Brunel car park, Slough gets a new look
Slough Borough Council has teamed up with ICI paints, Thames Valley Probation Area, Thames Valley Police, Central Parking System and Slough Accord to give Brunel car park a face lift.
The work to repaint the ceilings of two floors white started last October and was completed this April to give the car park a brighter, cleaner and safer feel.
The painting has been carried out by Slough offenders sentenced to unpaid work, who carry out community orders to pay something back to Slough for the crimes they have committed.
Groups of up to eight offenders have been on site several times a week to carry out the painting with materials donated by ICI.
The teams were closely supervised by officers from the Thames Valley probation service and the project used more than 1500 litres of paint.
Paul Lawrence, ICI trade specifier account manager for ICI Paints is pleased with the finished result.
He said: “As a major local employer, ICI Paints is pleased to have supported this initiative which is an important part of the Thames Valley Police crime reduction programme. The final appearance of the car park ceilings is one that the whole team from the Thames Valley Probation Service can be proud of.”
The project was initiated by Slough Borough Council’s community safety project officer, Kam Bhatti and Thames Valley Police Inspector Jon Goosey, to reduce fear of crime and encourage more drivers to use the town centre car park.
Kam Hothi, Slough Borough Council’s acting parking enforcement manager, has also been on hand with the project.
She said: “This project has been a great success and we would very much like to be able to extend it to other council owned car parks.
“Hatfield is currently undergoing major work to improve the parking environment which will encourage more customers to use our car parks.”
Inspector Goosey added: “Reducing vehicle crime is one of our top priorities in Slough, and while there has been very little car crime occurring in the Brunel car park over the last year, there was a significant fear of crime associated with this location.
“By making these improvements we are hopefully reducing this fear and encouraging people to use this car park again.”
The project has proved logistically challenging for Slough council as sections of the car park had to be closed to allow the painting to take place.
This was handled very well with the help of Debbie Mabbs, contracts manager from Central Parking System and her team, along with Slough Accord, who donated barriers and cones to provide a safe working area.
To find out more about other crime reduction or community safety projects, or about any of the partners involved in this project, please contact the community safety team on 01753 875501.
Slough Borough Council