Verge-Hardening Parking Solutions for Dacorum Borough Council
Dacorum Borough Council engaged Parking Perspectives to develop a strategic approach to dealing with requests for verge-hardening.
The council has been delegated the role of parking authority, and thus takes the lead on managing parking. It goes through Hertfordshire County Council to implement any physical changes.
The council regularly receives verge-hardening requests, and has allocated budget for 2024/25 to 2026/27. These requests need to be considered appropriately and consistently. They also need to prioritised to make the best use of the available budget, and in a way that supports wider policy objectives.
We developed a policy, decision-making toolkit and prioritisation process for this. It covers requests for verge-hardening on highway land or on open land owned by the council,
up to the point where a location is taken forward for a feasibility study.
The policy covered:
- Who can make a request, and how
- How officers will identify and evidence the problem and its underlying factors
- Checking that the request is within the scope of policy and budget
- In-principle assessment of site suitability
- Prioritisation
- Generating and updating the prioritised list of sites for feasibility study
- What happens next
- Potential alternatives to verge-hardening
- Re-submission if circumstances have changed
We used clear, easy-to-follow flowcharts to illustrate the processes
The council’s Cabinet approved the policy in October 2024.
Client: Dacorum Borough Council
June 2024
