An education in car park management Darlington College

After a competitive tender in 2006, car park management specialists CP Plus were awarded the contract to run the parking facilities on the campus for seven years.

Darlington College is one of the largest further education colleges in the North. In 2006, £35 million was invested in Darlington College’s regeneration. A new campus on Houghton Road included a purpose built 400 space car park, which is just one of many benefits enjoyed by staff and students at the College in County Durham.

Low parking charges were a high priority for the College, since parking had historically been free.

The aim of implementing charging at the campus was to pay for the management of the facility and provide safe and secure parking. A fee of 50p per day was implemented for staff, students and visitors. Another issue that CP Plus faced was the high demand for spaces, driven by the low cost and the high numbers using the site. Therefore a system needed to be implemented that would be able to manage this demand.

It was important that the College felt that it had control within the process of implementing charges. Together, the College and CP Plus came up with a way of keeping charges low by introducing a staged tariff over the seven year contract period.

Initially, the College consulted staff on their charging preferences. Executive Director of Finance and Resources Debbie Leigh explains: "We offered staff two options: a five-year agreement with higher initial charges or a seven-year agreement with lower charges in the early years. Unsurprisingly, the majority opted for the longer-term with the lower charges during the first years."

CP Plus has introduced a secure registration and pass system, to ensure that all those who park on site are legitimate users.

"We're pleased that we were able to come up with an arrangement that enabled the College to cover its costs, while keeping charges to a minimum," commented CP Plus' Paul Levene. "And we are delighted that the College had sufficient confidence in us to commit to a seven year contract."

Leigh credits CP Plus with the faultlessly smooth running of the Darlington College car park. She elaborates: "CP Plus was excellent at ironing out one or two teething problems we encountered in the initial days. They are good at keeping in regular communication with us, so we are able to discuss any potential issues and find joint solutions quickly. We find them easy to work with. CP Plus operators have also been very effective on site. From the first day, they've been showing people how to put their registration numbers into the machines and helping them find spaces. The service has been very good."