No easy answers on parking charges issue

Sir, – I’m sure no Angus councillor wished to bring in parking charges, but here is the problem.

Due to a reduced grant from the Scottish Government, combined with increasing demand and overall inflation, Angus Council is having to cut £40 million out of the budget.

Do we take the money from education, social work, roads etc or charge a little more for services?

We have already reduced staff numbers considerably to make running the council more efficient.

In Brechin and other burghs a problem that has faced councillors for many years is the fact that there haven’t been enough central parking areas. We even considered at one stage building a multi-storey car park in Brechin, but felt it would be out of place in the historical centre, as well as being very costly to justify.

The all party policy budget setting group looked at re-introducing parking charges and considered it may ease parking congestion in town centres, and would be a better option than taking more money from the other essential services. After all most car parks across the country charge for parking nowadays and it is accepted as a necessary evil. So at the February 2018 budget meeting all Angus councillors supported bringing in parking charges.

Some suggested we should charge for both on and off street parking, but the current Angus Council administration considered that was a step too far and the current half hour free on street parking would help customers who just want to pop in for a short time in town centre shops.

An important consideration was what tariff to set? We thought it wise to keep it reasonable and lower than most neighbouring areas. The other question was whether to go for a cashless system as it seems to be the way of the future or go for a more expensive cash alternative.

I am puzzled by the Angus retailer’s poster campaign, as I cannot see how that will bring customers back to their shops. If I had a high street business, I would use my shop window to encourage the public to come in and benefit from shopping locally.

Cllr Bob Myles. Former leader, Angus Council.

Picture: Kris Miller. Michelle Ingram of Highland Scene in Montrose organised the region-wide protest against Angus parking charges.