Each of our assignments through the People, Places & Parking Process is different and brings its own challenges and opportunities. In Oldham our work has focused on balancing parking and access during town transformation, while continue to improve it as a service for town centre users.
Travel patterns during a time of change
Understanding the combination of why and how we go into town centres is an important part of making them busier and more enjoyable. It was important therefore, to start our work in the Oldham by assessing the changing ways people will travel as its town centre offer and appeal is transformed. Envisaging how a new hilltop linear park can provide an alternative, connecting spine; how parking tariffs can be tweaked to change habits; and how new attractions and activities might switch the way people move around, was important to such comprehension in Oldham. All that and the added curve-ball that one of the main multi-storey car parks is unexpectedly closed as adjacent development works ledd to safety concerns.
Projects nearing their completion during our work included creating a new home for the Tommyfield indoor market with an events and banqueting hall. The new location will enjoy improved public transport and pedestrian links to the adjacent shopping centres and parking. Longer-term plans include the creation of the new linear park at the heart of a new neighbourhood of up to 2,000 new homes on council-owned brownfield sites.
Serving the needs of varied customers
With so much change happening in the town centre, our work has included helping maintain easy access to the town centre by applying our People, Places & Parking Process alongside an understanding of public transport and active travel options. It’s great to be working in a town centre where so much proactive change is happening to try and boost it’s long-term appeal, while seeking to maintain accessibility throughout.
Looking at how customers use a town centre during and after major restructuring involves adopting a range of mindsets. For existing users, how will they adapt to change and what will make their trips easier during disruption? As a potential new resident or visitor, what will make accessing new attractions both easier and more appealing? What are the different needs of a daily commuter, a weekly shopper, a motorist, somebody arriving by tram or bus?
Assessing the options for reopening the closed car park, including possibly enlarging the bay sizes, changes in payment technology and navigating routes to attractions such as the adjoining new indoor market and event space, was added ss part of our brief.
Combining professional perspectives
Through our People, Places & Parking Process, we pride ourselves on taking a customer-focused approach that helps residents, visitors and workers make the most appropriate travel choices relative to their trip to town. We combine our know-how on how people use towns as the People & Places Partnership with Park Consult’s expertise in parking management.
In assignments like this one for Oldham Council, we feed off each other’s knowledge. I can now partly anticipate the Park Consult perspective from Richard Ofield about improving parking as a service, and he gets my focus on making it a ‘seamless experience’ as part of the journey from ‘sofa to shop’. Reopening a closed multi-storey car park is a first for me, though Richard takes the practicalities in his stride. I then focus on the best mix of worker, shopper or possible new evening economy users and the timeline for the reopening to help balance Oldham’s changing parking supply and demand.
