View from the regions Out and about Parking News hears from some more regional and country groups who met up at the end of last year South East Regional group: John Strachan, chair Our meeting in October 2022 was my first one as group chair. I was elected in autumn 2021, after the previous chair, Bob Spicer, stepped down. Before that, I had been a member of the Kent regional parking managers group, and we met in tandem with the BPA South East group session. All of this was disrupted during the pandemic and we are only now getting back into the swing of things. Our October meeting was virtual, which I understand bucked a trend nationally to move back towards face-to-face meetings. While it is always good to meet in-person, the travel and time spent out of the office make face-to-face meetings more difficult. There is also the carbon footprint to consider, because our meetings draw people from three counties and beyond. The meeting really showcased the work the BPA does in terms of lobbying the government, championing best practice, supporting the development of a National Parking Platform and seeking the views of members on what they want to see in the future. There was also a very informative group chat on electric vehicle charging points where experiences of procurement were discussed. BPA President Jade Neville was able to drop in and speak about recruitment challenges and support for frontline officers. 34 Recent experiences and project successes were shared by attendees, including a discussion about CCTV camera enforcement of school keep clear restrictions. There was a presentation on how a cashless parking open market could operate in the UK, comparing this to how it works in parts of Europe. The advantage of these meetings is to keep up to date with recent developments, share good practice, learn from others experiences, bring consistency across the profession and guide the BPA on future work and projects. We hope to have our next meeting in the spring and I would urge anyone in the South East working in the private sector and local government to attend and participate. South East Area covered: Kent, East Sussex and Surrey No of members: 76 Date established: 2006 To get involved and find out more, please contact the membership team at membership@britishparking.co.uk