A private parking company that has faced criticism for its running of a Perth car park has hit back at local MP Pete Wishart, claiming comments he made were “reckless, unsubstantiated and incorrect”.
Smart Parking has written to the politician following a verbal spat between them over the past few weeks.
In the letter, which has been seen by The Courier, Smart Parking claim Mr Wishart has passed on 18 complaints from motorists but state that there has been in excess of 154,000 people who have used the Kinnoull Street car park since February.
The company state the vehicle registration identification system used at Kinnoull Street is “industry standard” and that they abide by the British Parking Association Code of Conduct.
They also take issue with Mr Wishart claiming he was told many motorists will not be coming back due to the experience at their car park.
“There has been a 34% increase in the number of people paying for their parking and there has been an increase month on month of the number of motorists using the facility since the new installation,” the letter states.
“Therefore, there has been no decline in the number of motorists using the car park, suggesting that the vast majority of people have no problem paying for parking.”
The letter also addresses Mr Wishart’s invitation to Smart Parking to attend a meeting at Westminster and reveals that Smart Parking would actually like to meet the SNP politician at their headquarters.
In the letter to Mr Wishart, Smart Parking says: “You have publicly stated that we should ‘stop playing games’ over the location of a meeting. Smart Parking is in no way playing games and if you are serious about resolving this matter, can only address specific issues via access to our IT systems.
“This obviously can’t be done at the House of Commons or at your Perth office.In light of this, we would once again like to renew our invitation for you to visit our head office in Birmingham.
“We note that you are nearing the end of your seven-week break, so would be happy to host you during the upcoming three-week conference break if you wish.”
Mr Wishart said he was only interested in Smart Parking addressing the complaints and issues raised by his constituents.
“These issues really need to be addressed and the best place to do that is in the House of Commons,” he told The Courier.
“It looks like there’s parliamentary activity regarding a Ten Minute Rule Bill to present the many unsatisfactory issues about private parking operators.”