Shoppers visiting some of Fife’s town centres in search of a bargain over the festive period have been spared the added pain of Sunday car parking charges — although they are coming.
The controversial introduction of Sunday parking was approved by Fife councillors earlier this year, although they agreed to start the charges from 1pm following several objections from churches who feared all day charging would disadvantage their congregations.
It had been suggested the introduction of charging on a Sunday in the run-up to Christmas might affect footfall, but the new charging regime will not be in place before the New Year.
Signs have now gone up in Kirkcaldy, St Andrews and Dunfermline confirming that parking charges will apply on Sundays between 1pm and 5pm/6pm at all of the council’s charged car parks and charged on-street parking places from Sunday January 8 onward.
The exact tariffs and times will be displayed at each of the local authority’s pay and display machines in the week commencing Monday January 2.
Councillor Lesley Laird, Fife Council’s depute leader, had previously defended the move, saying: “With Sunday trading now commonplace, demand for parking within our town centres on Sundays is generally like any other day of the week and we need to find ways to manage the demand.
“With the ongoing significant budget challenges facing all local authorities, we are one of the few councils that hadn’t already introduced parking charges on Sundays and as a council we signed up for this when we approved our budget decisions back in February.
“Parking charges in Fife compare very favourably with neighbouring authorities and in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy, the private car park operators associated with the shopping centres already charge all day on Sundays.”
The Reverend Mary Ann Rennie, who is minister at the historic Dunfermline Abbey Church, had predicted that charging on a Sunday morning would cost each member of her congregation £100 per year — although she was delighted at the partial climbdown earlier this year.
Metered parking places in Dunfermline to be affected by Sunday charging include East Port North, Canmore Street South, Canmore Street North, Bruce Street East, Maygate North, St Catherine’s Wynd East, St Catherine’s Wynd West, Abbot Street South, Bridge Street South and Chalmers Street East.
In Kirkcaldy, Hunter Street East, Hunter Street North West, High Street West, Whytescauseway South and two parking areas at Whytescauseway North will be affected.
And in St Andrews, Sunday charging is proposed at Greyfriars Garden West, Greyfriars Garden East, North Street, Market Street North, Market Street South, Bell Street West, St Mary’s Place South, Queens Gardens, and at two locations in South Street.
