A parking company have claimed they have received a “positive” reaction from the Perth public after revealing they had taken over the running of a car park in the city.
Horizon Parking, who operate around 1,200 parking sites across the UK, are now leasing the site in Mill Street next to Marks and Spencer after the previous agreement with the controversial Smart Parking firm ran out earlier this week.
Bernie Dickson, managing director for Horizon Parking, confirmed that they will install two new pay and display machines which will accept coin, card, contactless and phone payment methods, which he hopes will lead to fewer motorists receiving fines.
“The lease Smart Parking had on the site ended this week and we are at the moment installing new equipment,” he said.
“We will not be operating the site in the same way that Smart Parking did with cameras linked to pay stations. This meant customers had to enter their vehicle registration details into the machine and had to be careful they did not make an error in typing in the registration, or indeed make sure they did not miscalculate how long they had been on site as either of these things could lead to the issue of a £100 PCN (parking ticket) despite them having paid for parking.”
He continued: “We are installing two new pay and display machines which will accept coin, card, and contactless and phone payment methods. We will have local experienced attendants monitor the car park.
“Horizon Parking operates around 1,200 parking sites across the UK. Most of these are for a wide range of blue chip companies and businesses ranging from all of the major food retailers through to retail parks and shopping centres as well as universities, offices and residential sites.
“We provide the race day marshalls for Perth races and also provide this service for the National Trust, Blenheim Palace, Hampton Court and a host of other businesses. We believe in delivering the best possible customer service.”
Mr Dickson said he used to own and run Town & City Parking Ltd, which was a Perth-based company until he sold it in late 2011 to the Australian company that renamed the business Smart Parking. “Obviously therefore I know the Mill Street site well having operated it form the very beginning when it first became a car park,” he added.
“I started Horizon Parking with some of my Town & City colleagues in late 2012 as many of my customers asked me to. We have grown rapidly over the last few years and are delighted to be back operating the Mill Street site.”
A spokesperson for Smart Parking said: “Smart Parking manages hundreds of car parks across the UK. We constantly review and update our portfolio as part of our ongoing efforts to create the most effective operation possible.
“Our operating lease at Mill Street recently expired and we chose not to renew.”
Councillor Henry Anderson, one of the representatives for the Almond and Earn ward, fell foul of Smart Parking’s policies when he received a £60 penalty notice from the company when he parked at the Mill Street site in January.
Mr Anderson admitted he had stayed longer than the allotted four hours when he parked up in order to attend an event at Perth Concert Hall. However, he called for a review of evening parking in Perth and stated he felt there should be a more relaxed policy at night.
