Villagers’ fury as cars are ticketed
Bad for Doune say residents hit with fines
Residents in Doune were slapped with parking tickets after Stirling Council enforcement wardens targeted the area.
Vehicles in the Castlehill area, near the new Co-op store site, were served with the Parking Enforcement Notices last week following a purge by the officers.
However, the issue has created debate locally, with some of those who have been hit with the fines feeling hard done by.
One local said: “I had left to go on a family holiday when a neighbour called to tell me the wardens were putting tickets on cars. He told them we were on holiday but they said if they weren’t moved they would continue to put the tickets on. We had to turn back and find somewhere to move them to. The cars hadn’t been causing a problem.
“This is only going to get worse once you have people driving to the Co-op store.”
Heated comments also appeared on social media.
Stacey Campbell said: “I am absolutely raging. I live on the Main Street and also run a business in the village. I returned home with an 18- month-old and a sevenyear-old and there was absolutely nowhere to park my car. As a result I parked in a sensible place in the car park where I have seen numerous other people park in the past. I wasn’t causing any obstruction to anybody.
“I am at a loss as to where I am supposed to park my car as I have no garage or driveway. I also know of two other people this has happened to. They also run businesses in Doune. We are all trying to encourage people to stop in our beautiful village and to support local businesses. How can we possibly expect them to do this if there is no parking.”
Rhona Richards said: “I was not causing an obstruction, like many of the other cars. What I’m angry about is cars have been parking there for years, even lorries.”
One local said: “Most of the time, if people are careful, there is never a problem with parking there. This is a money-grubbing scam.
“This is frankly intolerant and intolerable. If Stirling (Council) bothered to actually provide enough car parking spaces for people it would be fine to fine us for misdemeanours but this is bad for Doune and they must think again.”
Councillor Jim Thomson, convener of the Environment and Housing Committee said: “Stirling Council were asked by residents to investigate concerns surrounding parking taking place in the Doune area.
“Upon inspection, our enforcement officers discovered a number of cars parking incorrectly within the off street Castlehill car park and issued tickets to these vehicles.
“Signs within the Castlehill car park state residents are free to use this area as long as they park their vehicles safely and within the bay lines.
“Parking enforcement standards have been widely publicised in recent weeks in a variety of ways including across social media and in the local press which covers the Doune area.”
The Observer revealed last month that the wardens issued 651 tickets in the first two weeks after the council took over the job of parking enforcement on May 3.
This was in contrast to 110 tickets issued by police in the city centre between the beginning of April and end of July last year.