PAY AND DISMAY
Anger as council car parks rake in £1m
South Lanarkshire Council have coined in £1.1million from car parking fees last year alone.
The stark figures have left Hamilton motorists and shoppers angered as the town was responsible for more than a quarter of that.
Duke Street pulled in £165,699, while Brandon Street made £60,306 for council coffers.
Driver John Mcgrane said: “You can’t even sit for a minute outside the bank without getting hassled. It’s time the council scrapped the charges.”
However, the council this week argued that the parking charges are helping the town centre to thrive.
South Lanarkshire Council raked in over £250,000 from its Hamilton town centre car parks last year.
Figures revealed that two of the local authority’s three highest-earning car parks are in the town.
And the council this week argued that the parking charges are helping the town centre to thrive.
Duke Street pulled in £165,699 while Brandon Street made £60,306.
Elsewhere in the town, the car park at Lower Auchingramont Road collected £33,621 while the one at Auchingramont Road pulled in £17,135.
Numbers obtained under Freedom of Information laws revealed that the council raked in £1.1 million from car park fees last year – which equates to a £935,356 profit once VAT has been deducted.
Head of Roads and Transportation Services, Gordon Mackay, said: “Charges are made in council car parks to allow suitable turnover within town centres.
“This ensures more desirable spaces are not taken up all day, for example by commuters or employees, and helps our town centres to thrive.
“On the periphery of our town centres, some car parks offer long-stay parking for a reduced fee.
“The income the council receives from parking pays for the service provided to law-abiding motorists.”
Since 2016-17, the council has seen car park charges totalling over £3.3 million – with a post-vat profit of just over £2.8 million.
Overall income from car park charges in South Lanarkshire has decreased by two per cent from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
And the total income from Hamilton’s car parks has consistently fallen over the three years since 2016-17.
Duke Street was South Lanarkshire’s highest-earning car park in 2016-17 with £201,470 – dropping to £181,610 the following year and then £165,699 last year.
Over the three years Brandon Street has gone from £73,185 to £64,926 and then £60,306 for 2018-19.
Lower Auchingramont Road made £32,435 in 2016-17 then increased slightly to £32,646 before increasing to £33,621 last year.
And Auchingramont Road went from £18,565 to £18,725 and then £17,135 last year.
The four Hamilton car parks made a total of £276,761 last year – down from £297,907 in 2017-18 and £325,655 in 2016-17.
Over the three years, that means the money coming in from the four car parks has fallen by 15 per cent.
The figures reveal that Ballerup car park in East Kilbride topped the table as the council’s highest-earning car park last year.
Drivers spent £168,712 in the car park in 2018-19 as it claimed top spot from Duke Street in Hamilton.