Students of Royal Holloway, University of London have now received PCNs for parking without a permit on campus. This started in January 2023 after months of 'free parking' with no consequences. When attempting to do research on the topic of 'permit parking' within the university, Google Maps indicates that this was non-existent in 2014 as there were no clear signs (please correct me if I'm wrong). You may have implemented this due to "environmental reasons" however if this is the case, do you find the surrounding environment to be more important than your students?

Many students find it unfair that after paying £9250+ to study here, those who come with cars to campus are unable to park them ON the campus itself unless they have a permit. Many of us who live and campus and those who don't, find it unfair that we have to pay extra money to be able to live comfortably with our vehicles. 

The closest parking that is available near campus is in a residential area where there is rarely any parking space available and where residents complain that they can't even park their own cars near their homes. We understand that it is recommended that students use taxi services and bus services to get around however, this is simply extra money and time wasted. There are many of us who prefer to use our cars instead of spending money on taxis and spending time on public transport. As well as this, to be able to buy affordable shopping, students have to travel to Tesco which can be a 30 minute walk without shopping and can turn into a 60 minute walk with shopping. Furthermore, there are students who love to go away to visit family every weekend or during the week when they have no lectures. I, personally, have to travel 3 hours and 30 minutes by car to visit my family and during the week, I have no place to keep my car as I live on campus.

It is obvious that there may not be enough parking for all students on campus, however, considering that the university made £201,103,000 in the year 2022, we're sure that they have a few extra pound to spend on extra parking around campus instead of enforcing PERMITS upon students who are already financially disadvantaged. 

It would be greatly appreciated if the university made some changes to parking regulations to make a more accessible campus for those with vehicles. This can include making parking bays/parking zones strictly for university staff, scrapping the permit scheme and making available parking on a first-come-first-serve basis like any other free parking zone around the country, creating affordable pay machines for students who wish to park on campus or creating more parking space around the campus.