London Borough of Wandsworth is Overall Winner at British Parking Awards
9 March 2007
For more details, visit
A Wandsworth Council initiative to clamp down on blue badge fraud has won the Equita Overall Winners Award at the 2007 British Parking Awards.
The awardto Wandsworth’s Permit Fraud team was announced by broadcaster Adrian Chiles, who hosted the sixth annual British Parking Awards in London. The Match of the Day 2 and former The Apprentice and Working Lunchpresenter entertained a packed house of nearly five hundred parking professionals over lunch at the Dorchester Hotel
The London Borough, which also won the Effective On-street Parking Management Award sponsored by The Enforcers magazine, has carried out over 400 successful prosecutions against blue badge cheats (fraudulent users of badges intended to help disabled drivers park as close as possible to their destination). Their campaign against people using stolen and forged badges is keenly studied by many other councils.
“The blue badge team have displayed plenty of original thinking,”was the view of the judging panel. “They have worked with local retailers and bailiffs using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) to identify fraudsters. They have even won over the local press who now know that parking teams are not the bad guys!”
The British Parking Awards, organised by Parking Review magazine and Landor Conferences, sponsored by Equita and supported by the British Parking Association, were created to reward well designed parking facilities and operators. This year’s competition attracted a record number of entries from local councils, consultants, car park operators, architects and developers, while the ceremony itself was a sell-out event for the second year running.
“The extremely high quality of this year’s entries made the selection of winners harder than ever,” says Parking Review managing editor Mark Moran, who chaired the judging panel. “Despite extra seating being made available this time, the lunch itself was again sold out several weeks in advance, which means we might have to find a bigger venue next year!”
A 735-space multi-storey car park built at Musgrove Park hospital for Taunton’s NHS Trust has won the award for Best New Car Park. The Cedars car park, constructed by Netherlands-based Q-Park under a 25-year public-private partnership, features cedar wood panels combined with natural stone and even a light sculpture.
The Somerset car park, described by the judges as ‘the best looking building at the hospital’, has already won a European Standard Parking Award for its creators, but with the Best New Car Park trophy now holds the highest accolade in British parking.
The hotly contested Parking Person of the Year award,sponsored by Jobs-in-Transport.com, was won by Anjna Patel of Sandwell Council. Over the past year Anjna, “a one woman dynamo”. has made a massive impression on her colleagues in Sandwell, on councillors, on the motoring public and the wider parking industry. She is a passionate believer in leading by example. The judges think she is worth watching.
Other awards included:
Best Refurbishment Award - sponsored by APT Ski Data
Won by Queen Street car park, Bedford. Submitted by Makers Parking and Bedford Borough Council, this town centre car park has been given a clean, bright look inside and a fresh new face. It features systems that detect and fight concrete decay.
(The judges also commended Parrock Street, Gravesend and NCP St Albans)
Judges’ Special Award
Won by Belgrade Plaza in Coventry. Was it a refurbishment or a new build? Whatever it was, the end result is a feat of engineering skill. Taking an award-winning car park and doubling it in size was an epic undertaking. The new decks and circulation pattern have been seamlessly grafted on to the original structure.
Effective On-street Parking Management Award - sponsored by The Enforcers magazine
Won by London Borough of Wandsworth Permit Fraud Team.
(Last year’s winners, Cambridge City Council and Legion Parking Services were highly commended for their entry. The judges also commended London Borough of Southwark and its partners, APCOA.)
Effective Management of Off-street Parking Award - sponsored by Park Mark, the Safer Parking Scheme initiative of the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Won by Meadowhall, Sheffield. One expects shopping centres to get things like parking right, but Meadowhall really does go that extra mile to ensure that it has the right number of spaces in the right place. And shoppers are confident that their cars are secure in well patrolled and well looked after surroundings.
(The judges also commended both Hampshire finalists, Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth and West Quay, Southampton)
Parking Team of the Year
Won by Westminster Council’s Parking Services. Westminster listened to its critics among residents, businesses and visitors. A root and branch reform of parking practices has seen it abolish the offence of meter feeding and only use clamping and removals when necessary. It has also introduced cashless street parking.
(The judges also commended Q-Park Glasgow).
Joined-up Thinking: The Innovation Award
Won by Partnerships in Parking. Six central London boroughs – Camden, City of London, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Westminster and Transport for London have joined together to test out various makes of payment machines. This scheme will create a more consistent payment experience across London.
(The judges also commended Ring Go Integrated Phone Parking, Makers Parking, the Borough of Poole and St Helens Council with APCOA).
The Outstanding Achievement Award– sponsored by Parking Review
Won by Islington Council and the Mouchel Parkman team who make up Parking Services.
Every year there is a person or organisation whose achievements span more than one award category. This year, the winner of the Parking Review Outstanding Achievement Awards is Islington Parking Services for their exceptionally high standards in the quality of public consultation and project management. In particular the judges saluted Islington’s commitment to developing careers. This was witnessed in the shortlisting for ’Parking Person of the Year’ of three Islington parking professionals Sylvie Glossop, Jean Farrowand Keely Woods. Sylvie, Jean and Keely were each invited to the stage to accept an individual trophy.
Exceptional Customer Service Award
Won by BAA SPARK Awards. BAA has over 95,000 parking spaces at 33 car parks across seven airports. The SPARKs awards encourage improvements. Every month awards are made to staff and teams who make a difference in the opinion of BAA customers.
(The judges also commended Central Parking and Swansea park-and-ride).
The Training Award (new this year) – sponsored by Alpha Parking
Won by NCP’s training programme. NCP’s Insightful Leadership Programme covers not just the company’s board directors but over 300 managers and 100 team leaders. It has sought to help them better lead, manage and nurture the company’s 6,000 staff. NCP now has Investors in People Champion status. This will see it act as a beacon for wider industry.
(APCOA, Leeds City Council and Meadowhall were also commended by the judges).
For more details, visit
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Media EnquiriesCatherine Dekker
Entry EnquiriesClare Leonard
0845 270 7865
Notes for editors:
Launched in 1989, Parking Review is written for public and private sector parking managers, enforcement contractors, car park designers and builders, highway planners, police forces, transport consultants, parking system suppliers and specialists. The monthly journal now has 6,000 readers and includes a quarterly magazine supplement ‘The Enforcers’. Visit
Landor Conferences has been developing and running seminars, conferences, exhibitions and awards ceremonies since 1995 and is probably best known for its annual London Rail Conference, now in its eighth year. The company currently organises about 30 one and two day events a year, attracting from 50-500 delegates. Forthcoming events include Film Piracy (24 May) and Transport Modelling Forum (20 June). Visit
Equita Limited is a leading provider of collection and enforcement services to local authorities operating decriminalised parking. Based in Northampton, Equita offers a nationwide service through its infrastructure of local offices in London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. Visit