How the money from parking is used

Every pound from parking is spent on operating costs of the car park, invested in better parking or safety infrastructure, or returned to our customers through lower prices so we have been able to make over 250 improvements to parking provision at the Wye Valley Visitor Centre in just four years.

Parking charges and revenue control act together to protect our customers from a substantial increase in prices or displacement to more expensive car parks near us Parking charges deter fly parkers and ParkingEye recovers unpaid fees and all costs of revenue control so they are not passed on to other motorists. The spaces yielded save acquisition, development and finance costs for about 50% more car bays, and avoid rental costs of contingency space for a further 50% more bays for peak bank holiday periods which would otherwise need to be funded by increasing attraction prices.

Non-customers legitimise their use of the car park simply by paying for parking so they have permission to park. That enables us to provide capacity for sustainable use by them - park and stride for the school run, or park and ride, park and cycle, or park and share for their commute.

Income from parking has contributed to numerous improvements:

Employment

• 1 new whole time equivalent job created for premises maintenance

Capacity and accessibility improvements

• 70 extra parking bays for light vehicles
• 40 existing small car bays enlarged to regular size
• 20 new covered bicycle spaces
• 10 extra bays designated for disabled people
• Extra bay designated for motorcycles
• New designated taxi drop-off bay
• Former coach drop-off bay restored

Reclaiming of derelict land roughly doubled car parking capacity, improved visual amenity without encroaching on countryside, and created space for trials for completely reorganising parking provision at the Wye Valley Visitor Centre.

Safety improvements

• 35 metres of new crash barrier installed
• 4 new marked pedestrian crossings
• 4 retention devices installed to prevent gate sailing
• 3 new marked walkways for pedestrians and for traffic calming
• 3 wider driveways created by new surface marking layout
• 3 metres wider vehicle access to remove chicane from peak parking paddock egress
• 2 fences redesigned and rebuilt for pedestrian/driver intervisibility
• 2 new side-gates installed to separate pedestrians from vehicles
• 2 "no entry" signs installed to reduce hazard of lost drivers conflicting with oncoming traffic and merging with traffic on their blind side
• 2 fire and rescue vehicle access points improved
• New visibility splay created
• Dedication of one-way bus/motorhome lane to separate cars from long vehicles reversing in the coach park
• New vehicle turning-head designed and marked on surface
• New goods delivery bay designated
• Redesign and rebuild of 2 waste management skip bays
• Redesign and rebuild of bulk biomass delivery platform and provision of caged podium for Operator/Driver working at height
• New traffic routing in peak parking paddock to prevent egress obstruction by fly parking and mitigate need for surface metalling
• Installation of new security apparatus

Operational improvements

• 10 new/relocated tariff signboards to integrate with revised parking layout
• 9 new signs indicating dedicated disabled bays in the peak parking paddock
• 4 new cashless remote payment alternatives to coin machines introduced (phone, text, app and web - by credit/debit card)
• 2 new card readers installed for contactless card payment
• 2 new keypads installed for card payment
• More frequent maintenance cycles
• New snow clearance capability
• Improved mechanization of maintenance
• Sign located on vehicle exit route indicating direction and distance to nearest alternative pay & display car park

Environmental improvements

• Construction of new Sustainable Underground Drainage System (SUDS)
• Improved landscaping of the peak parking paddock
• Rewilding of the paddock margin to encourage biodiversity (in progress)
• New Sustainable Transport Policy including:
  • Discounted Park and Choose Permit scheme created and publicised to encourage sustainable travel by bus, bicycle, or car sharing or for regular exercise along riverside public footpaths and National Cycle Route 423
  • Publicity about cycle routes from holiday centres at Symonds Yat East, Christchurch, Braceland, The Biblins, and Monmouth via The Peregrine Path (part of National Cycle Route 423 from Cwmbran)
  • Staff Room information point to encourage colleagues to bus, cycle or car share their journey to work
  • Arrangements put in place for access to free cycling lessons for colleagues

Major investment is being planned to support transition to carbon net zero including installing electric vehicle and bicycle recharging infrastructure when local electricity supply capacity permits, and installation of solar panel carports when finance allows.

Parking control has indirect benefits for customers protecting ancillary services such as toilets and picnic waste disposal from being overwhelmed. It deters antisocial use of the car park so it can be open at all hours, and it disincentivises fraudulent use of blue badges to avoid parking fees, which helps keep dedicated bays clear for users with disabilities.

Usage statistics help us forecast changes in demand, which with parking control ensures that the Wye Valley Visitor Centre can meet parking scales for planning permissions. It contributed to the case for developing a new all-season and all-weather indoor adventure golf course - which will open soon.