Thames Chase Forest Centre has selected a solar-powered parking payment terminal to control car park usage and provide revenue to help improve facilities.
The Parkeon terminal enables the centre to collect a modest car park donation of just £1 a day from growing visitor numbers – revenue that has been used to support the Centre’s work and to surface and extend the existing car park.
The Centre, in Upminster, is the shop window for the Thames Chase Trust that works with local authorities and organisations to restore landscape and woodlands in the Thames Chase Community Forest, which covers 40 square miles of countryside on the London-Essex border.
Forest Centre Manager, Wendy Baker, commented: “Given the nature of our organisation, the ‘green’ credentials of the solar-powered Strada, along with it being 95% recyclable, were important factors in our selection process for a suitable parking terminal.
“Installation was very straight forward and the terminal is proving to be very efficient and easy to manage, which is key because the parking donation made by visitors is relatively modest. That said, the revenue is very important in helping us to maintain and improve the fabric of the facilities and in supporting our activities. When we made the changes to the car park, we also took the opportunity to re-organise the traffic flow as a one-way system, improving safety for pedestrians.”
Parkeon’s Anne Tinsley said that interest was growing among heritage sites and country parks in adopting parking technology aligned to their activities. “In the case of Thames Chase, the eco-benefits of solar power were a significant factor in choosing the terminal – and we were even able to supply it in a green colour to match the environment.”
