Controversy over Oban parking will simply not go away

It is a subject we have dwelled on previously and are forced to return to.

The parking regime in Oban remains a fraught topic and one that continues to exercise minds.

Now the residents of Mull are also up in arms over the proposed introduction of new charges for parking, all year round, Monday to Sunday, from 9am to 6pm. Some people on the island have branded the planned fees as likely to cause ‘mayhem’ and have voiced their fears for public safety if the charges are introduced.

These are justifiable worries on Mull given the fact that many people are obliged to park for extended periods while they visit the mainland, including, for example, for hospital visits.

So widespread is the concern now over the parking situation in both Oban and on Mull that it has prompted the intervention of Andrew Spence, the chief executive of BID4Oban.

The bottom line here is – as we have said on many occasions previously – that the system in Oban is not fit for purpose. Rather than blithely soldiering on, it is long past time that Argyll and Bute Council went back to the drawing board.

There simply must be reasonable provision for people travelling into town to work and for people visiting the islands – and vice versa – to park without falling foul of the parking fines.