Place leaders often want to know about the options for improving parking for businesses and customers, though do not know where to go for objective and affordable advice.
That was part of the thinking behind the People & Places Partnership combining forces and vocabulary with Park Consult, to devise the People, Places & Parking Process. The evidence-based and customer-focused process is devised to help look objectively at the quality, quantity and cost of parking in city centres. It combines People & Places’ knowledge about ensuring the effective use of town centres, with Park Consults’ expertise in enhancing parking operations.
Top concern for businesses
The People, Places & Parking Process has been successfully employed in combining the perspectives on improving parking for businesses and customers of local authority parking management and economic development services. We have long too looked to apply the process in working with a Business Improvement District (BIDs) on behalf of their levy-paying businesses. After all, parking pressures nearly always top the concerns of businesses when we engage with them on their future priorities for town and city centres.
Improving parking for businesses and customers with Salisbury BID
We were delighted in summer 2023 to be approached by Salisbury BID and asked to work with them to apply the People, Places & Parking Process in this attractive and bustling Wiltshire city. From the outset, the agreed philosophy was to understand the parking pressures and potential solutions bespoke to Salisbury, though do this in a way that recognised the perspectives of Wiltshire Council’s county-wide parking service.
Understanding movement into and around city centre
As Chris Wade, People & Places’ Director explains, “Our role was to apply our knowledge of how movement into and around town and city centres benefits the local economy and assess the role of car parks as key ‘gateways’ within this. We wanted to provide the team and Board at Salisbury BID with expert information to support them in their ongoing dialogue with Wiltshire Council.”
Parking journey audits undertaken as part of the review process, helped highlight readily attainable improvements that could be achieved through clear, new road signs to enable different types of users to locate suitable parking. Orientation panels within car parks and onward waymarking can help identify onward routes to aid the unfamiliar visitor. As is often the case in such reviews, the assessment within the car parks revealed that there is considerable scope to improve the motorists’ parking experience.
Improving parking use
Richard Ofield, Director at Park Consult, outlines some of the review findings that can support the BID in developing its joint approach with Wiltshire Council to improve parking use: “Balancing supply and demand is often a key element to address when reviewing parking operations across multiple car parks. This helps optimise use and reduce traffic congestion, and our reporting highlighted ways to correct such imbalances across the sample car parks. All-in-all there were plenty of identifiable opportunities for positive change to help improve the parking provision to the benefit of residents, businesses, commuters and visitors.”
Richard added that from the Council’s perspective “The good news is that there are opportunities to increase revenue to fund improvements from increased use of the parking service, as well as from potential, additional revenue streams such as installing solar panels.”
Supporting positive engagement with Council
Responding to the People, Places & Parking Process findings, Robin McGowan, Chief Executive of Salisbury BID, commented “We have been really pleased with how Wiltshire Council has welcomed and engaged with this process. Particularly in the constructive discussions around the many transport and parking improvement considerations for both the user and the multitude of businesses that depend on these local services. We look forward to discussing and prioritising the next steps with Wiltshire Council following the action-orientated report that Chris and Richard have produced, and considerations of the different initiatives that have been recommended.”
Travel Management Principles
Following-up on the initial parking review, in February 2025, People & Places proposed travel management principles in conjunction for Salisbury BID. This was achieved in a way that recognised Wiltshire-wide travel planning and Salisbury-specific survey work that has been commissioned locally. The principles are intended to guide the work of the BID in engaging with city centre businesses, contributing to practical improvements and influencing transport planning at a county level. The Salisbury proposed travel management principles for Salisbury are:
1. Boosting business
Enabling the sustainable growth of Salisbury’s city centre at the heart of one of Wiltshire’s three “Principal Settlements” in a way that provides a centralised location for services, employment and attractions that are within easy reach for residents and helps reduce unnecessary travel.
2. Increasing sustainable travel
Encouraging opportunities for accessing the city centre by more sustainable modes of transport via active travel and public transport, including supporting the delivery and promotion of infrastructure improvements identified in the Salisbury LCWIP and improving access to and from public transport by wayfinding and public realm improvements.
3. Improving parking provision
Shaping the roll-out of improvements proposed in Wiltshire Local Travel Plan Parking Sub-Strategy by delivering a balance between supporting our communities, encouraging greater use of sustainable transport modes and making local services and tourist destinations accessible. This will include:
- Contributing a business perspective and knowledge of customers’ needs to work in partnership with other stakeholders to help align parking charges and standards to help manage different short, medium, and long-term parking needs.
- Assisting with the delivery of an improved parking experience by providing better signage to and from car parks; reviewing parking payment methods; making best use of existing car parks
- Ensuring access and consistent provision of parking for those with mobility impairments.
- Supporting decarbonisation objectives through appropriate parking management; improving journey time reliability by managing on-street parking; accommodating cycle parking and hire; hosting expanded EV car club coverage and mobility hubs.
- Inputting in to the development of a detailed parking operation and delivery plan for Salisbury
Find out more
Learn more about how we have taken our understanding of town centres and combined with Park Consult’s experience of parking management, to offer a comprehensive and cost effective People, Places & Parking Process consultancy service for councils, business improvement districts and parking providers.
Take a look at the guidance that we prepared for the Local Government Association (LGA) on town centre travel, parking and access; read the LGA case study of our work linking parking and place in Sleaford that uses our process; or contact us at services@people-places.net
Read the Institute of Place Management ‘think piece from People & Places Director, Chris Wade, about how progressive place leaders welcome extra options for travelling into town.
