A new parking scheme is being proposed for East Brighton Park to prevent the park being used for long stay parking by commuters, residents and others.
The move by Brighton & Hove City Council follows concern about parked vehicles causing access problems, particularly for ambulances picking up patients from the air ambulance helicopter, which uses the park as a landing area for the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
Sports players, other park users, and visitors trying to reach the Brighton Caravan Club in adjoining Sheepcote Valley, have also expressed concern about the volume of traffic parking on an access road through the park.
Because there are currently no controls on parking, the road which runs through the park, serving the caravan site, East Brighton Café, Whitehawk Football Club and Brighton College is widely used by drivers who are not actually visiting the park, causing congestion and spoiling the appearance of the park.
At a meeting of the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee on January 14 councillors will be recommended to go ahead with consulting park users and other interested parties on implementing a controlled parking scheme to tackle the problems.
A report to the committee also includes details of proposed parking charges in the park to cover the cost of enforcing the scheme*. Charges will be kept to a minimum and any surplus will be ring-fenced to improvements in the park, which is off Wilson Avenue.
Councillor Pete West, chair of the committee, said: "We have had a lot of complaints about problems being caused by long stay parking in the park and we are particularly concerned about the risk of delays for ambulances needing to transfer seriously ill patients from the air ambulance.
“There are also access problems for visitors going to the caravan site, to the extent we are told it is deterring some people from returning to the site and going outside of Brighton & Hove for their next break.”
He added: “We want to tackle these problems and free up parking spaces for park users and, at this stage, the proposal being considered is seeking permission to consult on how a controlled parking scheme would be implemented. Feedback from this proposed consultation will be reported back to the committee together with any recommendations based on the outcome of the consultation.
"We have tried to keep the proposed parking charges low for genuine park users and the basic charge will be 50p for an hour's parking. This will pay for enforcing the scheme and any excess income generated will be ploughed back into improving the park."
* Proposed parking charges within East Brighton Park are as follows, charges would apply from 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 2pm to 6pm Saturday and Sunday. The maximum length of stay would be six hours:
Up to 1 hour 50p
Up to 2 hours £1
Up to 4 hours £2
Up to 6 hours £3
Disabled parking free
Read the reports for the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee The report about parking in East Brighton Park is agenda item number 74