Residents and businesses voice outrage over plan

Around 100 people went along to a public meeting to protest against planned parking charges.

Renfrewshire Council is planning to bring in charges in Johnstone and Renfrew town centres by 2018.

Bosses claim it will boost footfall in the town centres, but local businesses and residents are concerned it would have the opposite effect.

The meeting was organised by Johnstone Community Council and Johnstone Business Consortium and was attended by Councillor Cathy McEwan, chair of the policy board, and Shona MacDougall, the director of community services.

Iain McMi l l a n , f rom Johnstone Community Council, said: “Residents and businesses are concerned about the impact this might have.

“We had a lot of people from the outlying villages there who were concerned about it.

“They use Johnstone as a hub and they said it might put them off coming in to town.

“We’re worried people will go to the Phoenix Retail Park or Tesco, in Linwood, where you don’t have to pay.

“Nobody at the meeting spoke out in favour of the idea, everyone was against it.

“The ball is now in the council’s court.

“They know what the strength of feeling is against this in Johnstone and it’s up to them to decide what to do next.”

A report put before the local authority’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board in November recommended a range of changes to parking arrangements, including a 10p increase on parking tariffs per 30 minutes and an extra 50p for four hours’ parking.

The parking charges would bring Renfrew and Johnstone in line with Paisley by moving longer-stay parking to the edges of town centres and freeing up short-stay spaces in the centre of the town.

There would also be an upgrade to existing parking machines, with the majority of current meters approaching the end of their lifespan and requiring to be replaced.

New meters would be installed that will accept cash, card and contactless payment to allow for easier use of payand-display zones at council car parking facilities.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “As part of the implementation of the changes to parking in Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone, an initial impact assessment is taking place which will engage with stakeholders, including local businesses and community groups, to ensure that these changes will make a positive difference in our town centres.

“The plans include the modernisation of parking facilities across the area to accept a variety of payment methods.

“The aim is to make it significantly easier for visitors to park in spaces across Renfrewshire and bring increased footfall into our town centres.”