Pay and Dismay

Out of the tragedy and widespread destruction of the bombing of Hull in the Second World War came a unique opportunity for a blank canvas for reconstruction and growth. 

The Plan for Kingston Upon Hull published in 1945 was a far reaching and ambitious document bolstered by the status of the two main contributors, Edwin Lutyens and Patrick Abercrombie. 

One of the many considerations was to reduce the unnecessary loss of life amongst the population from road traffic accidents. 

The inter war figures for fatalities and injuries were disturbingly high on the main City routes of Anlaby Road, Beverley Road, Holderness Road and Springbank. 

It was acknowledged that vehicle movements were necessary for a thriving City and volumes were projected to increase significantly in the Post War Era but what measures could be pioneered to reduce conflict between traffic and pedestrians? 

In Parliament there were debates that the parking of vehicles on busy streets should be prohibited and that adequate space off the highways should be provided. The establishing of a Statutory Parking Authority was discussed but never materialised as a stand alone Central Government Department, rather being devolved to the Local Authorities under their normal traffic management responsibilities. 

Private car ownership was still very rare but there was already talk about either restricting access or alternatively to provide sufficient car parking to keep the streets clear and safer. 

The problem with surface car parks was that they took up a lot of land. A study calculated that some 300 square feet or just under 28 square metres was required for a single car. This covered all of the manouevres for entering and negotiating the car park as well as the actual parking bay itself. 

The Kingston Upon Hull Plan had addressed this issue and advocated the use of modern technology. 

This was under the Baldwin Auger Mechanical Car Park System, an all British invention. 

The system worked as follows. A car arriving at the car park was driven up onto a ramp and on to circulatory steel grates. The Baldwin System had two parallel moving tracks with transveyors at ether end powered by a pair of 12 Horsepower motors. The driver would leave the vehicle which was locked onto the grate and take a ticket. A single Attendant would then send the car on the moveable floor section to any position in the car park leaving the entrance ramp clear for the next and subsequent arrivals. The cars were packed closely together both end to end and side to side in a solid mass but with no risk of collision or damage. 

In this way the space required for a single car was dramatically reduced to around 130 square feet (12m2) so in effect a reduction of more than half when compared to a conventional manual surface car park. 

Although the setting up costs were higher for this type of system the doubling of capacity and lower operational costs made it attractive in financial terms to both private developers and Local Authorities. 

When the occupants of the parked car had finished their city centre visit the presentation of the ticket and payment of up to three old pence per hour enabled the Attendant to recall the vehicle within 3 to 5 minutes. 

It would arrive smoothly and under electro selective gear power to the ultimate convenience of the user. 

The Baldwin system was demonstrated in a limited format in the Post War Era and was favourably received. The high price of land and its limited availability in London in particular was the ideal market for this type technology but actual schemes did not come to fruition. 

To a large extent our current Cities and towns have been shaped by the influence of the motor car and are so much poorer in terms of environment and layout for the failure of Planners and influencers to deal decisively with traffic and parking issues. 

It had been an opportunity for Hull to be a pioneer in this sphere of urban development but other pressures and initiatives took priority as the city and its population sought to recover from the devastation of the 1939-45 conflict.