The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Council axes St Andrews restrictions
Fife Council has bowed to pressure and agreed to remove a number of controversial parking restrictions in St Andrews town centre.
Businesses had warned of devastation as 69 parking spaces were stripped from several streets on Monday to create more pedestrian space and aid physical distancing.
Almost 60 traders signed an open letter to the local authority warning the measures would have a serious detrimental impact at a time when many are already on their knees due to the pandemic.
More than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for a U-turn.
Business leaders said they were delighted the council had listened.
Following a meeting with t ra d e r s y e s t e r d ay, the council’s transportation and economy spokesman, Labour councillor Altany Craik, said it was clear the measures were not going to work and that action must be taken.
Barriers raised on parking areas along Market Street will be removed from this weekend, while interventions on South Street, Church Street and No r t h Street will be changed.
The measures were taken after the council wa s awarded £2.4 million from the Scottish Government’s Spaces for People fund, designed to make walking and cycling safer during the coronavirus crisis.
In St Andrews it meant using parking spaces as an e xtended pavement to allow pedestrians to pass each other at a distance but traders warned it would deter visitors and hit them in the pocket.
The town’s BID manager, Jane Kennedy, said many firms had reported a significant fall in takings since Monday as people with cars avoided the town.
“I t ’s 68% for some businesses so it’s clearly having an impact already,” she said.
“Hopefully they will be removed today or tomorrow.”
Debra Wallace, manager of Rogerson’s shoe shop on Market Street, said the barriers had added to congestion, with some using the extra pedestrian space to park delivery vans and traffic unable to pass parked bin lorries and buses due to the narrowing of the road.
“T here was a lot of confusion about it and some cyclists were using the area b e twe e n the pavement and the bollards as a cycle lane so it was very dangerous,” she said.
Mr Craik said the interventions had been a compromise between the views of business people and others who felt there was a need to promote distancing, particularly following the return of schools and the university.
“I t ’s going to be a problem because people who wanted Spaces for People will not be happy but we can’ t have businesses going bust and people losing their jobs,” he said. “That’s not the impact we were looking for.”