Local authority news Updates from councils across the UK Croydon accelerates Climate Action Plan Park Active rocks Brighton and Hove City Council has recently launched three car parks with Park Active branding, enabling visitors to park, then walk, cycle or use public transport for the rest of their journey into the city centre. All of Brighton and Hoves Park Active car parks are situated near BTN BikeShare hubs should visitors wish to continue their journey by bike. Were delighted that the city council has signed up for Park Active, said Chris Wade, the BPAs Park Active business development manager. Using a Park Active car park and continuing your journey on foot or by bike can help contribute to a more sustainable city centre. To read more about the recent launch, see pages 14-16. Its not all about PCNs in Cornwall! One of Cornwall Councils civil enforcement officers had an unusual customer to look after on her patrol recently. Rebecca Clarke was in East Cornwall one Sunday in April when she got chatting to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue medics. While they were moving their vehicles to a safer location, Clarke was asked to keep an eye on the seal the medics were monitoring, called Spearmint. Spearmint was rescued as a small pup last year, and has now been released back into the wild. New manager at BCP Robert Pickernell is the new parking services manager at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council. He was previously assistant parking manager at BCP and at Poole Council. Croydon Council is making good progress towards a target set out in its Climate Action Plan to install at least 400 electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints by the end of 2022. Already, the council has 152 chargepoints live. The latest on-street tranche installed, operated and maintained by Liberty Charge includes 44 rapid chargepoints. It is a part of the government-funded Virgin Park and Charge scheme. Locations of on-street charging points were primarily driven by resident requests, supported by Liberty Charge data on factors such as density of EV ownership, site pavement widths and the technical elements of onstreet installation. The use of location data was useful, especially as, in many locations, it was backed up by several resident requests, giving us confidence that our location choices were sound, said Councillor Muhammad Ali, cabinet member for sustainable Croydon. Liberty Charges slim charging points were another important factor in our decision-making, as these were in line with our Public Realm Design Guidelines, ensuring that pavement use is not compromised. Department for Transport figures show that pure electric private car sales are strong in Croydon, with 1,987 EVs registered there at the end of Q3 2021 a year-on-year increase of 83 per cent. On 7 February, the council announced its Croydon Carbon Neutral Action plan, setting out strategies to reduce carbon emissions from activities within the borough. As well as supporting walking, cycling and emissions-based parking, it has committed to ramping up the number of EV chargepoints available to residents. Neil Isaacson, CEO of Liberty Charge (left) and Cllr Muhammad Ali Oxford to increase e-cargo bike fleet Oxfordshire County Council has secured 71,000 of funding to increase the number of electric cargo (e-cargo) bikes used to deliver goods across Oxford. The council was one of 14 local authorities to secure investment from the governments e-cargo bike fund. It will use the money to finance the ECObike (Electric Cargo Oxford) project, managed by local cargo bike courier service Pedal & Post. The ECObike project aims to increase the number of e-cargo bikes making deliveries in Oxford and encourage further uptake of the bikes among local businesses. Councillor Tim Bearder, cabinet member for highway management, said: By using e-cargo bikes, we can help to deliver on our commitment to reduce congestion in Oxford city, improve air quality and help businesses to reduce their carbon footprint by making their travel habits more sustainable. It will also mean they can travel within the pilot zero-emission zone which started on 28 February without charge. Meanwhile, residents and visitors in Oxford will be able to hire zero-emission e-scooters for a further eight months, after the trial scheme in the city was extended until November 2022. The trial began in February 2021. There are currently 656 trial Voi e-scooters for hire in the city, which have travelled more than 310,000 miles to date. These trips have saved approximately 130 tonnes of carbon emissions according to Voi estimates. Oxfordshire County Council has worked with Woodstock Town Council and local councillors to draw up parking proposals including a residents parking scheme, and pay and display bays following informal consultations in November 2019. The proposals are aimed at improving residents parking, increasing the turnover of parking for shoppers, encouraging more short journeys by foot, and increasing action against inconsiderate parkers. 12 britishparking.co.uk PN May 2022 pp12-13 LA News.indd 12 21/04/2022 11:16