Review just the ticket
South Lanarkshire Council this week rubber-stamped plans to look at Hamilton Town Centre’s parking issues.
At a meeting of the local authority’s Community and Enterprise Resources Committee on Tuesday, councillors agreed Hamilton would be the first area to be looked at under their Parking Demand Management Review (PDMR).
Phase one will include the town centre and surrounding areas, which will also include Station Road in Blantyre, costing the council £30,000.
However, the money is still to be signed off and is set to be discussed at a meeting of the council’s Finance and Corporate Committee in February.
Councillors this week heard from a report that Hamilton will be the first area to be looked at as it was previously identified as a “priority”.
The local authority will look at sourcing the work to an external consultant to conduct the PDMR, with a view to having it complete in eight months.
The report states: “The objective of the review is to examine current parking demand management arrangements within Hamilton Town Centre and surrounding areas.”
The review will look at an appropriate level of charging, the extent of onstreet, off-street parking, preferential parking initiatives, comparison of neighbouring/similar town centres across Scotland and the impact of parking charges on the economic vitality of a town, innovation and technology opportunities.
Consultation is also set to be undertaken at a suitable point during the review with businesses and residents.
Once Phase 1 has been completed, East Kilbride will be looked at, followed by Lanark, Cambuslang, Rutherglen, Strathaven, Blantyre, Larkhall, Biggar and Carluke.