Free parking comes to an end in town
Free parking in East Kilbride’s council run car parks could end on October 5.
A report set to go before t he council’s community and enterpr i s e re s ources committee yesterday (Tuesday, September 15) will recommend reintroducing the charges that have been waived since the coronavirus lockdown was introduced in March.
Transport infrastructure consultants SYSTRA have carr i ed out a review of parking demand i n Hamilton town centre which found “no specific evidence” that free parking increases footfall.
Charges would be reinstated as they were before l ockdown with no new increases proposed.
Councillors had previously complained t hat t he e x i s t i ng park i ng s t r uct ure c oul d be “s e e n as a barrier” to visiting town centres.
SYSTRA’s Parking Demand Management Review found that “parking charges provide both economic benefits and costs” but t hat t here was “no evidence of a direct relationship between parking pricing and footfall”.
The review also highlighted that the parking r e g i me i n Hamil t o n was “not considered to be unreasonable” and that charges were “required to cover the management costs” of providing parking.
In normal circumstances, South Lanarkshire Council could lose up to £150,000 by not charging for parking, which would be “unsustainable”.
Executive director for community and enterprise Michael McGlynn said i n the report : “It is concluded that the existing charging regimes in Hamilton Town Centre and Ballerup, East Kilbride, together with associated on street charging arrangements at both locations, are reinstated at previous tariff levels.
“In rel ati on t o t he park and ride car parks at Hairmyres, Hamilton West and Rutherglen stations, it is considered that the previous tariff of £1 per day remains appropriate and should be reinstated.
“Similarly, the long stay Palace Grounds Public Car Park in Hamilton also adopts a tariff of £1 per day and again it is considered appropriate to reinstate charges at that level.
“Charges for the off street car park in The Village area of East Kilbride are already s i g n i f i c a n t l y l o we r t h a n other areas for stays of up to three hours. This recognises previous arrangements on such matters.
“It is again proposed that these charges should be re i nstat ed at previous charging levels.”
If approved by t he committee, charging would be reinstated on October 5.