the sands durham

Durham County Council Earn Park Access EV and Park Mark Plus Awards

The Sands Car Park has demonstrated the highest quality services in safety and accessibility in parking and EV charging

Managed by Durham Council, the Sands car park has received awards for both its security and its accessibility, the Park Mark Plus award and the Park Access EV award. The two awards highlight a great commitment to accessibility and safety in parking; the former is part of the Safer Parking Scheme (SPS), a Police Crime Prevention Initiative that has been successfully reducing crime in car parks for two decades and the latter is a new accreditation that aims to promote accessible and inclusive parking across the nation, with a specific focus on ensuring high standards of accessibility are met for electric vehicle charging.

Building on the well-regarded Safer Parking Scheme’s Park Mark award, Park Mark Plus recognises only the highest quality car parks. Park Mark is the accredited logo of the Safer Parking Scheme, which is given to parking facilities that have achieved the requirements of a risk assessment conducted by the Police and the British Parking Association. Their assessments include management and maintenance of the facility, checking that there are appropriate levels of surveillance, lighting, signage, and cleanliness. All these are known to reduce the opportunity for crime and thus create a safer environment for the motorist and their vehicle.

The award of Park Mark Plus demonstrates that a facility provides police-approved accredited parking and has reached the standards of Park Access and a range of environmental, structural, operational and customer service criteria. Facilities that have received this award have seen a drop in vehicle-related crime of over 80%.

Park Access EV is a newer accreditation that aims to become recognised throughout the whole of the UK for accessible and inclusive parking and electric vehicle charging facilities. Park Access EV enables everyone, regardless of their accessibility needs, to identify car parks and facilities, such as EV charge points, that they can use with ease.

The Sands car park is only the second parking facility in the UK to achieve the Park Access EV award, following in the footsteps of a location run by Cambridge Council.

Ryan Davey, BPA Senior Area Manager said: "The Sands car park is a very impressive multi-storey car park which has successfully met all the criteria for Park Mark Plus, including structural integrity, environment, design, management and operations, and customer experience. This means the car park is also accessible for all users and therefore achieves the standards for the Park Access EV award."

For more information visit https://www.britishparking.co.uk/Schemes

To find Park Access EV and Park Mark Plus awarded car parks visit www.parkmark.co.uk

Notes to editors

For more information please contact the BPA press office – email: media@britishparking.co.uk or visit our Newsroom.

  1. The BPA is a not-for-profit membership association. We collaborate with our members and stakeholders so they can support their local communities by providing the parking services they need and improving compliance with parking rules and regulations.
  2. Park Access® is jointly owned by the BPA and Disabled Motoring UK and will be managed and administered by the BPA. The BPA has successfully assessed and awarded parking facilities with its acclaimed accreditations for 20 years. These include the coveted Park Mark® award, part of the Safer Parking Scheme owned by Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Police CPI), as well as Park Mark Plus and Park Mark Freight.
  3. Disabled Motoring UK is a national membership charity fighting to improve personal mobility and access for all people with disabilities including drivers, passengers, Blue Badge holders, scooter, and wheelchair users. The charity represents disabled motorists across the whole of the United Kingdom and campaigns nationally on their behalf, acting as a platform to voice their concerns. It also works closely with other organisations to improve personal mobility and access to goods and services for people with disabilities.
  4. The Safer Parking 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. A Park Mark is awarded to each car park that achieves the challenging standards. The distinctive Park Mark signage helps drivers find car parks where they can confidently leave their vehicle, knowing the environment is safer.
  5. The BPA manages the Safer Parking Scheme on behalf of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives Ltd (Police-CPI) and with support from the Home Office and the Scottish Government. Nine Area Managers are employed by the BPA to actively promote and manage the scheme throughout the UK.
  6. Police Crime Prevention Initiatives Ltd owns the police element of the project. Police CPI works alongside Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland to deliver the police element of the Safer Bus Station Scheme.