19-042 Car Park Solution for Rother Valley Country Park

Rother Valley Country Park is in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham and is close to Rotherham's border with Sheffield and Derbyshire. The park covers 3 square kilometres and offers various recreational pursuits such as boating, canoeing, windsurfing, cycling, nature reserves, an animal farm, children's play areas and a miniature railway.

The park is very popular, with an annual visitor total in the region of 800,000. The number of vehicles admitted to the park each year is around 90,000. The current entrance barrier system is manually operated and payment is taken before vehicles are admitted to the park. This is slow, and can lead to build up of traffic waiting to enter at peak times, causing difficulties on the surrounding road network.

The Council wishes to replace the current system for admitting vehicles and taking payment with an automated one that is secure and reliable, that enables quick and easy entry to the park, and that allows vehicles to leave only when the appropriate fee has been paid. It must also offer a range of payment methods and include a flexible barrier arrangement that can be configured to suit different traffic flow rates and directions throughout the day. The system will be operated by the Council, to whom all payments will be passed immediately. The Council does not require an external operator to provide parking services or income recovery including penalty fines etc. The new barrier system will contribute to the improved financial performance of the park by reducing operating costs and maximising income from vehicle admissions. It will negate the need for a staffed station at the entry/exit point. It will improve the customer experience and address current problems of queueing traffic by increasing the rate at which vehicles can enter the park. It will allow the Council to be more flexible in the way it manages vehicle admissions, including: • configuring barrier operation to prioritise entry or exit depending on the time of day, • introduction of new variable tariffs, • accepting a wider range of payment methods including contactless, cash, card, payment app and pre-paid memberships • recognising and allowing selected vehicles (e.g. staff, deliveries) to pass freely • recognising and disallowing entry by banned vehicles.

The entire system must be in place and working not later than 1st April 2020 in preparation for the summer season.