Car Parking Study Hexham Northumberland County Council

Hexham Car Parking Study Study objectives To examine perceptions of Hexham as a shopping location To establish the importance of the availability and quality of parking in the decision to shop in the town To review parking overall in Hexham Recommend improvements to parking to promote access to the town centre

Hexham Car Parking Study Study Tasks Review of previous studies Postal opinion survey Detailed on-street parking survey Review of off-street parking data provided by the council Site visits Option development Study recommendations and Action Plan

Hexham Car Parking Study Postal survey: method Questionnaires posted to 2,500 households in the Hexham catchment areas 889 responses – response rate of 35% Closed questions with an opportunity to write comments in free text

Hexham Car Parking Study Postal survey: key findings 81% of respondents use Hexham as their main location for shopping –71% of these individuals cited convenience as a reason –13% commenting on the good mix of shops 19% of respondents do not use Hexham as their main shopping destination. –A poorer mix of shops was cited by 46% of the respondents – this was the single most commonly quoted reason –Inconvenience was cited by 14% of respondents –Poorer parking provision was cited by 10% of the respondents 29% of respondents offered a variety of other reasons with written comments

Hexham Car Parking Study Postal survey: most quoted comments

Hexham Car Parking Study Parking supply

Hexham Car Parking Study On-street parking survey: area Priestpopple Battle Hill Beaumont Street Market Place Gilesgate

Hexham Car Parking Study On-street parking survey: method Parking beat survey Half hour frequency Durations calculated Location of parking recorded Whether compliant or not

Hexham Car Parking Study On-street parking survey: key findings Total on-street occupancy

Hexham Car Parking Study On-street parking survey: key findings On-street duration - max 2hr (excluding Market Place)

Hexham Car Parking Study On-street parking survey: key findings On-street duration - max 1hr, Market Place

Hexham Car Parking Study Off-street parking occupancy Off-street occupancy

Hexham Car Parking Study Off-street parking: main findings Wentworth car park not fully used Poor lighting in Wentworth car park Loosing Hill car park attracts permit holders parking all day Poor walking routes between town centre and M&S car park

Hexham Car Parking Study Previous studies: recommendations Pedestrianisation of Market Place Traffic management proposals Relocating the bus station Shopper bus

Hexham Car Parking Study Key issues arising On-street parking demand exceeds supply Significant levels of non-compliant parking Unused space in Wentworth car park Loosing Hill car park attracts commuter parking On / off-street price differential is not sufficient to encourage greater off-street use Parking itself not a key barrier to visiting Hexham for shopping

Hexham Car Parking Study Recommendations

Hexham Car Parking Study Implementation strategy Improve Wentworth car park as first step Improve signing Remove all day parking from Loosing Hill Implement changes to restrictions on Beaumont Street