Western Daily Press (Saturday)
TIMELINE ...
FROM the archives of the Downs Committee, the Downs For People researchers say they have managed to piece together the rather ‘organic’ way in which parking developed both outside the front of the zoo, and across the road on the Downs.
1929 – Downs Committee agreed cars could park on the grass outside the zoo, unsupervised and without charge.
“Perhaps it thought there could be no objection to a few cars parked there during the busiest times,” said Ms Carter.
1958 – Use grew over those 30 years and then the car park was extended. The Downs Committee authorised an unpaid parking attendant to manage the parking there.
1959 – Downs Committee said the attendant could receive voluntary donations for his services. “Self-appointed attendants might well have been collecting tips for up to 30 years before that,” said Ms Carter.
1968 – Meanwhile, whenever there were busy days at the Zoo, an overflow car park was opened on the Downs, off Ladies Mile, just opposite the zoo. From 1968 to 1974, Bristol’s city council took it upon themselves to run that car park, not the Downs Committee, or the zoo.
1974 – Avon County Council took over the running of that temporary car park.
1978 – The system outside the zoo itself continued for 20 years until in 1978 the Downs Committee authorised Mr SW Barrett, of Westbury Lane to run the parking, which was still free at this point. He introduced his own tickets, which included the words ‘unpaid attendant’ on them, which let motorists know that the man who just helped them park for free wasn’t being paid for his services. “The Downs Committee must have realised this was a way of encouraging tips,” explained Ms Carter, “because the Downs Committee minutes explained ‘it is understood that the motorist is never asked to make a donation’,” she added.
1982 – The Downs Committee had begun to receive complaints that donations were being requested, and the solution was a simple one – to allow the attendant to charge for parking, ‘the amount to be agreed between the Committee, the attendant and the zoo’.
1983 – Bristol Zoo started to pay a licence fee for the car park at the front and became responsible for the car park. “They were expected to employ a parking attendant to issued fixed price tickets, but it is not clear that they did so,” said Ms Carter. “Arrangements remained fairly chaotic.”
Meanwhile, whenever the temporary car park across the road on the Downs was opened, it was Avon County Council that opened it, and from 1983, they contracted NCP to run it, collecting money from people.
1988 – Back outside the zoo, by 1988, the Downs Committee and Bristol Zoo agreed that there would be attendants wearing uniform there, parking stickers would be issued and cones used to control where cars parked.