A new car parking strategy will aim to encourage drivers to make use of existing locations rather than adding new spaces, Lichfield District Council’s leader says.
The proposals form part of the larger city centre masterplan and are aimed at improving signage and real-time information for visitors.
Cllr Doug Pullen told a meeting of the cabinet this week that the focus was not on creating more bays.
“We absolutely have an over-provision of car parking spaces within the city – a number of our car parks sit half-empty throughout the day and yet all of us will know that Bird Street car park can often involve periods of circling to find a space.
“It’s my view that we should improve our signage to make sure people know and understand where the car parks are and that they can have real time data about how many spaces are available within each car park as they enter the city.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Pullen also told his cabinet colleagues that a revised payment structure for parking would help balance parking at a number of facilities across the city.
“We must aim to drive behaviour by incentivising people to park in the Friary Outer for example by making that less expensive than some other city centre car parks.
“It’s all about incentivising behaviour and making it as easy as possible to find those spaces in the first place.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
