A Dundee housing chief has condemned the city council over its response to frustrated homeowners who complained vans have been “dumped in their street.
Residents living on Broughty Ferry Road claimed hire vans belonging to Arnold Clark had been left parked outside their homes “continuously”.
The fed-up residents insist the row of parked vehicles made it difficult for visitors to find spaces.
They also claimed the vans blocked the view of the local bus stop, meaning bus drivers are unable to see waiting passengers and regularly drive past without stopping.
However, Dundee City Council confirmed, because there are no parking restrictions in place, the company is not breaking any rules and no action can be taken.
The vans have since been moved but Angus Housing Association director Bruce Forbes said Dundee City Council provided a response to residents which is “appalling in its complacency”.
Mr Forbes described Arnold Clark’s behaviour as a “flagrant abuse of on-street parking for commercial purposes”.
The housing director said: “This is by no means an issue restricted to Broughty Ferry Road.
“In all the estates that we own and manage, we are faced regularly with problems when our tenants are told that they have to take large commercial vehicles, that they use for work, home to park overnight. There is no doubt in my mind that the only reason for this is to save these companies the cost of having adequate overnight storage for their vehicles.
“I pass this way regularly and it is clear that this an open and flagrant abuse of on street parking for commercial purposes.”
Mr Forbes continued: “Surely, the council should be taking this matter up with the companies involved and making their clear displeasure known. I would also hope that there is something within the planning legislation that they could do to end this ridiculous flaunting of the rules because, to me, this practice is effectively a storage yard for commercial vehicles without planning consent.
“Even if the current rules are not being breached, a response which favours the residents, rather than commercial interests, of, for example, looking into the possibility of putting parking restrictions in place, would be more appropriate.
“Put in simpler terms, I doubt if such a weak-willed response would be made if this activity was going on right in front of the homes of the council’s chief planning officers.”
A spokesperson for Arnold Clark confirmed the vans have now been removed.
The spokesperson added: “Due to recent large scale hires there has unfortunately been some overflow of parking space however this has now been rectified.
“While we have capacity for our vehicles on site, there are plans in place to create additional space within the showroom area by the end of 2017. We hope this will improve our relationship with the local community as we move towards the end of the year.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “We have already contacted Arnold Clark about this issue.”
