Managing resident parking during the Commonwealth Games

The challenge

As Birmingham prepared to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the ‘Get Set for the Games’ campaign aimed to inform residents and businesses of the temporary residents' parking scheme to help maintain access for residents and prevent spectator parking during the games. Birmingham City Council needed a print partner that could deliver the initial information to residents and print and distribute the required parking permits.

The speed and accuracy of this was critical, with any delay having implications for residents and businesses in the affected areas.

The solution

Following the success of the time-sensitive critical communications for its Clean Air Zone, Birmingham City Council turned to their print management partner, CDS, to print and mail information to all eligible residents and businesses, informing them about how to apply for a Local Access Parking Permit.

CDS worked closely with the Birmingham City Council team to define the permits' requirements, which included assessing different options to prevent forgery and providing a flexible and no-fail approach.

It was agreed that CDS would give feedback on Birmingham City Council's data to ensure that multiple orders could not be made for the same residence and that only people living within the relevant postcode areas could order.

An initial print and mailing turnaround time of 3-5 days from receiving the data was set. However, this was reduced to the same-day turnaround as the launch of the games approached to ensure that residents would receive their permits in time.

The result

CDS was fundamental in enabling Birmingham to deliver the 2022 Commonwealth Games, printing and mailing 27,500 permits in 7,000 packs.

Birmingham City Council were delighted with CDS's time-sensitive, flexible, and no-fail approach to the work, allowing them to ensure the least disruption to residents, including those who were on hand to cheer marathon competitors as they passed their homes!