BABERGH District Council has published further findings from its survey into the future of public car parks. The council sought the opinions of four sets of interested parties: residents (via a questionnaire in Babergh Focus), town and parish councils, local businesses and business organisations and other interested bodies, including Suffolk County Council and the police.

BABERGH District Council has published further findings from its survey into the future of public car parks.

The council sought the opinions of four sets of interested parties: residents (via a questionnaire in Babergh Focus), town and parish councils, local businesses and business organisations and other interested bodies, including Suffolk County Council and the police.

Because of the sheer number of statistics Babergh hopes to publish the full results on its website in the near future. However the key findings include:

l 62 per cent of respondents used the car parks for shopping, just 7pc for work

l 70pc of usage was for lengths of stay between one and two hours

l 35pc sometimes found difficulties in finding a space, although overall parking capacity is considered satisfactory

l More than 70pc of respondents felt the standard of cleanliness, landscaping, signage, access, location and circulation were either good or average

l There was a surprising lack of awareness of the CCTV cameras in Babergh's car parks

l Nearly 50pc wanted emergency contact points

l Nearly 70pc were unaware of the level of spending on Babergh's car parks

l 80pc were happy for the service to be funded through the council tax

l If charges were ever introduced, the most popular level of charging would be 20p/hour for short stay and £2/day for long stay

"With well over 4000 respondees, I believe that these findings have real value," commented Ryan Jones, head of technical services. "What is so pleasing is that in general terms, Babergh is getting it right. There are of course areas for further improvement and the task group will now be focussing on drawing up an action plan to address these and other issues."

The action plan will reflect the full range of service delivery options open to Babergh, in light of the survey results. It is due for completion later in the year.