Luton Borough Council

10/07/2024 - Luton Council asks for views on its draft Parking Strategy

A consultation, launched today (10 July), is seeking feedback on the council’s draft Parking Strategy 2024 – 2030.

The consultation aims to ensure the right parking offer that meets the needs of residents and visitors to the town whilst helping reduce dependence on the private car, promote active and sustainable travel across the town, improve health and reduce air pollution, and supporting Luton’s business needs.

The council’s current parking strategy was adopted in 2013 and several measures have been already introduced including; ‘red routes’ around Luton town centre and on Airport Way, a trial of traffic exclusion zones around six local schools, and a scheme to seize and store illegally parked vehicles.

The new draft strategy has four key themes:

Developing the right parking offer to meet the needs of the town, whilst balancing the goals of the Luton 2040 vision to be a healthy, fair and sustainable town. This includes provision of adequate parking in new developments whilst encouraging developers to offer sustainable transport.
Promoting sustainable modes of transport including supporting the use of car clubs and lift sharing.
Prioritising the delivery of parking schemes that support road and community safety including the possibility of introducing further controlled parking in areas of high demand.
Preventing and reducing the volume of illegal parking through fair and robust enforcement which includes prioritising the protection of disabled parking bays to prevent blue badge misuse and reviewing and piloting new approaches to deploying enforcement resources in neighbourhoods.

Cllr Javed Hussain, portfolio holder responsible for Sustainable Development and Highways at Luton Council, said, “The aim of the draft Parking Strategy is to provide balanced and appropriate parking facilities that support the economic, environmental and accessibility requirements of the town.

“Luton has seen year-on-year car ownership growth over the last ten years and this creates an increasing demand for parking, both in residential, commercial and leisure areas. However, there are opportunities to reduce car travel for shorter journeys and we want to encourage more cycling, walking and the use of public or shared transport.

“Whether you live in Luton, are a visitor, or a business, we’d like to hear from you”.

To take part in our consultation visit the council's consultation portal. Paper copies are also available on request. A drop-in session will be held outside Pandora in the Mall on Thursday 18 July between 10am and 4pm, where people can ask council staff questions about the parking strategy and also complete the questionnaire.

Feedback will be reviewed and used to help shape the detail of the Parking Strategy. The council’s Executive will then consider whether to approve the Strategy later in the year.

Direct link to consultation.