Rushmoor Borough Council says it is delighted that a major step forward has been taken to resolve car parking issues at Aldershot Health Centre.

NHS Property Services (NHSPS), which manages the car park, announced this week that it was ending its contract with Smart Parking, following a succession of complaints.

The current car parking system will remain in place for a maximum of 90 days, but in the meantime the NHSPS is looking to select a new car parking contractor and will invite patient, community and NHS representatives to help design a new parking system.

While the permanent new system is developed, NHSPS is looking into interim solutions for the car park that will cover the period between Smart Parking leaving and the new contractor starting.

Parking at the centre has caused problems for patients for a number of years and the council has been in dialogue with NHSPS about this regularly in an effort to find a solution.

Whilst discussions were already ongoing, a motion was presented to the council, which received cross party support, and was then discussed at the council’s Environment Policy and Review Panel on 20 March, at which councillors heard that there had been a significant increase in the number of complaints from people receiving unfair parking tickets.  

A representative from NHSPS told the panel that they were committed to working with the council and the North East Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group and that there were a number of issues with parking on site, including an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, which had not been working properly, picking up registration numbers of cars at the nearby traffic lights instead of at the car park entrance.

Councillor David Clifford, the Leader of Rushmoor Borough Council, said: “We have worked hard over the last few years to get a resolution to this issue, and are delighted that with the support of local doctors we have made this breakthrough. Our closer working with local doctors, health services and NHSPS is paying off in a number of key areas and all for the benefit of local residents.

“I would like to thank our MP Leo Docherty and his staff for working with us to resolve many unjust fines that were brought to our attention. This is a good example of us bringing everyone together to solve a difficult issue.”  

A new parking system will be in place at the health centre sometime during the autumn and the council has offered to support NHS Property Services in this regard.