Birmingham's Car Park Clampdown

Birmingham’s new car parking strategy will restrict private and temporary car parks, and could mean a 15% cut in the provision of public sector parking bays.

The strategy is part of a series of moves to cut road traffic. It sits alongside the plans for a Birmingham clean air charge and a workplace parking levy. As a result of economic growth, an estimated 1.2 million trips a day are expected by 2031 (with 140,000 extra daily trips in the city centre), and the council said these cannot feasibly be by car.

The plan would prevent any further off-street parking provision unless developers can show a gap in demand that is not being met. Permission for temporary car parks on vacant lots, or the renewal of permission for existing temporary car parks, will be refused unless “exceptional” reasons can be offered.

There are currently 70,000 parking spaces in the city centre, of which 37,000 are available for the public, and 23,000 are private workplace spaces.

Around 10,000 parking spaces a day are unused, of which about 7,500 are available for public use (most of them in off-street car parks). The document suggests that surplus sites will be sold off to make best use of the council’s car parking estate. However, a report to councillors said: “Parking loss figures cannot be quantified accurately at this time as they would be subject to individual scheme proposals.”

On the edge of the city centre, large new off-street private car parking should be made available for public use.

A consultation on the policy is now underway.

The new policy replaces the Birmingham Parking Policy from 2010, and the car parking supplementary planning guidance of 2012.