Appendix 2  

WOLSINGHAM  PARKING  SURVEY  

1.      The survey was organised by Durham County Council and carried out by a company which specialises in traffic and parking surveys.

2.      The survey covered the Market Place and the surrounding streets where on- street parking is permitted. Plan 1 shows the survey zones.

3.      The survey was carried out between 7.00 am and 7.00 pm on Friday 29 October 2004 and on Saturday 6 November 2004 . A survey was initially carried out on Saturday 30 October but was considered invalid because of unexpected building works in Barclays Bank. A Friday and a Saturday were chosen as these are the two busiest days, each with their own parking pattern.

4.      The survey involved enumerators recording the registration numbers of parked vehicles whilst patrolling the survey zones using a regular beat pattern. A 15 min. beat interval was used for the Market Place zones, ie. Zones 7 to 12, and a 30 min. interval for the surrounding zones. The shorter beat interval was used for the Market  Place zones to pick up as many as possible of the short stay parkers using the local facilities. Vehicles were split between cars, light goods and heavy goods.

5.      The capacities of each zone were established by a survey carried out jointly by Durham County Council and the Steering Group.

6.      Computer analysis was used to produce tables for each zone showing the detailed parking pattern over the survey period, ie. when vehicles arrived and when they departed, and also the number of vehicles parked and the number of spaces.

7.      Tables for each day for the combined Market Place zones  ( Zones 7 to 12 ) , for the combined surrounding zones ( Zones 1 to 6 + 13 ) and for each individual zone, can be inspected on request.  

Market Place  

8.      The tables confirm observed patterns. They show that on the Friday the minimum occupancy was at the start of the survey period ( 37% ) and the maximum at 2.15pm ( 100% ) The average occupancy over the 12 hour survey period was 72%. For 1/3 of the period the occupancy was 80% or more – the afternoon being busier than the morning.

9.      On the Saturday the minimum occupancy was at the start of the survey ( 39% ) and the maximum at 10.15am ( 91% ) The average occupancy was 70%. For 1/4 of the survey period the occupancy was 80% or more, mainly during the morning .

10. The most heavily used zones , in terms of % occupancy, were Zones 8 & 9, ie.the north and east sides of the Market Place followed by Zone 12, ie. In front of the Baptist Chapel. The least used zone was Zone 11, ie.in front of the Primitive Methodist Chapel. This is an area of unadopted land where residents parking predominates.Zone 10 is a bus lay-by where car parking is illegal. However, such is the demand for short stay parking that 21 vehicles parked on the Saturday for periods up to 1 hour 30 minutes.

11. The high demand for short stay parking is  demonstrated. On the Friday of the 504 vehicles parking, 277 ( 55% ) parked for 15 minutes. and 73 (15% ) for 30 minutes. On the Saturday, of the 428 vehicles parking, 252 (59% ) parked for 15 minutes. and 46 (11%) for 30 minutes.

12. The  number of long stay parkers is also highlighted. On the Friday, of the 504 vehicles parking, 55 ( 11% ) parked for more than 2 hours and of these 10 ( 2% ) parked for more than 6 hours.

13. Because of the way the survey was carried out, all times are + or – 15 minutes.                                            

Surrounding Streets  

14. The tables confirm observed patterns, with the effects of residents parking being much more pronounced. On the Friday, the effects of residents leaving for work, etc. can be seen, plus the introduction of  daytime visitors parking to use local facilities. On the Saturday, the effects of residents leaving is less pronounced with  consequently a more even spread of parked vehicles over the day.

15. The tables show that on the Friday, the maximum occupancy occurred at the start of the survey period ( 75% ) with the minimum at 1.30pm ( 48% ). The average occupancy over the survey period was 60%.

16. On the Saturday, the maximum occupancy was again at the start of the survey period ( 74% ) with the minimum at 3.0pm ( 58% ). The average occupancy over the survey was 68%.

17. On the Friday, the most heavily used zones, in terms of % occupancy, were Zones 4, 5 and 13, followed by Zones 1 and 3. Zone 2 was the least used.

18. On the Saturday, the most heavily used zones were Zones 4 and 5, followed by Zones 2, 6 and 13, followed by Zones 1 and 3.