The Deganwy, Conwy car park is built on private land near a scenic beach and train station in Wales. The land owners were not sure about building and managing car parks on their land due to their busy schedule and personal commitments and decided to lease it to Bransby Wilson to operate it. People were already misusing the land to park for free when visiting the beach and nearby landmarks and the land owners were frustrated with it. The land possessed great potential for car park as it can accommodate 70 parking spaces.
The major challenge for this car park was that it required retrospective planning, mainly due to the location. The car park was right by the beach and train station, and it required approval to position solar panels and banners from the council to not affect the view. The solar panels were required to power the car park and operate cameras.
The solar panels would help power the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras as it was difficult to get power from other sources. It was also essential for cameras and solar panels to have the right positions without obstructing the view.
Earlier, people misused the land by parking on it for free, it was essential to aware people about not being a free land now, and people had to pay for their parking. So, there was a possibility that public opinion would be negative and would claim they didn’t have to pay anything before. So, careful approach was required to handle the possible reaction.
The land owner’s other requirement was to make revenue by leasing the land for a car park. They wanted to gain a steady income from it and prevent people from misusing the land.
We planned proper positioning of the solar panel to ensure it doesn’t disrupt or block view of the scenic location. It was vital to guarantee it functioned well and powered the car park. The solar panel was specifically turned to a horizontal position rather than a landscape for the view.
We installed ANPR cameras on the car park to prevent the unauthorized parking. It’ll capture vehicle registration for each vehicle entering and existing the car park.
So, if any visitor tried to misuse by avoiding payment for the car park, Parking Charge Notice(PCN) will be triggered. The camera also provides detailed dashboard data that includes pattern and usage of car park to make decisions for the car park.
Further, to deal with retrospective planning, we worked with the local council to listen and follow their requirements. Their requirements alongside solar panels positions was the limit on banner signage on the car park. Our big banner signage displayed promotional signage with pricing for the car park customers.
The council didn’t want the car park to have too many banner signs again to not disrupt the view. So, we ensured the car park had appropriate number of signage yet visible for visitors. The banner signs were placed to make people aware about tariff rates and also to send message of not being free space to park.
We also offered the land owners to cover their monthly rates bills for the land to operate the car park. So, Bransby Wilson will operate the car park for the next few years, and land owners will benefit from steady parking revenue from their unused piece of land in the popular location of Wales.
With the solutions implemented by Bransby Wilson, the car park is operating successfully by catering to the car park’s requirements. The planning required for solar panels, banners have ensured that the view is not compromised, and power is also supplied for the ANPR cameras.
People will now be aware of not misusing the car park and pay for their parking. The land owner of the car park is also benefiting from the revenue earned from their unused and misused piece of land converted into a full-functioning car park.