A problem often faced by car park owners in the management of their land is out of hours abuse. It is not uncommon for car parks that shut overnight, such as retail car parks, to become a gathering spot for youths and other locals, against the wishes of the landowner and local community.
How is the Land Being Abused?
An out of hours car park can be an appealing place to congregate, as it provides a large open space for riding bikes and mopeds and, in the case of retail outlets, the crowd is sometimes even able to hook up to the Wi-Fi, which is not always switched off overnight. These factors mean that landowners nationwide are finding that their car parks are becoming hotspots for out of hours activity and abuse.
What Effect Does This Have on the Community?
Gatherings such as these can cause a lot of grief, not only for the landowner, but for the local residents as well. Groups such as these will often litter, make great deals of noise, consume alcohol and, in some cases, graffiti or cause damage to property.
Some local residents also cite the threatening nature of these groups. In a few cases, residents who have attempted to talk with the groups and make them aware of the disruption that they are causing have been sworn at, or even threatened. Because of this, some members of the local community, such as the elderly, can find these groups very intimidating.
In some very extreme cases, car parks have even been used as hotspots for more serious crime, such as drug dealings.
How Can Car Park Management Combat the Issue?
Combatting this inappropriate use of car park land can be a struggle. Many landowners have installed barriers in entrances and exits to stop cars being driven onto the premises outside of working hours, but this did not prevent entry on foot or via bike and so the problem would often persist.
How HX Car Park Management is Combatting the Issue
When your land is managed by HX Car Park Management, we make sure that your land is being used ethically and appropriately in every sense, including the abuse of your land outside of ours. HX Car Park Management uses its automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras more intuitively than most other car park management firms and, should an incident be reported on your land, we are able to pass this footage on to the police on request, such that the necessary action can be taken to prevent the inappropriate use of your land.
This is one of the many ways in which HX Car Park Management ensures that your land is managed effectively and that every aspect of your car park runs smoothly, freeing up your time to focus on more important things.
To find out more about how HX could effectively manage a car park on your land, call us today on 03330 066 316, or email sales@hx-pcn.com. Alternatively, you can find out more on our website.