A veteran businessman has branded a north-east council “out of touch” after it revealed it was considering abolishing free parking in town centres.
Aberdeenshire Council is considering reviewing its parking policy at more than a dozen car parks in towns including Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Turriff, Ellon, Inverurie and Banchory.
Currently, people are entitled to free parking for between 30 minutes and an hour.
But under the proposals, outlined in a report by infrastructure director Stephen Archer, council bosses want to scrap the offer – despite acknowledging it has helped draw people into town centres once again.
The controversial proposals, which will save the authority about £160,000, have sparked an outcry from local businesses in these towns and now a well-known architect has joined the opposition.
William Lippe, whose architect business has been a fixture of Inverurie for more than 30 years, said: “I couldn’t believe what I was reading, I was just flabbergasted.
“Any of the retailers in the town will be of the same opinion, it just shows how remote and out of touch the council is from the real business world.
“They’re talking about saving £160,000 and in relation to their overall budget that’s nothing.
“They need to invest in town centres, encourage development and help retailers. The last thing they should be doing is discouraging people from stopping there.
“I’m on the edge of the town but a lot of my clients are in the centre and will be affected.
“They are one of only two authorities in Scotland which has increased the number of staff, some of whom have six figure salaries, I think that’s another area that Mr Archer could look at.
Mr Archer said the proposals were made to help plug a budget deficit.
He said: “While the introduction of the free tariffs has resulted in an increase in use, it has also had a significant impact on revenue.
“Before the revised tariffs, income from car parking charges was £100,000 to £200,000 greater than all of the expenditure on car parks.
“That situation changed to one where the position was reversed. The current projected budget position for 2017/18 is that there will be a £160,000 deficit.”
