirements. There is a risk of increased parking demand on surrounding streets. The

introduction of the charge therefore needs to be accompanied by a monitoring programme

to assess the impacts, and plans to expand the operating hours of existing CPZs if necessary.

Evening charging

4.25. Some of Hitchin’s popular short-stay car parks, notably Biggin Lane and St Mary’s Square, are

also operating at or near capacity in the evening periods. These car parks lie nearest to the

concentration of restaurants and bars in the southern part of the town centre.

4.26. It is therefore proposed that differential pricing is introduced in the short-stay car parks so

that the most popular evening car parks are charged. Instead of introducing a flat charge for

the evening, it would be easier to enforce if the charged period were simply extended from

6pm to 8pm.

On-street charging

4.27. Given the high demand for short-stay parking in Hitchin town centre, on-street charges in

the town centre would be fair to provide a fair balance between on- and off-street parking,

and reduce circulating traffic searching for free parking. Over the life of the Local Plan, the

strategy in Hitchin will be to create a structure where high-turnover short stay parking in the

town centre is charged with a common structure, and medium- and long stay parking is

retained at the edge of the town centre.

4.28. In the historic town centre, charging for on-street parking should not involve additional

street furniture that may become redundant very soon. The gradual adoption of cashless

https://www.north-herts.gov.uk/planning/planning-policy/local-plan-current-policy/planning-briefs/paynes-park-planning-brief

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

and mobile phone payment mechanisms will create a situation where on- and off-street

parking can be managed in tandem.

4.29. It is proposed that a trial of on-street charges in high demand streets such as Brand Street

and Hermitage Road should be introduced before 2020 using the mobile phone payment

system in place at the time. This would involve a set of dedicated short stay bays for

registered phone payment users only. Initially the trial could see a proportion of the 20- and

30-minute bays in Brand Street and Hermitage Road converted to match the 1-hour off-

street parking tariff in the adjacent short stay car parks.

Parking amenity improvements

4.30. A short-term package of improvements to the Lairage is identified above.

4.31. In parallel to the trials of evening charges, it is recommended that further lighting and CCTV

enhancements be considered at the relevant charged car parks.

4.32. Signage remains a key challenge for the town centre. In the short-term it is proposed that

the static signage on the approach routes into the town centre is reviewed. Furthermore,

the pedestrian signage to/from car parks around the town centre should be included in this

review, especially around the Lairage.

4.33. The introduction of VMS in Hitchin remains one measure that could be used to improve

information for drivers, reduce the circulation of traffic looking for somewhere to park and

increase usage of the Lairage MSC. An alternative technological solution could be to install

occupancy monitoring technology in selected car parks and disseminate this to drivers

through mobile phone / navigation system technology, a version of which could be cheaper

to implement.

Town Strategy Summary

4.34. This report recommends that NHDC

• Trial evening and Sunday charging at certain off-street car parks; consider measures

to improve the security of the pedestrian routes to/from these car parks at the same

time, potentially in conjunction with any planned development in the vicinity.

• Review on-street signing, particularly to the Woodside and Lairage car parks

• Improve usage of the Lairage car park through better signing and investigate use of

technology to show floor occupancy levels; seek to improve pedestrian access to the

core town centre in the longer term through planning briefs of adjacent sites.

• Seek to encourage more rail commuter parking through increased provision at the

station or by encouraging additional rail commuter parking at the Woodside car

park. This could potentially include increasing the size of this car park subject to

viability.

• Trial on-street payment for parking in premium town centre spaces using pay by

phone technology.

• In the longer-term seek provision of some public car parking on the south side of the

town centre, potentially in any planning brief for future use of the Asda site.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

5. LETCHWORTH

Key characteristics of the town

• The world’s first Garden City

• Town conceived, however, before the days of mass car ownership and as such

suffers from congestion at times including the town centre

• Linked both physically and economically with Baldock from which it is separated

only by the A1(M) and a narrow strip of agricultural land

• An established and very proactive Town Centre Partnership with a town centre

manager

• Town centre initiatives are supported by the Letchworth Garden City Heritage

Foundation, a private company which is a major landowner and investor in the town

Key Strategy elements

• Reviewing the traffic access to the Garden Square car park – both access and egress

is circuitous, and this will always affect the popularity of this car park. The strategy

has also suggested some improvements that can be made to the pedestrian access

here.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• Encouraging use by rail commuters of the Garden Square MSCP.

• Trialling evening car park charges in the Town Hall car park.

Summary of Current Situation

5.1. The town centre has 10 car parks, the location of these car parks is identified in Figure 15.

Five of these car parks are operated by NHDC. The total off-street parking capacity in the

town centre is 1,496 parking spaces. There are 4 long-stay car parks allowing 24 hours

parking and six short-stay car parks. There is an EV charging point in the Garden Square

Multi Storey car park.

5.2. Private car parks; East Cheap Car Park and Openshaw Way Car Park, provide considerably

cheaper short-stay car parking when compared with NHDC operated car parks.

5.3. In terms of on-street parking supply, using 2008 parking data, Letchworth Garden City Town

Centre has just under 400 legal on-street car parking spaces.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 15 - LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY CAR PARKS

Parking Strategy and UTPs Parking Improvement Actions

5.4. The NHDC Parking Strategy Action Plan document (2012) and the Letchworth and Baldock

UTP document (March 2012) present a range of schemes and interventions, across all modes

of transport, to address existing problems in Letchworth town centre. The NHDC Parking

Strategy Action Plan identifies Letchworth town centre’s parking actions and measures to

improve the Hitchin’s parking provision quality and capacity. Letchworth’s actions and

measures are presented below in Table 10.

TABLE 10: LETCHWORTH’S EXISTING PARKING STRATEGY ACTIONS

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Multi storey upgrade phase 1 (lights, décor,

lifts)

LET1

Some measures

implemented

Consider new Parking Management Area at

Redhoods Way area

LET2

Implemented

(CPZ review completed)

Multi storey upgrade phase 2 (concrete

repairs, water proofing/resin decking)

LET3

Some measures

implemented

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Investigate better off-street signing via VMS

LET4

Not Progressed as HCC

funding no longer available

5.5. The new parking management area action has been implemented through a CPZ review,

however no other Parking Strategy actions have been implemented thus far.

5.6. The Letchworth and Baldock UTP (March 2012) identifies a range of specific town centre

improvements for all modes of transport to address existing problems across the areas over

the next 20 years. Regarding parking, the UTP does not identify any parking measures but it

does include a Letchworth Town Centre Parking Review covering; demand versus supply

issues at Letchworth Station, on-street commuter parking and residential parking

allocations, charging and control structures and lack of coherent controls.

Future Parking Demand 2017-2031

Town Centre Parking Demand Growth

5.7. Parking demand in Letchworth town centre has been calculated using the TEMPro 2017-

2031 parking demand projections which are presented in Figure 16 identifies Letchworth’s

existing parking capacity and future town centre parking demand growth.

FIGURE 16 - LETCHWORTH’S FUTURE TOWN CENTRE PARKING DEMAND

5.8. The figure identifies that the existing town centre off-street parking demand in Letchworth is

currently at 61% of the parking capacity. Using the TEMPro growth rates, the existing

parking capacity demand is expected to grow by 6.4% by 2021 and by 22.4% by 2031. By

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031

Future Town Centre Parking Demand - Letchworth

Future Parking Demand Parking Capacity

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

2031, the demand for the existing car parking capacity will reach 74%, with 1,050 spaces

occupied out of the existing capacity of 1,412. Therefore, by 2031 TEMPro has predicted that

the parking demand will not reach the existing parking capacity.

Station Parking Demand Growth

5.9. Parking demand in Letchworth Garden City National Rail Station car park has also been

estimated using the TEMPro 2017-2031 parking demand projections which are presented in

Figure 17 identifies Letchworth’s existing parking capacity and future demand for station

parking.

FIGURE 17 - LETCHWORTH’S FUTURE STATION PARKING DEMAND

5.10. Figure 21 shows that the current parking demand at Letchworth National Rail Station is at

130% of capacity, which was identified in the Phase 1 parking surveys. Using the TEMPro

worker’s growth rates, the existing parking demand is expected to grow by 2.4% by 2021

and by 8.40% by 2031. By 2031, the demand for the existing car parking capacity will reach

141%, 41% over capacity. If no on-street capacity is available, based on these estimates the

existing 91 spaces in Letchworth Garden City’s National Rail Station will need to increase to

over 128 spaces to meet demand.

5.11. However, the historic patronage demand trends identify that the parking demand could

increase by 4.8% a year and will require a parking demand of nearly 200 parking spaces by

2031, which is nearly 80 spaces over its existing capacity. Based on these assumptions, the

station car park demand is expected to grow by 48% in the next 10 years, and by 67% by

2031.

110

130

150

170

190

210

230

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031

Future Station Parking Demand - Letchworth Garden City

TEMPRO Future Parking Demand Existing Parking Capacity

Patronage Trends Future Parking Demand

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Parking issues from Phase 1

5.12. The following parking issues in Letchworth Garden City town centre were identified in the

Phase 1 Parking Study Report;

Off-street parking

• The rail station is over capacity

• Long-stay: Over-supply because the Garden Square MSCP long-stay is never more

than 50% utilised, and Hillshott is utilised to just over 50% on weekdays, mainly for

visits of <2 hours duration

• There are issues accessing Garden Square car park, as motorists looking for

availability of free on-street parking first face a long circuitous route to the MSCP,

mainly due to a banned right turn form Leys Avenue to Norton Way (see

• Figure 18).

• Short-stay: Cheaper Heritage Foundation car parks (Openshaw Way and Eastcheap)

reach full occupancy on weekdays

• The more expensive NHDC-operated Town Hall car park only ever fully utilised in the

evening after 18:00 – proximity to cinema/theatre and hence potential for a trial of

evening charges

On-street parking

• No new survey data but previous data suggests well-utilised and the town centre

retailers are very defensive of it

Interview surveys

• Profile of users: Catchment stretches beyond NHDC although not a destination town

in the same way as Hitchin

• Reason for visiting town – 14% work/business, 25% leisure or social rather than

retail

• Low satisfaction with current parking provision

• Little support for alternative charging structure.

Letchworth station car park

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Town Strategy

Garden Square car park

5.13. This MSCP has low utilisation, and issues of relatively poor pedestrian and vehicle access, see

5.14. Figure 18 below. It is recommended that the rationale behind the banning of the right turn

from Leys road into Norton Road be discussed with the traffic management team – allowing

this would enable much better access to the car park, but may have some safety or rat

running issues.

5.15. This report has also recommended encouraging some use of the car park by rail commuters

to increase utilisation, potentially by demarcating some premium allocated bays.

5.16. The car park designers also seem to have largely forgot that every motorist is also a

pedestrian at some stage in their journey. Navigation of unfamiliar areas, walking comfort,

safety and a good quality experience are important design issues, as all public car parks are

part of the public realm.

5.17. Some improvements have been undertaken (see photographs). Another option (see Figure

19) could be a hard-landscaping redesign to the entrance of the car park that, at the very

least, makes the pedestrian feel as important as the car.

5.18. Providing priority crossing points for the pedestrian, improving directional signage when

entering and exiting the car park, painting internal walls regularly in light reflective colours

would also assist. Good quality LED lighting in dark areas is now highly cost effective, even

used in the daytime.

Garden Square MSCP Before recent

improvements

After recent improvements to the marking

out of the car park layout have created a

better experience for the motorist

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Garden Square MSCP

FIGURE 18 – GARDEN SQUARE MSCP VEHICLE ACCESS ISSUES

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 19- OPTION FOR IMPROVING PEDESTRIAN ACCESS TO GARDEN SQUARE

MSCP

Summary of strategy recommendations

5.19. This report recommends that NHDC:

• Review the traffic access to the Garden Square car park – both access and egress is

circuitous, and this will always affect the popularity of this car park. The strategy has

also suggested some improvements that can be made to the pedestrian access here

• Encourage use by rail commuters of the Garden Square MSCP

• Trial wider bays on part of the car park, if BID contributes to lining changes and

monitoring to check effect on overall usage,

• Trial evening car park charges in the Town Hall car park.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

6. ROYSTON

Key characteristics of the town

• A town established on the junction of two historic routes – Ermine Street and

Icknield Way

• The operation of the town centre is heavily constrained by the major roads and a

railway routes passing directly through it, with Melbourn Street and Baldock Street

in particular creating barriers to movement within the town centre itself

• A well-established town centre initiative – Royston First - with a Town Manager and

a Business Improvement District (BID) established in 2009

Key Strategy elements

• Discuss with the BID the potential for gradually converting some of the max 1-hour

bays to charged bays. There is the potential for achieving this through pay by phone

technology, and for some retailers to consider reimbursing customers for parking

• Offer premium commuter parking season tickets in the Town Hall Car Park to

increase utilisation.

• As highways maintenance is undertaken in the near future, there is an opportunity

to look at simplifying the range of types of parking provision in the town centre.

One major improvement would be a simplified set of markings where Pay-and-

Display and free short stay bays are demarcated by consistent colours regardless of

their location.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• It is recommended that the operating hours of the Market Place Car Park are

amended in consultation with the Royston Town Council to reflect the actual

practice on the ground. The corresponding TRO should also be amended at the

same time to ensure a clear and enforceable closure of the car parks on market

days.

Summary of Current Situation

6.1. The majority of car parks in Royston town centre are operated by NHDC, with Market Hill

car park operated by the town council. NHDC enforces all town centre car parks which have

a total capacity of 507 parking spaces. Royston car parks are presented in Figure 20. There

are two long-stay car parks which allow a maximum stay of 24 hours, and 5 short-stay car

parks. All the car parks offer free parking after 3pm, financed through an agreement with

Royston First. There is an EV charging point in the Civic Centre / Town Hall car park.

6.2. The core town centre includes a total of over 70 Pay-and-Display bays in three car parks and

some on-street paid bays, as well as uncharged on-street bays. There is heavy demand for

parking in the town centre, and Phase 1 of this study recommended the introduction of a

maximum stay of 3 hours to increase the availability of short-stay parking. There are a

further two short-stay car parks in Princes Mews adjacent to the Morrison’s supermarket,

which are heavily utilised at the weekend but do not reach capacity during the week.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

6.3. The long-stay car park to the south of the town centre – the Warren – provides capacity on

market days but is otherwise never fully occupied. The larger long-stay car park at Royston

Town Hall has significant spare capacity.

FIGURE 20 - ROYSTON TOWN CENTRE CAR PARKS

Parking Strategy and UTPs Parking Improvement Actions

6.4. The NHDC Parking Strategy Action Plan document (2012) and Royston UTP document

(August 2009) are intended to meet the transport needs of the Royston area whilst assisting

the County Council deliver its overall transport targets and objectives. The NHDC Parking

Strategy Action Plan identifies Royston town centre’s parking actions and measures to

improve movement and parking in the town centre. Royston’s actions and measures are

presented below in Table 11.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

TABLE 11: ROYSTON’S EXISTING PARKING STRATEGY ACTIONS

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Consider delivery of BID 'buy back' proposal

ROY1

Part Implemented

(Introduction of free after 3 but

no employee parking scheme)

Progress Fish Hill Square scheme + parking

related issues

ROY2

Implemented

Review of CPZs and TROs (specifically in

and around the town centre)

ROY3

Implemented

6.5. The NHDC Parking Study Action Plan identified that the BID’s ‘buy back’ scheme, Fish Hill

improvements and the CPZ review around the town centre has been implemented.

6.6. The Royston UTP identifies a number of transport improvement schemes, with the parking

schemes presented in Table 12 below.

TABLE 12: ROYSTON’S EXISTING UTP PARKING SCHEMES

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Adjustments to parking charges

PM01

Phase 1 addresses this

Adjustments to on street parking controls & make

town centre waiting restrictions more consistent

PM02

This is still an outstanding issue

Reassessment of off street parking needs in relation

to redevelopment of strategic town centre sites

PM03

Phase 2 addresses this

Improve signage to car parks

PM04

This is still an outstanding issue,

any potential funding from HCC for

variable message boards is no

longer available

Introduction of charges for on street parking with

cashless payment option

PM06

Not Progressed

Provision of new off-street parking to replace losses

in town centre. The longer timescale reflects the

lead time likely to be needed in the re-development

of the town centre “Opportunity Sites” around the

edge of the centre – most of which currently

provide public parking.

PM08

Longer term issue related to re-

development of Town Hall site

RY12

Introduction of on street parking charges in the

town centre, thereby recognizing the high value of

important parts of the public realm and reducing

parking congestion and searching for free space

PM10

Phase 2 considers this

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Greater price differentiation between short and

long stay parking

PM12

Phase 1 addresses this

Balance of protection of residential streets from rail

commuter parking

PM13

This is still an outstanding issue

Greater parking enforcement, particularly on

Market Days

PM15

Phase 2 addresses this

6.7. The Royston UTP and Table 12 identifies that several of Royston’s priorities have not yet

been implemented, although tariff issues were covered in the NHDC Parking Study – Phase 1

report.

Future Parking Demand 2016-2031

Town Centre Parking Demand Growth

6.8. Parking demand in Royston town centre has been estimated using the TEMPro 2017-2031

parking demand projections and these are shown in Figure 21.

FIGURE 21 - ROYSTON’S FUTURE TOWN CENTRE PARKING DEMAND

6.9. The existing town centre off-street parking demand in Royston is currently at some 94% of

the parking capacity. Using the TEMPro growth rates, the existing parking capacity demand

is expected to grow by 6.4% by 2021 and by 22.4% by 2031. By 2031, the demand for the

existing car parking capacity will reach 115%, with just under 590 spaces required when the

existing capacity is only 512 spaces, or 15% over parking capacity. If on-street demand also

grows beyond supply, this will also add to this off-street demand.

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031

Future Town Centre Parking Demand - Royston

Future Parking Demand Parking Capcity

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

6.10. However, ticket data for the last 2 years identifies that Royston has been decreasing in

parking demand with an average of 1.45% each year. Stakeholder engagement and public

questionnaires completed in the Phase 1 parking study report identified that Royston town

centre’s visitors have been decreasing, and therefore it seems unlikely that by 2031, Royston

will be experiencing a significant car parking demand problem.

Station Parking Demand Growth

6.11. Parking demand in for Royston’s National Rail Station car park has also been estimated using

the TEMPro 2017-2031 workers parking demand projections which are presented in Figure

22.

FIGURE 22 - ROYSTON’S FUTURE STATION PARKING DEMAND

6.12. The current parking demand at Royston’s National Rail Station is believed to be at capacity.

Using the TEMPro worker growth rates, the existing parking demand is expected to grow by

1.6% by 2021 and by 5.6% by 2031. Based on these estimates, by 2031 it is expected that the

existing 341 spaces in Royston’s National Rail Station will need to increase to some 360

spaces to meet demand. We note elsewhere that this is almost certainly an underestimate

as it does not consider on-street demand and significant rail improvements.

6.13. However, the historic patronage trends estimate that the parking demand could increase by

3.1% a year and will require a parking demand of nearly 500 parking spaces by 2031, which

is nearly 150 spaces over its existing capacity. Using these estimates, the station car park

demand is expected to grow by 31% in the next 10 years, and by 43% by 2031.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Parking issues

6.14. The Royston catchment stretches to other parts of NHDC and Stevenage. Town Centre

footfall is also linked to Royston’s role as an employment hub (30% of those interviewed

gave as a reason for visiting work/business) – the BID operates a scheme where employees

in the industrial area get scratch cards to park in the town centre.

Well-utilised short stay parking

6.15. There is high demand for short stay parking in Royston town centre, and only 21% of

surveyed town centre users agreed that there was enough short-stay parking. A majority

(58%) supported differential charging where users are charged more to park nearer to the

town centre. Phase 1 of this study recommended a series of tariff measures to free up more

short stay capacity by moving longer stay users to the edge of town centre car parks.

Similarly, short-stay turnover in the town centre could be enhanced if the ‘free after three’

offer supported financially by the town centre management were restricted to the first hour

free. This change was not implemented as part of Phase 1 of the study, but could be

considered again in the future.

Complex town centre parking in the town centre

6.16. A number of initiatives with good intentions have resulted in a complex and at times

confusing array of parking in Royston town centre. Phase 1 of this study included

recommendations to harmonise tariffs within the core town centre where adjacent Pay-and-

Display bays had different tariff structures. This still leaves a wide range of parking provision

within a relatively confined area.

• The Pay-and-Display bays are distributed between a traditional off-street car park

(Priory Gardens), two car parks identifiable by markings only (Market Place and Angel

Pavement) and several on-street bays.

• The remaining on-street bays include a variety of markings including a restricted

parking zone, traditionally marked bays, and bays delineated with white stone in the

High Street and John Street (due to be re-surfaced).

6.17. Furthermore, on market days the Market Place and Angel Pavement car parks are dedicated

to the market stalls. However, while it is advertised as finishing at approximately 4pm, the

market finishes much earlier than the parking restrictions leading to a situation where

drivers arrive in the town centre in the afternoon to see an empty car park where parking is

still restricted. Under the regulations governing the market operations it is not necessary for

the market to operate for the full duration. As such, a change to the relevant TRO and

agreement from Royston Town Council should be sufficient to formalise the revised

operating hours.

Under-utilisation of some car parks

6.18. The remaining car parks in Royston are under-utilised during certain periods. The Princes

Mews car parks at Morrison’s were observed to peak at around 60% occupancy on the

weekdays surveyed, although they are at capacity at the weekend. The Warren car park to

the south of the town centre serves an important role during market days when Market

Place and Angel Pavement are closed. The Town Hall car park is located slightly further from

the main retail area and has significant spare capacity at all times.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Town centre employee parking

6.19. Royston First has highlighted the cost of parking relative to wages in the town centre as an

issue. The recommended policy on employee parking described in previous sections seeks to

remedy this., However, NHDC would welcome a multi-modal strategy to improve employee

travel to Royston.

6.20. Royston First also represents the businesses operating in the Industrial Area where

unmanaged employee parking is sometimes observed on footways and verges.

Town Strategy

On-street parking

6.21. In the light of the pressure on short-stay on-street supply, we recommend the following

measures:

• Short-stay turnover in the town centre could be enhanced if the ‘free after three’ offer

supported financially by the town centre management were restricted to the first hour

free. This change was not implemented as part of Phase 1 of the study, but could be

considered again in the future.

• Turnover could also be enhanced by reducing the maximum duration of some 1-hour

bays to 30 minutes.

• Finally, NHDC may wish to discuss with the BID the potential for gradually converting

some of the max 1-hour bays to charged bays. There is the potential for achieving this

through pay by phone technology, and for some retailers to consider reimbursing

customers for parking.

Parking supply

6.22. With the poor utilisation of the long-stay car parks, there is some scope for redevelopment

of these sites, such initiatives will be investigated as part of the Phase 3 report.

6.23. This report recommends offering premium commuter parking season tickets in the Town

Hall Car Park to increase utilisation.

6.24. Otherwise there is little scope for change in the supply of parking in Royston.

Rationalisation of short stay parking in Royston town centre

6.25. As highways maintenance is undertaken in the near future, there is an opportunity to look at

simplifying the range of types of parking provision in the town centre. One major

improvement would be a simplified set of markings where each type of parking - Pay-and-

Display and free short-stay bays - is demarcated by a single consistent colour regardless of

its location.

Amendment to market operating hours

6.26. It is recommended that the operating hours of the market are amended in consultation with

the traders to reflect actual practice on the ground. The corresponding TRO should also be

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

amended at the same time to ensure a clear and enforceable closure of the car parks on

market days.

Summary of strategy recommendations

6.27. This report recommends that NHDC:

• Discuss with the BID the potential for gradually converting some of the max 1- hour

bays to charged bays. There is the potential for achieving this through pay by phone

technology, and for some retailers to consider reimbursing customers for parking

• Offer premium commuter parking season tickets in the Town Hall Car Park to increase

utilisation.

• As highways maintenance is undertaken in the near future, there is an opportunity to

look at simplifying the range of types of parking provision in the town centre. One

major improvement would be a simplified set of markings where Pay-and-Display and

free short stay bays are demarcated by consistent colours regardless of their location.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• It is recommended that the operating hours of the Market Place Car Park are amended

in consultation with the Royston Town Council to reflect the actual practice on the

ground. The corresponding TRO should also be amended at the same time to ensure a

clear and enforceable closure of the car parks on market days.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

7. KNEBWORTH

Key characteristics of the village

• Whilst not a town centre, the centre of Knebworth has many of the same

characteristics of a small town centre.

• Knebworth’s shopping facilities are generally in good health, with no reported

vacancies in shop premises in 2015.

• There is a demand for short stay parking for shoppers as well as long stay parking by

rail commuters, employees and residents.

• Commuter parking is a very contentious issue in Knebworth

Key Strategy elements

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• It is recommended that NHDC seek to identify suitable locations for designated on-

street bays. These will be located on streets with low daytime parking stress and

where parking bays can contribute to residential traffic calming.

• Commuters would be able to apply to apply for premium parking season tickets at a

cost of around £80 per month. The costs of management and enforcement would

be largely borne by commuters.

Summary of parking supply and issues

7.1. Knebworth centre provides one NHDC operated car park, with a total of 30 car parking

spaces which includes 2 disabled spaces. The car park is a short-stay car park which allows a

maximum stay of up to 4 hours. Knebworth car parks are presented below in Figure 23.

There are no EV charging points in villages south of Hitchin e.g. in Knebworth.

7.2. In terms of on-street car parking supply, Knebworth Centre has just over 120 on-street car

parking spaces.

7.3. In terms of parking demand, average usage of the car park is in the range of 50-100 short-

stay visits per day (capacity 30).

7.4. The retail centre of Knebworth contains 37 visitor bays located in and around the retail

centre of Knebworth in Station Road / London Road / Milestone Road / Pondcroft Road,

which allow up to one-hour parking between 8am-6pm Monday to Saturday, as well as 83

unrestricted parking spaces. Demand for parking in the unrestricted bays peaks is almost full

at 06:00 in the morning and remains so for the whole day, before reaching a peak in the

evening. These may be being used by commuters.

7.5. The streets approaching Knebworth station – Gun Lane, Station Approach, Park Lane, Deards

Wood and Lytton Fields are examples of residential streets with areas of unrestricted

parking within a short distance from the station. In these streets, significant proportions of

vehicles are commuters, which are causing parking stress from local residents.

7.6. The key issue in Knebworth is commuter parking for rail use.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

FIGURE 23 - KNEBWORTH CAR PARKS

Parking Strategy and UTPs Parking Improvement Actions

7.7. The NHDC Parking Strategy Action Plan document (2012) identifies Knebworth’s local

centre’s parking actions and measures to improve visitor and residential parking in the town

centre. Knebworth’s actions and measures are presented below in Table 13.

TABLE 13: KNEBWORTH’S EXISTING PARKING STRATEGY ACTIONS

Areas specific Priorities

Reference No.

Implementation Status

Feasibility for St Martins car park tariff

KN1

Implemented

Review High Street parking provision

KN2

Implemented

Implement St Martins tariff (if required) +

High St TRO

KN3

Partly implemented

7.8. While the car park tariffs have successfully dissuaded its use for commuter parking, the

impact of short-stay on-street parking on the high street remains a traffic management

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

issue. This may simply result from the relative lack of enforcement compared to the larger

town centres. Under the commuter parking proposal for Knebworth there will be a

requirement for a greater enforcement presence, and the high street should be one priority

area.

Future Parking Demand 2016-2031

Local Centre Parking Demand Growth

7.9. Parking demand in Knebworth centre will need to be subject of a further piece of work,

which could include:

• Review of the planned housing growth in Knebworth and adjacent areas which may

use the railway station

• Reviewing the operation of the on-street bays on the High Street and off-street bays

• Potential local support for increasing the CPZ in the town

Station Parking Demand Growth

7.10. Parking demand in for Knebworth’s National Rail Station car park has been estimated using

the TEMPro 2017-2031 workers parking demand projections which are presented in Figure

24.

FIGURE 24 - KNEBWORTH’S FUTURE STATION PARKING DEMAND

7.11. The current parking demand at Knebworth National Rail Station is believed to be at capacity.

Using the TEMPro worker growth rates, the existing parking demand is estimated to grow by

2% by 2021 and by 7% by 2031. By 2031, the existing 78 spaces in Knebworth National Rail

Station could need to increase to over 80 spaces to meet the demand needs. As noted

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

above, this is almost certainly an underestimate as it does not consider growth in existing

on-street demand.

7.12. However, the historic patronage trends identify that the parking demand could increase by

7.1% a year, the highest growth rate out of all the stations assessed. This could require a

parking demand of over 150 parking spaces by 2031, which is nearly 80 spaces over the

existing capacity. The station car park demand is expected to grow by 71% in the next 10

years, and by nearly 100% by 2031. As is clear from the Phase 1 Parking Study report, the

surrounding local residential streets in Knebworth already experience some on-street

commuter parking, which due to the lack of CPZ’s is likely to continue.

Town Strategy

Commuter parking

7.13. Commuter parking is the main issue in Knebworth, and this is likely to increase over time.

The existing parking strategy makes provision for some on-street parking for rail commuters

(policy 25). Chapter 2 of this report sets out the rationale for such an approach given the

particular set of challenges in Knebworth, and a practical suggestion for its implementation.

7.14. It is recommended that NHDC seeks to identify suitable locations for designated on-street

bays. These will be located on streets with low daytime parking stress and where parking

bays can contribute to residential traffic calming. Subject to consultation with residents a

CPZ would be defined, which given its size may cover most of the settlement. The CPZ could

have a single hour of daytime parking restriction.

7.15. Commuters would be able to apply for premium parking season tickets at a cost of around

£80 per month. The costs of management and enforcement would be largely borne by

commuters.

Summary of strategy recommendations

7.16. This report recommends that NHDC:

• Review local plan housing growth and existing demand, both on and off-street.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator, and consider

consultation on extending the existing CPZ.

• It is recommended that NHDC seek to identify suitable locations for designated on-

street bays. These will be located on streets with low daytime parking stress and where

parking bays can contribute to residential traffic calming.

• Give consideration for Commuters to be able to apply for premium parking season

tickets on-street at a cost of around £80 per month. The costs of management and

enforcement would be largely borne by commuters.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

8.1. This report presents a review of the existing parking strategy, which is in general regarded as

appropriate for NHDC. Some improvements and potential measures have been outlined. The

key recommendations are;

Key Strategy elements - Baldock

• Discuss with Tesco options for town centre parking supply at their site.

• Converting the highest demand visitor and dual use bays to maximum 30 minutes for

visitors and /or developing a trial of on-street charging in premium areas using pay by

phone technology.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• Work with the train operating company and HCC to encourage mode shift for journeys to

the railway station.

• Increasing the proportion of dual bays (i.e. resident permit and town centre visitor bays)

in Hitchin Street, Church Street and Sun Street

• Introducing some evening enforcement to discourage anti-social parking.

Key Strategy elements – Hitchin

• Trialling evening and Sunday charging at certain off-street car parks – improvements to

pedestrian routes to/from these can be considered at the same time.

• Improve usage of the Lairage through better signing and investigate use of technology to

show floor occupancy levels; seek to improve pedestrian access to the core town centre

in the longer term through planning briefs of adjacent sites.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• Seek to encourage more rail commuter parking through increased provision at the

station or by encouraging some rail commuter parking at the Woodside car park.

• Trial on-street payment for parking in premium spaces using pay by phone technology.

• In the longer-term seek provision of some public car parking on the south side of the

town centre, potentially in any planning brief for future use of the Asda site.

• Seek to incorporate a proportion of EV charging points and associated dedicated

parking bays in any additional public car parking provision.

Key Strategy elements - Letchworth

• Reviewing the traffic access to the Garden Square car park – both access and egress is

circuitous, and this will always affect the popularity of this car park. The strategy has

also suggested some improvements that can be made to the pedestrian access here.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• Encouraging use by rail commuters of the Garden Square MSCP.

• Trialling evening car park charges in the Town Hall car park.

North Hertfordshire District Council Parking Strategy Review – Phase 2 16-023-01-R02B

Key Strategy elements - Royston

• Discuss with the BID the potential for gradually converting some of the max 1-hour bays

to charged bays. There is the potential for achieving this through pay by phone

technology, and for some retailers to consider reimbursing customers for parking

• With the poor utilisation of the long-stay car parks, there is some scope for

redevelopment of these sites. The Royston Town Hall site features as a site allocation in

the Draft Local Plan for submission.

• As highways maintenance is undertaken in the near future, there is an opportunity to

look at simplifying the range of types of parking provision in the town centre. One major

improvement would be a simplified set of markings where Pay-and-Display and free

short stay bays are demarcated by consistent colours regardless of their location.

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator.

• It is recommended that the operating hours of the Market Place car park are amended

in consultation with the Royston Town Council to reflect the actual practice on the

ground. The corresponding TRO should also be amended at the same time to ensure a

clear and enforceable closure of the car parks on market days.

Key Strategy elements - Knebworth

• Review local plan housing growth and existing demand, both on and off-street

• Discuss future rail demand with Network Rail and the train operator, and consider

consultation on extending the existing CPZ

• It is recommended that NHDC seek to identify suitable locations for designated on-street

bays. These will be located on streets with low daytime parking stress and where parking

bays can contribute to residential traffic calming.

• Give consideration for commuters to be able to apply for premium parking season

tickets on-street at a cost of around £80 per month. The costs of management and

enforcement would be largely borne by commuters.

8.2. The executive summary includes a table setting out these plans in the short/medium and

long term.

APPENDIX A: PARKING DEMAND ESTIMATES

AreaDescription Name HHs Jobs Workers HHs Jobs Workers HHs Jobs Workers HHs Jobs Workers

Authority NorthHertfordshire 57170.4 58982.8 68497.2 69126 62233 73408 11955.6 3250.2 4910.8 121% 106% 107%

E02004909 NorthHertfordshire001 2328.2 1963.6 2718 2817 2073 2825 488.8 109.4 107 121% 106% 104%

E02004910 NorthHertfordshire002 4735.6 6339.8 5407 5729 6669 5724 993.4 329.2 317 121% 105% 106%

E02004912 NorthHertfordshire004 4687.6 3719.8 5653.6 5670 3920 6055 982.4 200.2 401.4 121% 105% 107%

E02004914 NorthHertfordshire006 3336 9538 3894.4 4036 10049 4179 700 511 284.6 121% 105% 107%

E02004915 NorthHertfordshire007 2501.4 1416.6 2844.6 3026 1474 3068 524.6 57.4 223.4 121% 104% 108%

E02004916 NorthHertfordshire008 3135.4 4741.2 3676.6 3793 4970 3963 657.6 228.8 286.4 121% 105% 108%

E02004917 NorthHertfordshire009 2858 1117 3124.2 3457 1172 3403 599 55 278.8 121% 105% 109%

E02004918 NorthHertfordshire010 3875.2 5960.6 4890 4687 6278 5200 811.8 317.4 310 121% 105% 106%

E02004919 NorthHertfordshire011 3288.2 1510.6 4128.8 3978 1587 4404 689.8 76.4 275.2 121% 105% 107%

E02004920 NorthHertfordshire012 4993.4 7689.4 5666.6 6040 8115 6124 1046.6 425.6 457.4 121% 106% 108%

E02004921 NorthHertfordshire013 3443 2067.6 4088.2 4165 2176 4411 722 108.4 322.8 121% 105% 108%

AreaDescription Name HHs Jobs Workers AreaDescription Name HHs Jobs Workers

E02004909 NorthHertfordshire001 1.2 1.1 1.1 E02004918 NorthHerts010 1.2 1.1 1.1

E02004910 NorthHertfordshire002 1.2 1.1 1.0 E02004919 NorthHerts011 1.2 1.1 1.1

21.0% 5.5% 5.6% E02004920 NorthHerts012 1.2 1.1 1.1

1.6% 0.4% 0.4% E02004921 NorthHerts013 1.2 1.1 1.1

21.0% 5.3% 7.2%

E02004912 NorthHertfordshire004 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.6% 0.4% 0.6%

E02004914 NorthHertfordshire006 1.2 1.1 1.1

E02004915 NorthHertfordshire007 1.2 1.0 1.1 E02004912 NorthHerts004 1.2 1.1 1.1

E02004916 NorthHertfordshire008 1.2 1.0 1.1 1.6% 0.4% 0.5%

E02004917 NorthHertfordshire009 1.2 1.0 1.1

21.0% 4.9% 7.8% E02004923 NorthHerts015 1.2 1.1 1.1

1.6% 0.4% 0.6% 1.5% 0.4% 0.5%

Difference

GrowthRates2017‐2031

Average

Averageperyear

Letchworth

Baldock

Knebworth

Average

Averageperyear

Royston Hitchin

Average

Averageperyear

2017 2031

APPENDIX B: EXISTING CONTROLLED PARKING ZONES

10min walking isochrone (800m)

Controlled Parking Zone

Legend

Scale 1:18000

250 0 250 500 750 1000 m

10min walking isochrone (800m)

Controlled Parking Zone

Legend

Scale 1:18000

250 0 250 500 750 1000 m

10min walking isochrone (800m)

Controlled Parking Zone

Legend

Scale 1:18000

250 0 250 500 750 1000 m