Increasing Aberdeen City Council parking permit fees to £200 a year would be a “tone deaf” move, a Tory councillor has argued.
At a meeting today, councillors will consider officer’s recommendations to approve major parking charge rises across the Granite City from spring next year.
If the proposals get the green light at the council meeting today, on-street and off-street parking fees could go up by 10% from April 1, 2023, and then by 5% each following year for four years.
And from the same date, the costs of annual residential parking permits could also go up significantly.
The cost for some areas of the city centre could go up from the current £60 a year per permit, all the way up to £200.
And that £200 cost would also go up by 5% each of the subsequent years for four years.
Different price increases for residential parking permits have been proposed for different parts of Aberdeen where parking zones are in force.
Ryan Houghton, group leader for the Conservatives on Aberdeen City Council, said his party will not be supporting the recommendations, and argued “no sensible councillors” should either.
But the SNP’s Alex McLellan, convener of the local authority’s finance committee, said “this is the first step in ensuring there are fewer vehicles within our city centre.”
Plans to increase Aberdeen City Council parking permits dubbed ‘tone deaf’ by Tory
Mr Houghton said the proposals as they currently stand are too high, especially given the current context of the cost of living crisis.
He said: “Nothing could be more tone deaf than putting charges up for the privilege of parking your own car.
“At a time when pressures caused by inflation and increased energy bills are squeezing everyone’s finances, this is the last thing they needed.
“It shows how out of touch the SNP/Lib Dems are that they think this is the right time to consider increases.
“No sensible councillor should support these increases”.
Why have Aberdeen City Council officers recommended the parking permit increase?
In their report for councillors, officers for the local authority say that the current pricing structures, of £60 a year for a first residential permit and £140 for a second one, “have been in place for a number of years”.
“These annual charges are now considerably lower than other city local authorities,” according to the officers behind the report.
The document says that in the city centre zones, where residents could soon be paying £200 a year for their single permit, there is “the highest demand for turnover for kerbside space, and the greatest opportunity for mass transport alternatives”.
If councillors vote to approve the changes today, the officer’s report says it could result in an “increase in uptake of active or mass transport travel alternatives”.
Top SNP councillor says ‘increases will be challenging’
“We appreciate that these increases will be challenging, but we want out city centre to be a destination,” said Mr McLellan.
He continued: “The council papers outline a number of plans to affect positive change in our city centre.
“There needs to be a move away from the city centre being a through-route or place accessed by domestic car, and this is the first step in ensuring there are fewer vehicles within our city centre.”
