Case Study III - Hillchurch Council Hillchurch Council is faced with the problem of how to cope with on-street parking problems and traffic congestion in the town centre. Originally, a bypass was approved for the town, but successive national governments have repeatedly delayed giving their support for the scheme, and at present the prospect of a bypass seems to have receded altogether. Recent improvements to the town centre have included the opening of a large superstore and the development of a high-class shopping precinct. In addition, a new college of further education has opened up to serve the local community. All of these factors have led to an increased demand for parking space, and this has only been achieved at the expense of on-street parking in neighbourhoods surrounding the town centre. Not only has this led to an increase in complaints from residents, but it has also substantially increased the risk of accidents on the roads and increased congestion in the town. Indeed, many of the streets that originally were available for parking have now had to be painted with double yellow lines to prevent parking and hence reduce the risk of serious accidents. There are no plans to build new car parks and there is no new space available for the building of car parks. At present there is one car park which can accommodate 50 vehicles and two which can accommodate 100 vehicles each. None of these sites is suitable for development as a multistorey car park. On market days (two days a week) and Saturdays the situation in the town is chaotic. Moreover, the situation is made much worse in the summer when travellers to a nearby seaside resort come through the town in their thousands. Hillchurch is a veritable bottleneck straddling main north–south and east–west routes. Furthermore, only one major road runs north to south through the town and only one runs east to west. The town’s sole traffic warden is hard pressed to keep up with the numerous complaints that are made daily but, despite requests made for additional wardens, the council feels that providing more wardens will do little to alleviate the dreadful problems that exist. The leader of the council feels that this is a problem that requires some creative insights and has approached a firm of management consultants to help with the problem. The consultants have indicated that they feel their expert on lateral thinking may be able to help with this particular problem and have assigned the task accordingly.

Question-Use story telling in order to get some insights in to the problem.