Oban business leaders slam parking shambles
Multiple agencies come together to discuss near misses at school
Argyll and Bute Council’s new parking charges are now the biggest complaint in Oban and they risk driving away tourists, Oban Community Council heard on Monday.
The meeting was told drivers are now taking vital spaces in the hospital and high school car parks while council car parks lie empty, and permits are unaffordable to those on the minimum wage.
Andrew Spence, chief executive of business group BID4Oban, said he had been ‘inundated with complaints’ about the council’s new parking charges, and had been asked by councillors to voice them in a letter to the council’s chief executive, Cleland Sneddon.
‘Oban relies heavily on tourism,’ Mr Spence wrote. ‘The vast majority of complaints from visitors are to do with parking. This is evident on TripAdvisor reviews for hotels, etc. In a recent survey of Oban Live visitors, parking was the single biggest complaint. We want to resolve this.’
His letter set out ‘nine simple solutions’.
With charges in place for all Oban’s car parks, he said, drivers are clogging streets where there are no meters, limiting access for many businesses, especially in Lochavullin. ‘We would like to see yellow lines introduced,’ he said. ‘There is ample parking in the council car parks at Lochavullin. However, it is obvious people don’t want to pay for it.
‘We have had reports from Oban, Lorn and the Islands Hospital of people parking their cars there and leaving them. While this is not council property, it is causing issues for staff and patients who need to park there,’ he said. ‘If pre-paid parking permits were made more readily available for residents, this may go some way to alleviating the problem.’
He said parking permits were available online, but the minimum term was three months at £135, ‘outside the reach of many people who are on a minimum wage’.
‘It would be easier if they could pay monthly or weekly online. The system is not user-friendly and does not adequately list the car parks in Oban.
‘Anyone wanting to park in a town car park for more than 24 hours is unable to. Given the amount of people who may travel to the islands or use the train or buses, it would be beneficial to have this facility. Many of these vehicles are being parked in residential or business areas in the town.’
Many parking meters, owing to their software, do not let drivers buy parking tickets before 9am, meaning those starting work early cannot park legally. All the meters only accept coins, he said. ‘In this day and age, there should be a facility to pay via credit/debit card or mobile phone.
‘There are areas of Oban where people are not parking since on-street parking has been introduced, namely the Esplanade and Gallanach Road. These areas may benefit if people could park there for longer periods of time.
‘Bus parking at the car park adjacent to Atlantis Leisure [should be] reduced in price from the current £10 overnight charge to £1 [to] ensure buses are parking in the correct area.’
Councillor Roddy McCuish, policy lead for roads, said he was withdrawing his support for a multi-storey car park in Oban: ‘If people are not going to pay, they will not pay for a multi-storey,’ he said.
Meanwhile, more than 1,500 people signed a petition opposing the council’s proposed parking charges on Mull.
Argyll and Bute MSP Michael Russell said the difficulties in Oban and Arrochar should give the ‘bulldozing’ council ‘pause for thought’.
More than 50 people who responded to a survey about Lochnell school crossing in Benderloch have experienced a near miss.
There were 308 responses to the survey which was presented at a meeting last week of safety campaigners, council officials, road agencies, the school and other organisations, including Sustrans.
Near misses at the A828 crossing point were reported by both pedestrians and motorists. Incidents included reports of ‘reckless speed’, cars overtaking on the crossing, children running across the road and tripping up in the road and being pulled back to safety by adults.
Parent Dr Beth Hadden, who devised the survey, said: ‘We made it clear that the school and the road safety officer have implemented significant educational work with the children and while we will continue to do this, feel we have reached the point whereby structural/engineering solutions to the dangers are essential. This is not something we can implement alone. Transport Scotland and BEAR need to use their resources and expertise to provide us this, and do so timeously.
‘It is disappointing that they do not consider near miss incidents when they look to improve road safety, as these are clearly indicators of impending harm. However, I can only hope their commitment to look into improvements will provide us with some action prior to tragedy meeting one of our families. This is something we will be pushing for and continued strong community support is going to be essential.’
The meeting heard there could be some financial help available from Sustrans and there was mention of police bringing in new technology cameras and speed monitoring devices to help at the crossing, said Ardchattan community councillor Willie Barnett.
Parent and Ardchattan community councillor DJ Barr, whose own son narrowly missed being hit by a car when crossing the road, said it was good ‘everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet’.
He added: ‘It was a massive success that we managed to get everyone together from Transport Scotland and BEAR Scotland to all four ward councillors. Everyone pulled together.’
Mr Barr also said the volume of responses to the crossing survey showed the strength of feeling that something needed to be done to make it safer.
‘A lot of the comments made frightening reading. It’s rare that people put so much effort into responding to surveys like that so it really shows the strength of feeling,’ he added.
A spokesperson for BEAR Scotland said: ‘Road safety is a top priority for us and Thursday’s meeting provided a good opportunity to meet the community alongside other stakeholders and listen to their concerns about road safety. The next steps are for us to carry out an investigation to see if anything could be improved or introduced to reduce vehicle speeds and improve road safety at Lochnell.’
Argyll and Bute councillor Kieron Green said: ‘It was a very positive meeting. There was recognition that there needed to be more done. It’s a matter that is being taken seriously.’