Parking mad over council decision
Anger over removal of permit in Main Street
An angry Perth resident has hit out after his repeated complaints about council workers taking away his parking permit were dismissed by one of its executive directors.
The Main Street resident, who does not wish to be named, believes the local authority had no good reason to deny him a permit to park on the street outside his house for a reduced rate this year because he had formerly been able to get one no problem.
Perth and Kinross Council has claimed the man was previously issued a permit in “error” but his repeated attempts to extract an explanation as to what kind of mistake had been made by officers that allowed him to successfully claim a permit for the last 16 years have failed.
The 75-year-old is convinced the council’s decision to withhold permits for people living in Main Street this year is just a ruse to force residents to pay more to park their cars near their homes but the local authority insists this is not the case.
However, he told the PA this week he is determined to find out if there is any proof an “error” was made in issuing him a permit and is now preparing to take his complaints to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to see if it will investigate.
The council’s executive director of housing and environment, Barbara Renton, recently told the man in a letter seen by the PA: “Regardless of what happened in the past, Main Street is not specified on the present Traffic Management Order which means that a permit cannot be provided.”
And responding to his claim the council’s decision to withhold permits is a ruse to make more money Ms Renton added: “I am sorry that this is your view; however I consider that it is incorrect.
“This situation arose because at some stage in the past, which we have not been able to determine, residents’ permits were provided to those living in Main Street in error.
“When the situation came to light, we were obliged to correct this error which we did. I am sorry that this error occurred.”
But the resident told the PA yesterday: “I think [Ms Renton’s response] shows that my complaint was approached on the basis of ‘How can we refute this?’ rather than an independent assessment as everything we have stated has been ignored and the council point of view accepted as fact in every case.
“Apparently devaluing everybody’s property and costing Main Street residents thousands of pounds in the future does not warrant an impact assessment – not even on common decency grounds. [It’s a] complete whitewash.”
He added: “We have been assured that there is no financial agenda in withdrawing our permits. Is it a pure coincidence that the council will increase its parking revenues by withdrawing our permits?”
A council spokesperson said: “Main Street, Bridgend, Perth is not on the list of streets eligible for a resident’s permit. Some residents were issued with a permit in error, which was highlighted following a review.
“We appreciate that this is frustrating for those residents. However, to be fair to all residents we need to follow the PKC (Perth Traffic Management) Consolidation Order 2015, which sets out the terms of the resident’s permit scheme.
“We have informed all residents and apologised for the error. We have also met with local residents who requested more information, and have engaged with local councillors to explain why this situation occurred.”