Today was a rather sad day for our High Streets, as once again a motion was passed to bring forward TRO’s that would see parking charges being brought to North Berwick High Street.
We were also told at the meeting that these charges would be rolled out in a further FIVE East Lothian towns.
So far the costs for this scheme have been over £136,000, but with a further commitment of £500,000 for consultancy fees agreed today who knows what the overall costs might be.
Whatever the cost I feel sure many would agree that funds would be better spent on delivering frontline services and plugging funding gaps helping to retain services rather than making cuts.
Today I stood with my fellow Conservative Councillors and in support of North Berwick’s local businesses and residents in opposing this scheme.
I still believe that introducing charges to struggling High Streets will result in more shops closing.
In Dunbar alone we have lost 4 shops in 3 months.
The impact of Covid coupled with rising costs including utility bills, wages and stock have hit local businesses hard, the impact of parking charges could be the final straw for some.
At a time when businesses are already struggling I cannot support measures which risk causing greater problems.
During the meeting Labour leader Norman Hampshire accused us of “Playing Politics” and of having our “heads in the sand” simply because we oppose these charging proposals and for tabling our own amendment which called for all proposals to be scrapped.
It was a disappointing and desperate call from the council leader especially given we were in-fact doing what we were elected to do. That is to listen to residents who elected us to represent their views.
We represented over 4,500 people who signed a petition objecting to the parking proposals and who looked to us for support.
We listened to the people and we duly gave our support when no other stepped forward.
As I stated during today’s meeting, a vast number of East Lothian’s population are classified as rural, have limited or no direct access to public transport and therefore NEED their cars to get around.
Our High Streets are not just business hubs, but extremely important social hubs.
They are places where communities have for years come together to not just shop but meet friends and enjoy social interaction.
For some, especially the elderly or those who live alone, the interaction that they enjoy during regular visits to their local High Street might be the only social interaction they experience that week.
The introduction of these parking proposals will impact the social well being of our rural constituents.
The current 90 minute free parking restrictions allows residents to shop, visit a local cafe and stop for a chat, the proposals will half that time and make it impossible for residents to enjoy their High Streets as they currently do.
I have listened to council officers, to the arguments of the Labour administration, to our business operators, community groups and local residents and I still believe these parking proposals will have a detrimental effect on our High Streets and I will continue to speak up for and support our local High Streets and businesses.