University of Birmingham car parking

As a student (& former member of staff) with caring responsibilities I know how important it is to be able to park on campus after 9am. The University must act to improve this situation. At other universities sections of some car-parks are only accessible after certain times to enable those who arrive later and visitors to find a place to park.

I've been affected by the lack of parking, causing me to be late for lessons. As a such a big university, the inadequate car park provision is disappointing; not catering for the staff and students who have no choice but to drive into work

It's disgusting to be a member of staff and to have nowhere to park. Late to fitness sessions repeatedly Spoken to by my line manager repeatedly and also fined becase there is inadequate space.

It is a complete joke, I have to park a long way from work and then walk in

Those staff that work late, often have to park a distance from where they work which involves a walk in the dark later. Also, the sports centre car park is often empty, staff could park there with their permit, which is currently not the case.

The car parking situation is causing unnecessary stress. I cannot usually get to campus before 9.45am which last year gave me enough time to park and get to my lectures which start at 10am, however this year I might as well not come because there is nowhere to park. After driving to the top of the multi-storey and back down again (because there is nothing that indicates the car park is full!)-I drive along to Pritchatts Road car park which again is full (with plenty of empty research spaces, that we cannot park in, I have tried and got a ticket!). All of the residential roads are full and the other parking areas require special access. I do have a student parking permit (for what its worth). This lack of parking has cost me (parking tickets) and also made me late for lectures.

The car parking situation is ridiculous around the University. I come in a morning and have to drive around for 20 minuites looking for a space as all the car parks become full.I have started coming in earlier but this is resulting in me being stuck in additional traffic and the spaces are still gone. But what shocked me most was that the teaching staff at UOB dont have any parking spaces allocated and this is resulting in the lecturers arriving late. This is ludicrous, as I strongly believe that all teaching staff at the UOB shouldnt be late as a result of non parking. Other universities definitely priorities teaching staff due to very valid reasons and I dont understand why this isn't the case here. UOB with your high reputation and standards you should definitely address this issue and allocate the teaching staff designated spaces,as it is totally unprofessional of them arriving late due to no parking, whilst also increasing parking spaces for the rest of the university users.

I fully support this petition. I start work at 9.45am and due to the lack of parking spaces, I find myself having to come into work ridiculously early, just to increase my chances of sufficient parking. The only thing that has increased are my stress levels. The Multi storey is filled by 9.30, with the ground and first floor being taken up by construction vans. Having to park further away means the half a mile walking journey back after 6pm to my car (even more worrying, as it is now starting to get dark earlier) does not make me feel safe at all. Interesting timeline of events for all to read: 2 weeks ago, the Multi storey, Pritchatts Road, ERI building etc. were all filled. I'm late for work as I drove around for a good 20 minutes trying to find suitable parking. I go back into Pritchatts Road car park, pull up into the Research Park red bays to find my phone and inform my line manager that I am running late. Could not find my phone in my bag or car, so my panic rises. I look around and see many other cars who followed me in after, parking on grass verges, and infront of other cars. Thinking of the Terms of Conditions of parking, which states not to park on grass verges and obstruct other cars, I thought I would be safer leaving my car in the red bay, come to work and then in my lunch break go back to move it. Behold, I return in my lunch break to move my car and I've been given a ticket for £100 for not parking with a valid permit! UoB website states that fines are £60, £30 if paid within 14 days. Sadly, the ticket was not issued by a University Traffic Officer but UKPC. The Birmingham Research Park website does not state anything about parking in the Pritchatts Road Car Park, as they have their own. Again, nothing mentioned of the £100 fine... Yes, we've been told that car park spaces will be appearing but they are not immune to delays. Staff go through a lot of stresses and annoyances to find parking, and we haven't even begun working yet! UoB, w

Can be a bit of a pain. Need to pick children up from school and have to walk a very long way to get car. Have to leave work early and then come in at the weekend to catch up on missed work.

Also, there is the embarrassment we face when welcoming VIP visitors, many of whom are central to our REF 2021 Impact Case Studies.

The parking situation is a farce... I've seen a few near misses with people rushing around in their cars trying to find spaces just missing the jay walking students! The Uni is very good with talking about the "Wellbeing" of their staff, but defeats the object when you arrive at work already stressed out! Just another lip service exercise.

I have a long-standing illness that at times proves to be very debilitating. I am very thankful that the university had provided me with access to the car park, in this instance (Gisbert Kapp). The issue is that if I have a space and have to leave on work related projects the chances of finding a space when I return is zero, it has gotten to the stage where I have to give up and go home, how is that productive? We have a nice multi story carpark that some (bleep) decided to build without a lift which means walking up ten flights of stairs when you have a muscle related issue is not very funny. Great job UoB!! :-/

I use a combination of means to get to and from work including driving. The lack of spaces available directly opposes the University's ambition to be an inclusive place to work and allow ALL staff to flourish. More needs to be done to provide parking and this may include greater efforts to encourage alternative means of travel by provision of appropriate facilities for cyclists, walkers, runners etc. There is also a risk to the reputation of the University when external visitors are unable to access parking.

The car parking situation since the beginning of this academic year has become such as issue that I could spend over an hour driving around all the car parks and side streets within a mile of the University to find a space. Not only has the number of spaces been reduced by closing car parks but with all the building going means the fewer spaces left are filled by vans at 7am. What I would like to know is that if I am having to spend an hour extra every day and on some occasions I am late given there is quite literally not a single space available, meaning I have to return home and get the train in and miss meetings, will I be disciplined for this, as I did arrive on time, or an hour earlier than starting time, but was unable to actually get to work!

Resent all the contractors using the spaces and also parking on pavements and open spaces. Do they ever get parking fines? Campus is like white van city! Something needs to be done. It's a very stressful way to start your day worrying about being late for work. I pay £1 to swipe into campus and then not be able to park. The Uni have taken my £1 but cannot guarantee me a space? Then fine staff members for the privilege!

The rate that parking provision is being eroded is unserviceable. I am increasingly finding it necessary to have to leave the house earlier and earlier in order to guarantee some form of parking on or around campus. Which I pay for through the salary sacrifice/purple badge scheme. Last week I arrived on campus later than usual due to having to wait in for scheduled boiler maintenance, and then spent nearly 1.5 searching for parking. This was compounded massively by reaching the NE multistory car park only to find the lower two levels taken up by no fewer than 39 works vans of varying proportions. Its an utter shambles!

Happy staff make for a happy University. Go on, spoil us and build a nice big new car park :-)

Parking at the University is having an added detrimental effect on well being of University Staff. As a long standing member of support staff, I remember the days of pretty much free and easy parking, when you could pop out at lunchtime and easily find a parking place on return. I do have caring responsibilities though I am lucky enough at present that they do not have an impact on the start of my day. I have however changed my arrival time at work in recent years to accommodate the changes in car parking. NOTE my ARRIVAL time of 7-7.15 am.. not official START time of 8 am, has changed to ensure I can obtain a reasonable parking place. I do however start work on arrival and also work until allotted time dealing with work issues as I would fear being reported if seen to leave earlier. The university is winning in my case as I work over the contracted time. I really feel for the people with further caring responsibilities who have no other options and can't park after 8 or 8.30 on campus.

I have times when i am off site during the day visiting clinical placements and bring my car onto campus , returning to University from any visit is almost prohibitive as it will take so long to find a parking space, if there are any. I usually travel by public transport to work catching 2 trains, but to undertake these visits that can be in Birmingham or further afield- Burton on trent, worcester or as far as oswestry,will take most of the day. I have 2 choices, be efficient in travel and minimise travel time but not be able to get back to my office to work as there is no parking, or to be efficient in avoiding stress of having to look for parking and being unsure that i could actually park my car on return from a visit and use public transport and lose most of the day waiting for busses and trains. Neither is satisfactory as I end up with hours of work to do at home for the time lost during the day.

Parking is an absolute nightmare, they need to take into consideration people travel from certain areas and they need to accomodate people. Also there is no lift in the multi storey car park!