Free parking in town centre until spring
Arrangement will remain in place until at least April
Parking in South Lanarkshire Council’s car parks will remain free until at least April next year.
Charges were suspended by the council in March following the UKwide coronavirus lockdown and councillors have been reluctant to reintroduce the previous charging regime.
On Wednesday, October 21, the council’s Covid recovery board decided to delay bringing charges back until the new financial year in April 2021.
The decision came just days after Central Scotland MSP Monica Lennon started a petition to maintain free parking at Hamilton’s Duke Street Car Park.
So far, 281 people have signed the petition and Ms Lennon believes the move would “support Hamilton’s Covid-19 recovery”.
Following the council’s decision, she said: “This is a welcome reprieve for the people of Hamilton.
“Lanarkshire has been subject to a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown and local hospitality businesses are among those projecting job losses and closures.
“The First Minister and the Scottish Government are advising people to avoid public transport. Hamilton has lost the X1 bus during the pandemic and key workers have become more dependent on private transport.
“Parking charges are an unfair burden on low paid workers.
“Hamilton town centre was struggling before Covid-19. As part of a wider package of support, free parking will ease the burden on key workers and encourage shoppers to stay in the town centre a little longer.
“As a local resident and one of your local MSPS, I care about Hamilton and the people who live and work here.
“Together, we can rally round our town centre to support local traders, the workers who have kept our economy moving and those who are spending their cash here.”
At the same meeting, South Lanarkshire’s Covid recovery board also agreed a working group should be established to agree a new policy on parking charges, including reintroducing pay on exit at Duke Street car park and a potential free period of parking for town centre shoppers.
The changes follow a review conducted by Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse MSP Christina Mckelvie and Lanark and Hamilton East MP Angela Crawley into Hamilton town centre which called for changes to the council’s parking management policy in Hamilton.
Councillor Josh Wilson (Hamilton South), member of the recovery board, said: “Time after time, the people of Hamilton have told us that the current parking charges in place discourage town centre shopping.
“That is why we asked other councillors to back our proposal not to reintroduce off-street car parking charges until at least April next year and whilst free parking continues, investigate other options to use parking management as a tool to encourage people to shop local.
“It is right that the council do everything we can to support businesses as they recover from the pandemic.
“Reintroducing car parking charges during a local lockdown would not be the right decision and I’m glad councillors from across South Lanarkshire agreed.”
In September, councillors agreed not to reinstate charges until at least November, potentially costing the council over £150,000.
Parking in council car parks has been free since March, costing the council over £500,000 in lost income when compared to last year.
Free parking will ease the burden on key workers and shoppers