An Angus councillor has taken to the streets to find out for himself the impact of parking charges on businesses in his town.
David Cheape, Independent member for Carnoustie and district, visited local traders at the weekend and urged them to take part in his survey on the issue.
He also laid down the gauntlet to his fellow elected members to do the same in their own wards to enable them to gather real evidence of the situation to take back to the council.
There has been growing anger and frustration from shop-keepers and members of the public against the charges, which were introduced on November 1.
Many paid-for car-parks remain relatively unused, with shoppers either shunning town centres or parking in side streets, and many traders have reported a drop in custom.
Councillor Cheape said there had been a lot of “emotive statements” but little “measurable facts”.
He said: “I am aware of the concern within the business community in Carnoustie and other towns in Angus of the impact of Angus Council levying car parking charges in a number of specific car parks.
“Despite not personally voting for the implemented basis of levying said charges, I feel it is my duty as a local councillor to gather feedback on the impact of these charges on local businesses.
“At the last meeting of full council in Forfar I stated we now needed some empirical evidence of the financial impact car parking charges are causing.”
Mr Cheape is asking businesses to provide him with a comparison of their turnover comparing that of November 2018 with the previous month and also comparing November 2018 with November 2017.
He said: “To protect business confidentiality, I do not require values in pounds but simply the percentage increase or decrease between the comparable months.
“I would suggest my fellow councillors in other Angus towns follow my example and do the same.”
Mr Cheape is encouraging local businesses to forward their responses to his email address at CllrCheape@angus.gov.uk
He added: “ I will ensure confidentiality of data provided and no specific data supplied will be forwarded or shared with anyone.
“Armed with this information, I can then approach the council with real evidence of the impact of the car parking charges.”
