University of Birmingham car parking

The new sports centre car-park stands 90% unutilised for community members while staff have nowhere to park with the recent car park closures. I can't imagine that the residents surrounding the university are very happy as traffic is pushed out to surrounding streets.

Car parking places are going down fast, for our safety and security i feel that places should be provided permanently

I cycle to work but it is clear that colleagues commuting in from outside Birmingham or from outside the region are struggling to find space. It often takes one colleague 40 minutes to find a space. This is clearly an inefficient use of time.

I was recently dismayed to witness someone carrying a child in a pushchair from the top floor of the North East car park. The lack of lift is debilitating to a wide range of drivers.

The University is by definition a gathering of skilled and intelligent people, who should be consulted before changes are made to their working conditiions

Those with caring responsibilities are often unable to get to work before 8:30am due to the caring provisions not being able early enough. They are then being further disadvantaged by the fact they are unlikely to be able to use public transport due to the schedule they have to keep to meet caring responsibilities. Parking issues are additionally having implications on employees health as it causes increased anxiety which aggravates existing mental health issues. Those with physical conditions which at times cause chronic pain and moving about difficult are again further disadvantaged. When able to park 10-15 minutes away these may not have been aggravated but with increasingly long walks and stair usage pain is also becoming more frequent.

it is impossible to park if you arrive after 9.30 am (say after completing the school run)

Commuting via Train or Bus for me is very difficult not living close to the University, thus, I travel In by Car. I am now leaving my house at 7am in order to park by 8.15am to ensure I have a parking space. I regularly need to visit employer sites during the day which results in not being able to find a parking space on return. Last week I spend 1 hour and 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. Additionally, I don't understand why staff with a purple parking permit are being told they have to pay and display in the Pritchatts Road car park when we are paying the University a monthly fee for our permits.

I do not think we should need to pay our employer to park at the place we are paid by that employer to work. An employer who really values its employees will provide the facilities that are needed for their staff to be able to arrive at work calmly and be able to do a good job and feel valued. Having to rush to ensure we arrive at work by 8am to able to find a parking space, even though we have childcare responsibilities, and then spending all morning worrying if we will find another space after we go to visit another site as part of our job, is not the best way to ensure staff feel valued and well looked after. I wonder if now is the time for the University to pay attention to the needs of their staff who keep the University prospering as well instead of only focussing on building lots of new buildings and being involved in lots of new developments.

Working parents with children to drop off at school are being further disadvantaged by the fact they have to park miles away from their place of work and so arrive stressed at the start of a busy day. It also makes 9am teaching sessions virtually impossible.

It is ridiculous that staff cannot find parking spaces at their own workplace!

Workmen take up the spaces early on a morningt eating their breakfasts

This is furthermore a direct impediment to equal opportunity for those with children who need to drop their children at school before coming to work. It is unacceptable that members of staff cannot park at work and furthermore unacceptable that those who have to drop their children at school should then find it nearly impossible to park.

Also I am very annoyed and do not understand why the University gym is not available/free for staff members who have joined the gym. I don't understand why we are penalised for being staff - there is already no car park on campus and we have to go off site to park - to further have problems after work with gym parking!! We pay the same as other gym members so it is not fair that we are not treated with equally - the payments are no different if you go through SS or not. Also you have the "Hills" car park which is generally empty all day but it is not available for all staff? I don't understand why this cant be available for the overflow!

The lack of parking brings Birmingham University into disrepute with local communities (where roads fill up with University parking) and with academic, education & business visitors to our campus who cannot park at University events.

This makes teaching in early morning hours very frustrating!

also I am concerned at the number of people able to drive two cars at once. I saw a couple get out of cars in multistory the he went and got bus , whilst she proudly told me she got a second permit for her husband who parks for a pound and goes to his employment at in city centre on bus from uni as its cheaper than parking in town !!!

The road safety issues connected with this car parking problem and the large number of heavy construction vehicles on and around the campus, are particularly concerning, (especially on Pritchatts Road) for both pedestrians and drivers.

If the University truly wants to be a public-facing, open and engaging institution it needs to provide the facilities required by it's visitors. One such need is parking. The current situation is untenable- working at the public-facing Barber Institute, I am witnessing the lack of parking having a direct detrimental effect on our ability to engage with the public and provide our learning and engagement programme. Workshop participants, those attending talks or concerts and also our volunteer guides and staff have all been affected. Yesterday, half of our Home Education workshop participants had to abandon the visit and go back home as there was nowhere to park. They were stressed and angry and we are now having to reimburse them. Whilst I travel to campus by train most days, I understand that there are many people who cannot travel here by public transport for a multitude of reasons. The University needs to increase parking provision but also address this holistically considering 'park and ride' schemes and working with local agencies to improve public transport to campus. If this isn't addressed it will continue to have a detrimental affect on everyone working and visiting the University.

More multi-storey car parking (with lifts) would be welcome. What about temporary car parks on disused sites?