Member perspective Team work Penham Excels Alan Wood reflects on the unexpected power of BPA membership was working for NCP Services (now NSL) in 2008 as a contract manager when I was first introduced to the BPA. It was at a BPA event at the House of Commons that changed my career in the most unexpected way. It was there I met former BPA president and director at Marston Holdings, Alan Clark: a man who would not only offer me a job but gave me the confidence and belief to push forward with my crazy ideas. He also showed me how the BPA family worked. As a result, I have been an active member ever since, and currently serve on the BPA Council. I Beyond parking During the past six years, I have been looking at the state of our vehicle community. If someone is of the mindset where they can run up numerous penalty charge notices without it bothering them, what else are they dodging? Our research has clearly demonstrated the direct links between a persistent evader of parking fines to other motoring offences, such as no tax, no valid MOT, no insurance, no keeper details with the DVLA, and vehicle cloning. We know that a percentage of these vehicles are linked to other community problems, including antisocial behaviour and criminal activity. The BPA has supported me on a mad journey that includes achieving a Parliamentary Roundtable in 2018 to joining working groups involved in improving roads policing and meetings with high-level government officials. I strongly believe none of this would be possible without the full support of the BPA membership team who are simply my heroes. Your BPA membership can provide whatever you want: a valuable source of information, regional and national networking opportunities, or access to government departments to champion a cause you are passionate about. I am proud to have played a small part in shaping the noticeprocessing qualifications, the new mentoring scheme and so many other great initiatives that have transformed our sector over the years. This has been true for many other members, from those involved in learning from the dreadful Liverpool car park fire in 2017, to those trying to change public perception of parking with initiatives such as the Positive Parking Agenda and Park Active. Our fight to obtain better powers to tackle persistent evaders and other forms of nuisance vehicles is ongoing but we are making progress. In the coming months, I expect to be able to show you how we are going to effect change that will benefit every town and city in this country. Parking is about to play a massive part in a multi-agency clean-up of our streets. Being part of the BPA is not what I expected, but boy, it has been fun so far! A meeting of the persistent evaders working group took place on 24 February and is now broadening its approach to include nuisance and non-compliant vehicles. The meeting comprised a variety of participants, including DVLA, DVSA, Highways England and TfL. For more information, please contact project lead Alison Tooze at alison.t@britishparking.co.uk The recent Parking Scotland Conference had a session on persistent evaders: see pages 18-20 and also bit.ly/PNApr21PS1 To find out more about making the most of your BPA membership, see bit.ly/PNApr21Gov or contact membership@britishparking.co.uk 40 britishparking.co.uk PN Apr 2021 pp40-41 Alan Wood.indd 40 24/03/2021 13:30