An Angus business group has demanded the immediate removal of district-wide parking charges after the authority’s longest-serving councillor branded the controversial off-street scheme “a major mistake”.
Kirriemuir garage owner Barrie Ewart made the call after scrutiny and audit committee members considered a damning report on the return of meters to more than 30 car parks in the county.
Mr Ewart, who led the handover of a petition shortly after the charges were re-introduced, said: “Kirriemuir and Local Business Association (KALBA) have been telling Angus Council this was a major mistake since the introduction of parking charges on November 1 last year.
“They have danced around the obvious blunder and have failed to take action to reverse the situation. They should not need an audit committee to tell them where things went wrong and should have admitted their mistake within weeks of inception.”
He said a catalogue of bad decisions in the past year had established Angus as a place where small businesses face a struggle against council policies.
“Angus Council have wasted enough precious resources flogging this dead horse,” he added.
“They say their decisions are underpinned with responsibility and accountability. The time has come to admit the mistake and remove parking charges immediately.”
Scrutiny committee convener and Arbroath SNP councillor Alex King said yesterday it was time the authority “admitted” it had failed.
He said other councils were raking in big sums from on-street charges, a move which was previously ruled out as part of the Angus re-introduction.
Full-year financial data for the scheme is not due to be released until mid-January but critics fear it will paint a disappointing financial picture.
Initial estimates of £700,000 full-year income have been revised downwards – the first five months brought in £111,000 against a £300,000 half-year projection – and the review group noted one elected member who challenged the financial forecasts had been assured they were realistic.
Free festive season Saturday parking has been introduced in an attempt to provide a shot in the arm for town centre retailers.
Council chief executive Margo Williamson told the scrutiny committee, which met on Tuesday, that the review findings had shown lessons had to be learned by elected members and officials.
The cross-party panel suggested there had been evidence of a disconnect between councillors and officers and a lack of transparency over operational aspects of the set-up.
Among a string of recommendations, it has called for councillors’ knowledge of their communities to be given greater credence when “big decisions” are to be taken.
