Park life

Three delivery offices in London and Kent are to benefit from the installation of hydraulic parking platforms, as Royal Mail trials the system to free up Fleet parking spaces.

The trials, which are due to be carried out throughout the summer, will see platforms installed in the North London, Southwark and Canterbury delivery offices.

Property and facilities solutions designer, Ken Hunt, said: ‘A number of delivery offices rent off-site parking. It’s expensive, and they aren’t always close to the delivery office. The trial will determine if the Klaus hydraulic parking system meets operational needs.’

The platforms, which have a 20-year life cycle, allow delivery vehicles to be stacked one on top of another – each vehicle is mounted onto the platform which is then raised. The vehicles can only be loaded and unloaded on the ground.

Planning permission has now been cleared on all three sites and health and safety assessments are being carried out before work can begin.

Canterbury delivery office manager Paul Skitch, whose depot is due to have four extra parking bays built, says the platforms will not only be useful, but cost effective.

‘I’d never seen them before, but I’m impressed,’ he said. ‘We currently pay Canterbury City Council around £600 a year for parking permits, so they will pay for themselves.’

Postman and workplace coach Tim Baylis added: ‘Since this office has merged with a couple of other offices, parking has been a real problem, so this certainly makes sense. Obviously having the vans here is the most important thing, so this will make sure those can be parked here at all times.’