30 Sep 2023
Why have SADC staff been given extra spaces at Harpenden’s Amenbury Lane car park?
The Harpenden Society has contacted the St Albans Times to see if we can obtain answers after receiving a number of complaints from car park users.
It seems spaces at the car park – which is adjacent to the Eric Morecambe Centre and Harpenden leisure centre – have been taken out of public use and reserved for staff.
A society spokesperson said: “Parking in Harpenden town centre is a serious problem, and the Amenbury Lane facility, whilst shared with the leisure centre and the EMC, is a critical asset. The removal of 27 spaces by St Albans district council will inevitably have an impact on the town’s retail sector, and sends a message to the town centre’s workforce that the council has given preference to a limited number of its service providers.
To add insult to injury, these reserved spaces are positioned immediately inside the car park entrance.
“It is also annoying to see that so far, only around a third of these spaces have been in use over the last few days, so approximately 18 spaces are being denied to local residents and visitors to the town.
“Surely there are less obvious ways of giving the staff access to the car park if it is a contractual obligation – windscreen stickers come to mind. And quite candidly, if there are no spaces available at the time leisure centre and EMC staff members arrive, then they should have to face the parking problem just like other shop and office workers in the town, and park in surrounding streets.
“To the society, it would appear to a SADC political own goal…..and an insult to town centre businesses.”
Robin Ray, SADC assistant director (regulatory and compliance) for said: “We have a longstanding, contractual agreement to provide car parking at Harpenden Leisure Centre to staff employed by our contractor Everyone Active.
“This is because many of their staff live too far away to consider active travel while public transport is made difficult by 6am starts and 10pm finishes.
“Car parking is therefore an important consideration when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff.
“We agreed after discussions to set aside 30 spaces at Harpenden, that is around 70% of the number of staff who are on duty at any one time.
“This is below the figure requested by Everyone Active, but it is the equivalent of the UK average of workers who commute by car.
“We have set aside spaces for the staff and will monitor their use. We will reduce the number if they are underutilised.
“The spaces chosen are the least attractive to leisure centre members who are the main users of the Amenbury Lane car park.”
