Park life Street scene Kelvin Reynolds offers some warm words for managing our urban roads ast month I was invited by the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) to join the panel at its annual place management conference, called Green High Streets 2050 A Climate Emergency. In June 2019, our government amended the Climate Change Act to include a commitment for the UK to be carbon neutral by 2050. There is no question that this means change for towns and cities in the way they are designed and used. The question is, can the town and city management industry rise to a tough challenge? Its one the parking community is fully engaged with. Parking is so often seen as part of the problem with town centres and high streets, but surely it is part of the solution? Today our car parks are becoming very energy efficient and newer buildings are delivering so-called blue and green infrastructure, such as solar power, living walls, water features and electric-vehicle (EV) charging hubs. We are investing in existing parking structures, too. Many of them can be repurposed to become transport and community hubs, or even energy plants. congestion and pollution, especially outside our schools and hospitals, as well making better use of our roads and kerbsides. The Traffic Management Act 2004 envisages and enables an integrated approach to traffic and parking management. In fact, it imposes a network management duty on local authorities. But, 16 years on, they are still waiting, unable to manage moving traffic. Successive governments since 2004 have found reasons not to enable these powers for local government. The coalition government reined in local governments ability to undertake their network management duty by limiting the use of camera technologies, declaring that councils were engaging in a war on the motorist. In truth, it was only non-compliant motorists who were the focus of enforcement. Millions of compliant motorists were going about their daily lives because parking was being effectively managed. Research reveals that three out of four motorists have never received a parking ticket. London has its own unique traffic laws that enable it to manage the streets comprehensively and more effectively. But what about everywhere else? Its all a bit disjointed. Red light Keeping moving Local authorities need to be provided with the full traffic management toolkit that will enable them to reduce We know about joined-up thinking and have developed award-winning and multiagency partnerships to bring about L Parking is so often seen as part of the problem with town centres and high streets, but surely it is part of the solution? 42 britishparking.co.uk PN Apr20 pp42-43 Kelvin.indd 42 24/03/2020 14:27