Public urged to object to park and ride charge plans

Fife Conservatives have called on the public to resist proposed charges at the Ferrytoll and Halbeath park and ride sites.

The politicians are urging people to formally object to Fife Council’s plans to make commuters pay £1 a day to leave their cars.

The measures were announced as part of this year’s budget proposals.

The authority’s Conservative group leader, Dave Dempsey, said: “The council can’t just start charging. It requires a traffic regulation order and TROs are open to objectors. “The TRO is out now. “It says it is being promoted ‘in the interests of car park management’, which is council speak for ‘so we can penalise motorists for doing what we’ve asked them to do’.”

The councillor for Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay said, because TROs are governed by an act of Parliament, the council can’t just file objections in a pile marked “ignore”.

He said: “Objectors must be individually written to explaining why their objection is unsound and inviting them to withdraw it. Those who don’t have their objections presented to a council committee which then decides whether to proceed with the TRO or not.

“While most TROs attract just a handful of objections, it’s been known for that to be enough to change minds.”

He added: “If enough of the public make their feelings felt, we’ll be able to test whether a committee would have the nerve to overrule a hundred or even a thousand objectors.

“Or whether those Labour and SNP members who are unhappy about charging would be brave enough to vote the way they feel,” he added.