Following extensive research, by Mike Stanford of the Chamber's Management Committee, into car parking facilities in every major town in Cornwall, the following observations have been made with reference to the facilities offered in St. Austell. All references are to the period 1st May – 31st December 2012, the latest for which data was available.
OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
- All Council run car parks in the town are more expensive than the privately-owned and centrally-situated White River Place car park. The Chamber of Commerce recommends, as a first step, reducing the cost of car parking in all of St. Austell’s car parks to the same pricing structure as White River Place. This would immediately increase traffic flow in the Priory car park, therefore increasing revenue. It would also lead to an increase in footfall for Fore Street and Biddicks Court, as well as being the closest car park to the main entrance of the proposed redevelopment at Old Vicarage Place.
- Parking is exponentially far more expensive once a 2-hour limit is reached, which would explain why only 4% of visits are for longer than 2 hours and only a further 1% remain for more than 3 hours. The average spend for the whole period researched is £1.40, meaning that the average stay is for less than 2 hours. This is not long enough for most of the 95% of visitors to the town centre to spend time shopping, sightseeing and having a meal, therefore, as a follow-on to point 1 above, our recommendation would then be to reduce the price of parking for up to 4 hours to £2.00. This would immediately increase revenue, as only 5% of visitors stay longer than 2 hours at present. The cost of parking for up to 3 hours in the town centre, £3.90, is the second highest of any town in Cornwall – only Hayle is more expensive than St. Austell at £4.00. The cost of parking for 3 hours in the Polkyth leisure centre car park, £4.30, is the most expensive in the whole county. (As a comparison, the most expensive parking for 3 hours in Devon is £3.60, which includes Plymouth and Exeter city centres, and one would have to travel as far east as the city of Salisbury before having to pay a higher charge than that levied in the Priory. To beat the dubious accolade that Polkyth holds, one would need to travel as far as the multi-storey car park at the Broadmead shopping mall in the centre of the city of Bristol – and this is privately owned.)
- Unlike most other Cornish towns, there is little provision in St. Austell for free, on-street parking. Whilst most access roads are unsuitable for the purpose, our recommendation is that provision be made on the south (right-hand) side of West Hill for broken yellow lines between College Green and Trinity Street, allowing a limited period of parking for approximately 8 cars. This area is frequently populated by cars displaying disabled badges, therefore access cannot be an issue. Similarly, High Cross Street could provide another 6 spaces on the present taxi rank, which is unused by day.
- Most car parking provided, both Council and private, is situated on the western side of the town, leaving those businesses based on the eastern side marginalised, not least for the 25% of the town’s population aged over 60, without a disabled badge. Accepting that the Priory car park does not have higher than an 80% occupancy rate, 50 spaces could be reassigned there to permit- holders only Monday-Friday, thereby releasing the 40 spaces from the North Street car park, so that that could be turned into a short-stay shoppers' car park: maximum stay 3 hours, same rates as the other car parks. With only a 50% occupancy rate based on 8 hours per day, 6 days a week, this would gross over £20,000 per annum. The extra 10 permit-holders only spaces in the Priory car park would gross an additional £3,800 per annum. Therefore, the advantages of this scheme would be twofold: firstly, to increase Council revenue by about £25,000 per annum and, secondly, to provide a short term shoppers' car park in a part of the town that is currently without any non-disabled parking facilities. Redesigning the traffic flow in the North Street car park, so that the entrance is at the bottom, next to the dentist, and the exit is at the top, (see Image 1) would serve to prevent traffic congestion in North Street itself.
- The Priory car park is designated as long stay, yet is not able to be used with a Countywide Rover Ticket, aimed at tourists. Clifden Road, however, is included in the scheme, but it is, by its very location, not suitable for tourists to access the town centre. An immediate change to this ruling is recommended at absolutely no cost to the Council.
- Working on the figures for the period researched, it can be seen that Tuesday is the quietest day of the week, but Friday is the day for shortest average stays. Saturday is both the busiest day and the day for longest average stays. November is the quietest month, but September is the month for shortest average stays. August is by far the busiest month and it has the longest average stays. Wednesday 5th August is the busiest day of the year. Given these anomalies, we would recommend that some thought be given to reducing charges at quiet times – perhaps Tuesdays out of season, where 4 hours parking could be allowed for the price of 2 hours, £1.50 (or £1.20 if the recommendation in point 1 has been followed). This would potentially lead to an increase in revenue, as so few paid visits in excess of two hours are made at any time. It would also increase footfall in the town at the quietest times.
- Unlike Launceston and Liskeard, no dispensation on the cost of parking in St. Austell is offered at any time of the year. Having communicated with the Launceston Chamber of Commerce on the subject, they have confirmed that their scheme of £1 parking on a Saturday has led to a dramatic increase in footfall in the town. However, without access to revenue figures for parking in Launceston, we are unable to assess what the financial implications might be. As the scheme has been extended to April 2015, it would appear that any loss of revenue is minimal. Working in conjunction with the St. Austell BID, we would like to propose some dates for free or reduced parking in the town centre: Firstly, Friday November 21st, being the day that the Christmas lights are switched on in the town centre, when all shops remain open until 8 p.m. Last year, White River Place reported good footfall, but some Fore Street traders were disappointed with the turnout, therefore we would like to propose that parking becomes free after 4 p.m. in the Priory car park. We would then recommend that the same principle applies to the following four Thursdays, to coincide with the late-night opening for Christmas shopping The cost would be minimal, as parking from 4-8 p.m. is only £1 per session, but the benefit to that side of the town could be enormous. The second proposed date would be Tuesday 8th January 2015, when we would request that parking be reduced to the one-hour charge for 4 hours stay. As previously stated, Tuesday is the quietest time of the week, but with shops in the middle of their January sales, this would give a much-needed boost to town centre footfall. If this scheme proves successful and the result is an increase in revenue for the Council, we would hope to see it repeated on a regular basis during the off-season.
- The cost of an annual season ticket in Launceston & Bodmin town centres is £200. The same ticket in the North Street car park in St. Austell costs £380. The Chamber can see no justification for this variation in pricing, especially as it directly penalises business people and residents alike. The recommendation is for an urgent review of these prices to bring them into line with neighbouring towns.
- The Eden Project reports that 1,700 coaches visit their car park each year, yet little or no provision is made to attract the 85,000 or so occupants of those coaches into St. Austell. We understand that Newquay actively encourages coaches to visit their town by providing parking facilities for the coaches, as well as free refreshments for the drivers. Here, we offer the Polkyth leisure centre car park as the coach park, which offers both a long, steep walk into town for the occupants and no facilities at all for the drivers. This does nothing to encourage coaches into the town, thereby losing a massive influx of potential visitors / shoppers. Whilst we realise that there is not a suitable parking facility for coaches in the town centre, we would recommend that urgent consideration be given to encouraging them to offload their passengers in Trinity Street and then having somewhere edge-of-town for them to park until the appointed time to pick up their passengers again.
As you can see, the thinking behind these recommendations is designed to increase footfall in the town centre, whilst serving to, at the very least, maintain, but potentially substantially increase, revenue from the town centre car parks. We hope that the Council will give its consideration to the points raised above and we would be pleased to attend the next Council meeting to provide answers to any questions that may arise.
