Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

No climbdown over “necessary evil” in Angus parking charges special summit

The specially-convened talks took place in Forfar
The specially-convened talks took place in Forfar

Parking protesters have received an assurance that Angus Council is looking at the controversial charges which are claimed to have had an instant negative impact on local town centres.

But at a showdown summit with authority figures in Forfar, they failed to extract an admission that the council had got it wrong with the imposition of off-street fees and were once again unequivocally told the “necessary evil” is here to stay.

In a specially-convened meeting in Forfar, council chief executive Margo Williamson and coalition leader David Fairweather led talks with business and community representatives, including Kirriemuir’s Barrie Ewart, who spearheaded the noisy mobile protest at the council’s HQ last week.

The parking charges protest at Angus House on Thursday.

The severe financial pressures facing the council –  £45 million of savings in the last three years and £36m more in the next three – were reiterated, along with the fact that the parking plan had been in a budget agreed by all council members.

Johanna Woodhead of Kirriemuir’s 88 Degrees fine food emporium told the meeting there had been a 50% reduction in trade during the first week.

Bruce Robertson of the Hardware Stores, Brechin, said his takings were down 20% and other local shop owners had reported similar falls.

Arbroath East and Letham Independent councillor Mr Fairweather challenged their views, saying he had spoken to businesses in Forfar and Arbroath who had noticed no impact.

The council hopes to generate £700,000 of full-year income from the charges, but if first week figures continue at the same rate it could be facing a six-figure shortfall.

Mr Fairweather said he believed it was “mind-boggling” to make an early conclusion on the total which would be generated, adding: “We believe it’s reasonable and we believe it’s achievable.”

He also confirmed officers had been tasked with examining how the system was operating.

“I wish everything could be 100% perfect, but it’s not a perfect world and we are challenging our officers to get the best outcome of a necessary evil,” he said.

Car parks across Angus have been deserted since the charges came into force on November 1

Kirriemuir garage owner Mr Ewart criticised the lack of consultation over the introduction of the charges and said he hoped the council would still admit it had “made a mistake”.

“There has to be come compromises which will help businesses and residents in the small towns in Angus,” he said.

“That compromise has to be cheaper residents’ parking and more free time at the beginning – there are going to have to be some concessions made.

We are going to the British High Street awards to hopefully pick up some kind of award for Kirriemuir and if we do it will be bittersweet for a town where businesses are closing down because of this,” he added.