Aberdeenshire Council will look into scrapping controversial town centre parking charges in Inverurie – but “overworked” officials have been told not to rush it as leading figures claim the move has “been a success”.
A petition of more than 1,400 signatures from disgruntled locals and traders went before memebers of the Garioch area committee today.
Inverurie Business Improvement District (Bid) boss Derek Ritchie attended the talks, pleading for the fees to be lifted.
He told elected members the Garioch town was being “singled out”, as the only in Aberdeenshire without free parking at a council-owned car park.
Mr Ritchie also stated that since his team began monitoring the Burn Lane Car Park, it has seen a drop in users of around 75% after the changes were brought in.
Why is Inverurie fighting back against free parking changes?
Opponents say that, following the decision to slash free parking in the town centre, the Burn Lane car park has lain deserted.
Mr Ritchie told the meeting his team has been monitoring the area since the changes came in, and he says it has sat at only “a quarter full” each day.
There are fears of the impact this could have on the north-east town centre bucking the national trend with “buzzing” occupancy levels.
The move also led to the nearby Garioch Shopping Centre car park bursting at the seams, with shoppers and staff taking up any free spaces they could find.
This parking chaos led to Inverurie Bid sending the 1,400-strong petition to the council – pleading for the change to be binned.
Almost all of the responses slammed the decision to remove the free parking – with many saying it has deterred them from coming into the town.
How has Inverurie been affected by free parking row?
During the meeting, Mr Ritchie was quizzed by councillor Moray Grant over the town’s footfall figures since the 116 free spaces were axed.
The Bid boss said that footfall has thus far “held off” despite the contentious changes – but his main concern lies with town centre workers.
He told councillors: “One of the top concerns is having somewhere for workers in the town centre to park all day long.
“In this day and age, I don’t think we can expect people who are on minimum wage or living wage to be paying £32 a week to park in the town centre to go to their work.
“That really isn’t feasible.”
Mr Ritchie also called the decision “morally wrong”, and sternly pointed out to councillors that “constituents have told you, you’ve made the wrong decision”.
Inverurie free parking cuts ‘have been a success’ according to councillor
Tory councillor David Keating was sceptical about the doom and gloom surrounding the controversial changes.
The Inverurie member added: “This council is in serious financial straits, and needs money for all the things it does.
“The overall data for our vibrant town is the footfall is holding up.”
And on the pleas from those at the likes of the Garioch Shopping Centre, he put the blame at the feet of the owners for not stamping down on car park congestion.
Mr Keating added: “It’s not for the council to fix that, it’s for the owner of the car park to enforce the rules.”
He continued: “I appreciate what people have said… but the decision we took in February has been met and the footfall is holding up, and it is still quite early days.
“This report does not need to be written quickly.”
‘Parking changes have been detrimental to locals and traders’
Councillor Neil Bailey was quick to highlight how there is a lack of concrete figures over what people used the Burn Lane Car Park for.
Mr Bailey stated: “There’s been a lot of discussion about this car park – but there is a lot of ambiguity on the data.
“What I really want to see is the figures and data to back it up,” he continued, highlighting how it was unclear how many people used the car park just to head out to Aberdeen.
But the Inverurie councillor did agree that the change has been “detrimental” to locals and traders.
Back to the drawing board a ‘positive sign’ for Bid boss
In the end, it came down to one deciding vote – with councillors narrowly agreeing to come back with a report on what can be done to sort out the parking mess.
Speaking outside after the meeting, Mr Ritchie was optimistic that the close vote showed there has been a “shift in the council’s viewpoint”.
“Maybe we’ve got the message across, I don’t know, it’s hard to tell,” he told The Press and Journal.
“They’ve asked for a report for recommendation. I think that’s got to be a positive. It’s a sign they’re actually listening.”
Kim Curson, owner of Gallery I at the Garioch Shopping Centre, also took the result as a step forward – but was less enthused about some councillors’ comments.
In relation to Mr Keatings statement about private car parks, she stated: “I think it’s just shifting the problem.
“What they don’t appreciate is the reason it is difficult to park there (Garioch Shopping Centre) is because the spaces are now being taken up by workers.”
Mr Ritchie added: “The car park setup worked well before, but it only doesn’t work now because of a decision they made.”
What happens next in Inverurie free parking row?
Council chiefs will go back to the drawing board and come up with a number of options to end the free parking row.
But a timeline hasn’t been put on when this could be – as local authority bosses stressed that officers are under a heavy workload as it is.
Mr Ritchie said a compromise could be on the cards, allowing for workers to park within the town centre without paying.
You can view the full papers here.
Read more:
- Claims parking charges are ‘forcing shoppers to abandon Inverurie M&S for Westhill’ as 1,400 plead for fees to be dropped
- Former council boss laments broken promises as Inverurie’s old HQ is torn down and Town Hall revamp plan lingers on the shelf
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