In Brighton and Hove, using a car park is often preferable to parking on the street as many roads are reserved for resident permit holders only. Our car parks provide access to the town centre and help reduce traffic and congestion. Car parks also allow parking for longer periods and are accredited Park Mark.
The Park Mark scheme is a national standard for UK car parks that have low crime and measures in place to ensure the safety of people and vehicles. Each car park undergoes a rigorous assessment by specially trained police assessors and a Park Mark is awarded to each car park that achieves the challenging standards.
The Safer Parking Scheme is managed by the BPA on behalf of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives Ltd, a subsidiary of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).
Vehicle and vehicle related crime has been falling since its peak in the mid-1990s. The targeted approach that the Safer Parking Scheme employs ensures that incidents remain low to zero. Since the Scheme began, the proportion of vehicle crime occurring in public car parks has fallen compared with parking in other public spaces.
List of council car parks
The council operated five barrier entry car parks (The Lanes, Trafalgar Street, Regency Square, London Road, and Chapel Street) in the reporting period. We also operated five off-street surface car parks.
Table: Our car parks and their capacity
| Car Park | Spaces |
|---|---|
| The Lanes Car Park | 355 |
| Regency Square Car Park | 507 |
| Trafalgar Street Car Park | 275 |
| London Road Car Park | 528 |
| King Alfred Car Park | 120 |
| Norton Road Car Park | 290 |
| Blackrock Car Park | 61 |
| Rottingdean Marine Cliffs | 69 |
| Rottingdean WestStreet | 65 |
| Chapel Street | 81 |
Since the publication of this report Chapel Street Car Park has closed.
Equalities Impact Assessment
Following the removal of Pay and Display machines in Brighton and Hove (give a date for this), we decided that the off-street barrier car parks would continue to provide a pay on foot option for customers that prefer not to use Pay by Phone or PayPoint services for on-street parking. The Pay on Foot machines within the car parks continue to offer an option for on-site cash, card, and contactless payments.
Park Mark: creating a safe space
All the council’s barrier car parks are accredited with the Park Mark award.
In 2023 to 2024 we tackled anti-social behaviour when it arose in the council’s car parks through 24/7 CCTV monitoring, mobile security patrols, and Police Liaison.
Disabled Parking Accreditation
All the council’s barrier car parks have achieved Disabled Parking Accreditation (DPA). The scheme recognises off-street parking facilities which are accessible to disabled people. The DPA is primarily aimed at improving parking for disabled people and reducing abuse of disabled bays.
Car parks that achieve the DPA also demonstrate to their customers that they are committed to creating high quality parking facilities for disabled people, such as:
- easy access
- good lighting
- good signage
- accessible payment methods
- enforceable designated bays
Brighton & Hove City Council, Transport Control Centre
The City’s Transport Control Centre is a hub for traffic management and signals controls. Alongside this it provides customer service to pay-on-foot cars parks and 24/7 controls at all the barrier car parks.
Motorists in the car parks who require assistance can contact the Transport Control Centre via an intercom and Officers can operate the barriers and pay machines remotely. The Transport Control Centre is supported by a Mobile Maintenance Team and CCTV monitoring and work closely with Sussex Police and local contractors.
Season Pass Website
A season pass website has been created to streamline the purchasing of passes for the barriered car parks for customers. Monthly, quarterly and annual passes are available to give customers the most convenient way to pay. There is also the option to use a QR code to gain access to the car parks reducing the need for plastic passes.