City car parks receive ‘People’ Parking’ accreditation

Fourteen of the city’s car parks have been awarded People’s Parking accreditation – a scheme which aims to improve parking for customers by enabling them to find a car park which specifically meets their needs. People’s Parking highlights to customers which car parks have facilities for disabled people, parents with children, people who drive electric vehicles and those who drive commercial vehicles/camper vans or drive from wheelchair accessible vehicles. You can search online via www.peoplesparking.org and see which car parks have the facilities you need. People’s Parking also aims to drive up standards in the parking industry as all car parks will need to demonstrate that they have good signage and pedestrian routes, are well lit, clean and actively managed. The council applied for the accreditation and fourteen car parks will display a People’s Parking accreditation sign. Helen Dolphin MBE who launched the People’s Parking scheme at the beginning of the year said: “Portsmouth is the first local authority that I have presented with their accreditation and I hope other local authorities will follow suit. Our accreditation takes into account many factors including how clean the car park is, how good the pedestrian access is and how well managed it is. We’re also looking to expand the scheme in the future to include cycle parking and pay by phone facilities.” Alan Cufley Director for Transport, Environment and Business Support at Portsmouth City Council said: “We’re pleased to receive this accreditation across fourteen of our car parks – it’s recognition of how well managed and accessible they are. We’re looking to expand the number of accredited car parks and we’d encourage other local authorities to follow our lead and obtain this valuable accreditation.”