Purpose

This report presents the Car Park Signage Plan for Thanet, developed following an independent review by Ethos. The plan establishes a district-wide strategy to replace limited, inconsistent directional signage with a coherent three-tier hierarchy (strategic, arterial, and local routes), introduces spatial zoning (Seafront, Town Centre, and Harbour zones) with revised, intuitive car park naming conventions, and identifies locations for static and Variable Message Signs (VMS) across the district.

Decision

Cabinet agreed the following recommendations:

1. That the Car Park Signage Plan be adopted and that the officers engage councillors in change of car park names prior to implementation.

Reasons for the decision

Adoption and implementation of the plan will provide clear, consistent directional signage for residents, visitors, and businesses across Thanet. This will reduce circulating traffic, ease congestion, prevent overspill parking on residential streets, support town centre regeneration, and improve the overall arrival experience for visitors to the district.

Alternative options considered

Cabinet considered the alternative option of not adopting and implementing the Car Park Signage Plan. This was rejected because maintaining the status quo would fail to resolve existing directional inconsistencies, would not address visitor frustration or town centre congestion, and would offer no strategic improvements for the district.