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Wanderers chief executive Neil Hart believes new car parking measures put in place at the University of Bolton Stadium have stopped matchdays becoming a “free-for-all”.
The introduction of automatic number plate recognition cameras, run by Parking Eye, to oversee access to car parks was initially met with a mixed reaction from Bolton supporters.
The system allows fans to pay for parking online – before or after the event – or via machines located around the stadium and is part of a move by the club towards a cashless operation.
The scheme has not been without its problems. An investigation has been launched by Bolton Council into claims there has been a breach of planning consent, with some aspects of the application now being handled retrospectively.
The shift has also caused consternation among supporters, some of whom have struggled to adjust to the new practices.
Hart says progress is being made on that front, and that many of the issues experienced in the first few weeks were down to a lack of familiarity.
The CEO saw similar push-back from fans when he introduced a membership scheme part-way through last season in response to rising cases of anti-social behaviour inside the ground.
He hopes the new parking system will become routine for those bringing their vehicle to the game. “I think it is improving already,” he told The Bolton News. “We go back to the membership scheme and I said at the time it was the best thing the club had ever done. We now have a database of 34,000 individuals, clean and current data, the biggest that the club has ever had. That has been a success and now the process is part of the furniture which will be here for many, many years.
“I see parking being the same. Our parking operations last season, and in previous years, were a shambles. It was a free-for-all. We had to tighten up, put other processes in place.
“We have had to be a bit savvy, commercially, but we have not put the prices up, let’s be absolutely clear on that. They have stayed the same. And we have put in a technology system to make sure that if you park here, you pay.
“We signposted it, communicated it, and we have been very generous with supporters. We did the Huddersfield and Wycombe game as a freebie – although we didn’t tell people that – and there were no fixed notice penalties issued after those games to let it settle and bed in. Now we are seeing a proper process and a professional operation.”
Hart says he would welcome correspondence from supporters on any problems they have encountered with the parking changes, and some fines which were issued early in the season have already been quashed.
All money paid on a matchday goes to Wanderers, whilst Parking Eye make a profit from those cases which result in a fine.
Hart is keen to iron out any issues to make sure those cases are few and far between.
“I have met with various supporter groups, I work closely with the Supporters’ Trust and filter information through them, I met with the Burnden Aces website a few weeks ago, and Chris (Mann) had some good questions which had been raised by people on his platform,” he said.
“I would actively encourage supporters who may have a problem to write to the club, via the reception or customer services, all the parking stuff comes directly to me. I have responded to 20 or 30 people – which is how many have come to me – and talked to people who came into the club reception. I will engage with people, explain why we have done what we have done.”
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Hart admits the launch of the new parking scheme hit an early bump in the road for the first home game of the season which, for some, has left a negative lasting impression.
“We didn’t help ourselves, and I’ll be really honest about this, when at the first game against Wycombe we had a couple of staffing issues on the car park,” he said.
“A number of individuals got into the car park who shouldn’t have been in there. They didn’t have the right passes and that filled it up so that other people who did have a pass could not access the cark park.
“We have apologised to those people and put them into Car Park B and C and we have tightened up operations, made it clearer what is expected, and we have not had any issues since.
“We had one machine which went down on a matchday, which was unfortunate. But the message from the stewards was to go and pay at one of the other machines, or when you go home. There are other options and it isn’t down to a machine working or not working on the day.
“Where there have been issues – and there have been some – we have dealt with Parking Eye directly and rescinded those fines, worked with people. “But ultimately, if you come here and want to park, you pay for it just as you would anywhere else. “You get a first hour free, so if you are nipping into the shop or the ticket office that is fine, no problem, people still have to do that.
“If you are a guest of the hotel or the club then you come in and register the number plate at reception and park for free.
“But if you are a supporter, or a customer of an event at the hotel, you have to pay for your parking. It is as simple as that. And we feel the prices are reasonable.”
Wanderers have factored in parking charges for cup games into season tickets for the Lower Concourse but have also come under pressure from disabled supporters who feel the introduction of the Fanzone in August has pushed their own parking spaces further away.
Some also view the number of disabled parking bays which have now been reserved as excessive – but Hart believes the club has now struck the right balance.
“I think we need a bit of context here because, as a club, we should feel quite lucky to have the parking we have at the stadium,” he said.
“There are not many grounds around the country which has this amount of parking on-site, maybe only Wembley? “There are many places around the country where you don’t have it, and it becomes chaos on a matchday.
“There is plenty to go around. But in terms of the Lower Concourse, we now have the Fanzone – which the supporters wanted – and that was the best place for it to go. It has displaced around 100 bays where we originally parked directors, directors’ guests, players and staff. They have now moved into the Lower Concourse.
“We have then extended the Lower Concourse into the top corner of Car Park C, put a couple of hundred disabled bays down there, and between the current Lower Concourse and that overspill there are plenty of spaces for everyone, including disabled badge holders.
“I have had lots of supporters contact me – and I have given them the very same explanation. And those I speak to tend to say ‘oh, OK, I get it. No problem.’ “Again, if anyone wants to write in, you’ll get a response. We are very much in the business of engaging with people and having these discussions.”
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Wanderers chief executive Neil Hart believes new car parking measures put in place at the University of Bolton Stadium have stopped matchdays becoming a “free-for-all”.
The introduction of automatic number plate recognition cameras, run by Parking Eye, to oversee access to car parks was initially met with a mixed reaction from Bolton supporters.
The system allows fans to pay for parking online – before or after the event – or via machines located around the stadium and is part of a move by the club towards a cashless operation.
The scheme has not been without its problems. An investigation has been launched by Bolton Council into claims there has been a breach of planning consent, with some aspects of the application now being handled retrospectively.
The shift has also caused consternation among supporters, some of whom have struggled to adjust to the new practices.
Hart says progress is being made on that front, and that many of the issues experienced in the first few weeks were down to a lack of familiarity.
The CEO saw similar push-back from fans when he introduced a membership scheme part-way through last season in response to rising cases of anti-social behaviour inside the ground.
He hopes the new parking system will become routine for those bringing their vehicle to the game. “I think it is improving already,” he told The Bolton News. “We go back to the membership scheme and I said at the time it was the best thing the club had ever done. We now have a database of 34,000 individuals, clean and current data, the biggest that the club has ever had. That has been a success and now the process is part of the furniture which will be here for many, many years.
“I see parking being the same. Our parking operations last season, and in previous years, were a shambles. It was a free-for-all. We had to tighten up, put other processes in place.
“We have had to be a bit savvy, commercially, but we have not put the prices up, let’s be absolutely clear on that. They have stayed the same. And we have put in a technology system to make sure that if you park here, you pay.
“We signposted it, communicated it, and we have been very generous with supporters. We did the Huddersfield and Wycombe game as a freebie – although we didn’t tell people that – and there were no fixed notice penalties issued after those games to let it settle and bed in. Now we are seeing a proper process and a professional operation.”
Hart says he would welcome correspondence from supporters on any problems they have encountered with the parking changes, and some fines which were issued early in the season have already been quashed.
All money paid on a matchday goes to Wanderers, whilst Parking Eye make a profit from those cases which result in a fine.
Hart is keen to iron out any issues to make sure those cases are few and far between.
“I have met with various supporter groups, I work closely with the Supporters’ Trust and filter information through them, I met with the Burnden Aces website a few weeks ago, and Chris (Mann) had some good questions which had been raised by people on his platform,” he said.
“I would actively encourage supporters who may have a problem to write to the club, via the reception or customer services, all the parking stuff comes directly to me. I have responded to 20 or 30 people – which is how many have come to me – and talked to people who came into the club reception. I will engage with people, explain why we have done what we have done.”
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Hart admits the launch of the new parking scheme hit an early bump in the road for the first home game of the season which, for some, has left a negative lasting impression.
“We didn’t help ourselves, and I’ll be really honest about this, when at the first game against Wycombe we had a couple of staffing issues on the car park,” he said.
“A number of individuals got into the car park who shouldn’t have been in there. They didn’t have the right passes and that filled it up so that other people who did have a pass could not access the cark park.
“We have apologised to those people and put them into Car Park B and C and we have tightened up operations, made it clearer what is expected, and we have not had any issues since.
“We had one machine which went down on a matchday, which was unfortunate. But the message from the stewards was to go and pay at one of the other machines, or when you go home. There are other options and it isn’t down to a machine working or not working on the day.
“Where there have been issues – and there have been some – we have dealt with Parking Eye directly and rescinded those fines, worked with people. “But ultimately, if you come here and want to park, you pay for it just as you would anywhere else. “You get a first hour free, so if you are nipping into the shop or the ticket office that is fine, no problem, people still have to do that.
“If you are a guest of the hotel or the club then you come in and register the number plate at reception and park for free.
“But if you are a supporter, or a customer of an event at the hotel, you have to pay for your parking. It is as simple as that. And we feel the prices are reasonable.”
Wanderers have factored in parking charges for cup games into season tickets for the Lower Concourse but have also come under pressure from disabled supporters who feel the introduction of the Fanzone in August has pushed their own parking spaces further away.
Some also view the number of disabled parking bays which have now been reserved as excessive – but Hart believes the club has now struck the right balance.
“I think we need a bit of context here because, as a club, we should feel quite lucky to have the parking we have at the stadium,” he said.
“There are not many grounds around the country which has this amount of parking on-site, maybe only Wembley? “There are many places around the country where you don’t have it, and it becomes chaos on a matchday.
“There is plenty to go around. But in terms of the Lower Concourse, we now have the Fanzone – which the supporters wanted – and that was the best place for it to go. It has displaced around 100 bays where we originally parked directors, directors’ guests, players and staff. They have now moved into the Lower Concourse.
“We have then extended the Lower Concourse into the top corner of Car Park C, put a couple of hundred disabled bays down there, and between the current Lower Concourse and that overspill there are plenty of spaces for everyone, including disabled badge holders.
“I have had lots of supporters contact me – and I have given them the very same explanation. And those I speak to tend to say ‘oh, OK, I get it. No problem.’ “Again, if anyone wants to write in, you’ll get a response. We are very much in the business of engaging with people and having these discussions.”
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