Cllr Angus Forbes

said.

“I welcomed the decision to suspend parking charges across Perth and Kinross during the lockdown in 2020 and I call on Conservative councillors to bring forward plans to do the same now.

“We know that money is tight for people at the moment and it is harder for small independent retailers to compete with large supermarkets who provide free car parking.

“It is not a panacea by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think that going back to providing free city and town centre parking would help businesses in those areas.

“This shouldn’t be terribly difficult to bring about.

“Fife Council look set to achieve a suspension of parking charges across the county in two working days.

“Having spoken to SNP colleagues on Perth and Kinross Council, I know they would be mindful to support similar plans, should Conservative councillors agree to bring them forward.”

In response, PKC’s environment and infrastructure committee convener councillor Angus Forbes said: “When the first minister announced a three-week lockdown, we discussed this and came to the conclusion that the expense and time to change the signage and adjust the meters wasn’t practical for a three-week period.

“If the first minister changes her mind and we are locked down for longer, then we can look again at the decision.

“I don’t believe it’s appropriate to be encouraging people to be coming to our towns at the moment, while Scotland is being advised to stay at home and most shops are closed.

“There is also the brutal fact that the council does depend on revenue.

“We need to pay the salaries of the parking attendants who did so much great work during the last lockdown, delivering food and looking out for vulnerable people.”

I don’t believe it’s appropriate to be encouraging people to be coming to our towns at the moment while Scotland is being advised to stay home