Car park 14 (decked)

Summary

In parallel with the Emily Wilding Davison Building, and to help offset the loss of car parking spaces created by it, the university delivered the expansion of car park 14 (into what we see today) following a full planning application (Ref: RU.15/0368, granted on 13 May 2015). By expanding car park 14 from circa 50 car park spaces to 172, it was possible to retain car parking numbers across the campus.

Plans to further expand car park 14, in the form of a multi-storey car park, were proposed in autumn 2019. At that time, the intention was to add further resilience to the overall parking provision across the campus. Early designs suggested that the scheme could deliver an increase of 324 spaces, enough to offset the reduction in the number of spaces which would be generated by the development of the Eastern Gateway Building and a reduction in size of the multi-storey car park at Piggery Gate. 

The global Covid-19 pandemic and the impact this had on teaching and learning programmes, combined with emerging proposals and ultimately permission to develop the Rusham Park student village, shaped a series of decisions taken by the university. These included halting the Eastern Gateway Building project and reassessing parking demand across the campus in the knowledge that the Rusham Park decked car park would be available for university use (confirmed during 2020). 

With the halting of the Eastern Gateway Building, the university was not facing a significant reduction in car parking numbers in the northern part of the campus. The decision was taken to halt the multi-storey car park 14 scheme. While detailed plans were prepared, the proposals were not submitted to the council for consideration.  

The university is committed to updating its travel plan and is required to prepare a Campus Car Parking Management Plan (CPMP) as part of its wider obligations linked to certain planning permissions granted by Runnymede Borough Council. The CPMP provides an opportunity for the university to consider ways in which it might manage car park 14 with a view to reducing the potential impact on nearby residential streets.