KILLING TRADE
Wardens hand out tickets as they’re unloading
Parking attendants dishing out fines have been accused of killing trade in Ayr town centre .
Jim McSherry, owner of the Wee Windaes, said: “Parking attendants are terrorising the town. The town is dying on its feet and they’re doing this, booking businesses.“
Parking attendants are “terrorising” Ayr.
That’s the view of one business owner in the town who joined numerous others on his street after being landed with a parking ticket while unloading outside a workplace.
Proprietors of Wee Windaes, They Bake, Helen Scott Opticians, Hairstopper salon and Studio 13 tattoo parlour on Ayr’s Newmarket Street are all said to have been hit with parking tickets in the last month – while the fruit-sellers at Wallace Tower and Strictly Bridal on Ayr High Street have also received fines.
Proprietors and goods vehicles are able to load and unload before 10.30am and after 4.30pm with a permit on Newmarket Street.
Those on the High Street are able to do so for “up to 30 minutes or so at the parking attendants’ discretion”, say Ayrshire Roads Alliance.
But after receiving fines during challenging trading times, traders now want more help to ensure they can operate without the fear of having to fork out.
Jim McSherry, of the Wee Windaes pub, said: “Parking attendants are terrorising the town. They booked me last week at 10.10am and that’s twice the same warden has booked me.
“We’re not parking here – we’re loading and unloading because we’re businesses but it appears you need to have a permit.
“The town is dying on its feet and they’re doing this, booking businesses.
“Everyone just ends up paying it but it’s not fair, especially when we’re trying to trade and provide services for people in the town.
“It’s common sense when people are parked outside their businesses, it’s the only way they can operate.”
They Bake owners Zoe Hunter and Amanda-Jane Rodgers are not long established in Newmarket Street after only opening their homebaked goods business at the end of May.
But they too were landed with a fine at 4.30pm last week.
Zoe said: “Amanda-Jane was gutted because we never park our cars there during the day.
“It was 4.30pm, she had a boot full of stock and took all her stuff down to the basement and we came up the stairs and that was it; it was on the car already.
“I said to the man it would’ve been helpful if he knocked the door to let us know.
“We explained that we were just new and asked him how do we go about getting a permit but he didn’t even know.
“I thought surely if it’s their job to give people a ticket, they should know what to do [to obtain a permit].
“We’d been renovating our shops for months and parked outside – unbeknown to us that we shouldn’t have been doing that – but we never got a ticket that whole time.
“I think all the businesses were a bit shocked because they’d been doing it for so long and all of a sudden they’d been getting tickets.”
Alison Ingram, of Hairstopper, who have operated on Newmarket Street for 38 years, said the process of obtaining a permit from the council is challenging.
She said: “All they should do is look if you’ve got a business, check your rates and say, ‘yes, you’ve got a shop there’ without making life even more difficult.
“As far as businesses are concerned, things are bad enough without traffic wardens booking you every other day.
“Some of them are quite accommodating and will give you 10 minutes to move your car but other ones will just not, so there has to be a bit of leeway.”
Alison said the fear of receiving a ticket has put off delivery drivers, with her stock now being delivered to her home address for her to bring in herself.
She said: “It’s not like I open at 7am and I’m here until 10pm outwith delivery times, I’m not. They’re not making life easy.
“It’s not exactly what we want. We’re back at work, I was closed for nine months out of the year, you’re trying your best, you’ve got everything in place to do [as per Covid-19 guidelines], then you’ve got parking attendants booking you.
“Whoever is in charge of the town within the council needs to meet with shopkeepers, organise a meeting with people from Newmarket Street and get everyone’s point of view.”
Andrew Graham, of Strictly Bridal on Ayr’s High Street, thinks the solution to the parking issue could be to bring back the twoway traffic system along the High
Street. He said: “The parking is ridiculous.
“We’re told we’re only allowed 15 minutes for unloading and that’s only if the warden sees you continually walking back and forth to and from the car.
“I think they need to bring back the two-way traffic system.
“I keep coming back to Prestwick – they’ve got two-way traffic with parking on the street and shops are always busy; and it’s run by the same council.
“About 60 per cent of my
business is people from Glasgow but they can’t get parked right outside my shop.
“We’re looking to expand but I have to tell people that they’ve got to get parked at TKMaxx.”
South Ayrshire Council redirected a request to comment to Ayrshire Roads Alliance (ARA).
The ARA’s interim head of roads Kevin Braidwood said: “The current rules for the use of loading bays on High Street, Ayr, are very clear and are enforced to ensure that drivers comply with the rules and that the bays can be used appropriately.
“The loading bays are for the use of goods vehicles loading/ unloading items or for the delivery or collection of goods from nearby premises. The loading bays can be used in this manner for up to 30 minutes or so and at the parking attendants’ discretion.
“The restrictions on Newmarket Street have not changed. Newmarket Street is a pedestrian zone and there should be no access by vehicles during the hours of 10.30am and 4.30pm. Outwith these hours, access is allowed for loading purposes by permit holders and goods vehicles.
“Permits are available free of charge from South Ayrshire Council’s Customer Services.
“There are no plans to introduce free parking in Ayr town centre. However, South Ayrshire Council will be launching a public consultation exercise next week that outlines proposals for parking in Ayr, which includes proposed changes to charging periods.”
The town is dying on its feet and they’re doing this, booking businesses
Pub boss Jim McSherry