More than 170,000 people have parked at Cottis Yard car park since opening in November 2023. Our purpose built, modern facility benefits from undercover parking and a convenient town-centre location. It has been awarded Park Mark status which is a national standard for UK car parks that have low crime and measures in place to ensure the safety of people and vehicles.
We acknowledge however that there have been some technical and operational challenges with the car park since opening which have led to concerns and frustrations being raised by members of the public.
We apologise for this and would like to provide an update on what we have done and will do to resolve these challenges:
Anti-social behaviour
We continue to work proactively with Essex Police in response to the small number of inconsiderate drivers at Cottis Yard car park involved in isolated antisocial behaviour incidents. Our CCTV cameras cover all areas of the car park and are operational 24/7, with footage shared with police to enable ongoing investigations and prosecution / seizure of vehicles.
Following discussion with local residents, we are installing speed humps and parking curbs on the top floor to reduce open space for people to generate the speed to spin the cars. These will be installed later this month. We welcome the productive relationship we have built with residents in the immediate area to resolving this issue.
Payment machines
We apologise for the recent issues experienced when trying to make payment at the payment machines within the car park. This has been caused by problems with the automatic number plate recognition system failing to register all vehicles.
We are installing new equipment within the car park so that we can remotely monitor the system and respond quickly to any issues.
We would like to assure the community that no penalty notices will be applied if they have been unable to make payment at one of the machines while the system was down.
Alternative payment is always available and can be made on arrival through the MiPermit app or by scanning the QR code on the payment information boards located within the car park.
Fire alarm activation
There have been several instances where customers smoking in the stairwells have activated the smoke alarm at Cottis Yard.
We are also working with the fire system operator to identify any other triggers which may be causing the alarm to be activated.
Lifts and EV chargers
As a safety measure, the lifts and EV chargers will not operate until reset manually following the sounding of the fire alarm. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.
Appearance
The car park is regularly cleaned to keep it looking its best.
Rubbish bins are located just outside the car park for those looking to dispose of their litter. We have also just installed a trolley bay so that users can conveniently and safely return shopping trolleys.
