The P&J has a front page splash about the threat to 100 free car parks across the Highlands where the Council could introduce parking charges.
Inside on page 2 they state: "Drivers in bigger towns such as Nairn, Dingwall, Alness and Wick would likely feel the brunt but motorists in smaller communities such as Ullapool or Lairg could also be affected.
A breakdown of car parks that could be hit with charges is outlined on page 3 with "Nairn Cumming Street 64 car".
No mention of other car parks in the town but who knows it looks like nothing is sacred these days. Perhaps we could see the town centre hit too?
The Gurn believes that charges at the Cumming Street car park would be an attack on Nairn's tourism prospects. Let's not force people away with parking charges, let's stay welcoming to visitors and let them park for free! Locals also like to nip down there and park every time they fancy some time on the beach. This is meant to be a time of localism with powers being returned to Nairn - a central decision to impose parking charges in Nairn would certainly bury that idea!
The article is billed as an "exclusive" so perhaps our local Highland Councillors didn't know about this yet.
Update, there have been suggestions on social media that Highland Council would find it hard to put parking charges on the Cumming Street car park as it is owned by the Common Good Fund - the plot thickens.
Update, there have been suggestions on social media that Highland Council would find it hard to put parking charges on the Cumming Street car park as it is owned by the Common Good Fund - the plot thickens.
9 comments:
Disgusting.
I'm not sure it's 'disgusting' just poorly thought out
Any parking charges at the Links would see car drivers seeking free parking in other areas, especially those with local knowledge. This I suggest would be the fishertown area and also the harbour.
The fishertown already suffers from parking issues and thats just from residents parking or rather the lack of it in area built before the arrival of car ownership
The harbour area is always busy but especially so in summer and this has recently been exacerbated by the opening of the Sun Dancer facility
In theory the fishertown could be given resident parking status but that would be a cost in terms of admin etc that would eat into the revenue created by charging for parking at the Links.
We've become used to free parking in Nairn. Parking charges have been mooted for several areas before but nothing has come of it. It's true parking measures would slightly increase employment but would chargeable parking cause a loss of footfall and therefore revenue in other areas?
Highland Council needs to raise more money but I doubt the back door route of parking charges is going to do much to address that
Dafties!
As A matter of interest who paid for the lease of the town center carpark.
Or was it ever paid some thing that was A talking point when the lease was due .
My understanding is this is privately owned as is the Library building and the H.C.
pay for the use.
Car parks in town cente behind High St in at least three bits. Co-op owns huge chunk as a legacy of a giveaway policy sort of thing when there was going to be development (about three or four owners back of the big supermarket). Some council bits in the centre and then the big bit behind the library that is paid for at the same time as the Library rent gets paid. The Gurn understood that there was some issue with the rent level etc for this part and no idea if that was sorted - ask a Highland Councillor who lives near you :-)
Forgot to add not sure if Highland Council pay lease/rent or Highland High Life that run library now - might all become apparent as we approach the cuts apocalypse budget deadline date of sometime in Feb. Happy days ahead.
This seems to be part of a continuing and long-established pattern whereby Highland Council makes decisions and imposes their will on Nairn without discussion or consultation, while our elected Councillors remain silent or - worse - try to justify the Council's position.
We got lots of extra traffic lights, imposed by Council planners as part of a deal with Sainsburys, whch clog up the traffic. We've seen publicly-owned buildings sold off for a pittance as development sites (bus station, Rosebank Church etc). We've seen deals done behind closed doors for the use of Common Good assets, and failures even to manage existing leases properly (eg Parkdean). Grants to the Museum and the Community Centre are being slashed. Now we have the Council deciding unilaterally to introduce charges for use of public toilets..... and apparently charges for parking too.
Makes a mockery of the idea of local community empowerment, makes the town seem unfriendly to visitors, and undermines the prospects of Nairn sustaining its image and economy as an attractive tourist destination. Unless things change radically, this will mean death by a thousand cuts, and the bypass will turn Nairn into a ghost town.
park'n'ride is spot on. All these decisions should be for the Nairn councillors alone, otherwise what do we elect them for. At the moment it seems we elect them to try and defend Nairn from Highland Council policies. Time for our own council to Make Nairn Great Again!
can parking charges be implemented on what is, after all, common amenity land? No matter who maintains it, I am unsure how this could be put in place legally. Also, who would monitor the machines? Which presumably would have cash in them and need emptying. Or will more expense be needed to PAY someone to do the job? Ironic yes?
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