Falkirk Council reject call to reintroduce free parking scheme

The scheme, which allowed people to park free of charge in council-owned car parks after 3 pm, was a victim of budget cuts earlier this year.

Provost Robert Bissett, who proposed a motion to restore it, said that it was an important way to bring footfall into the struggling town centre, saying: “After a very challenging two years, it’s incredibly important and vital to support our town centres and shop locally.”

Councillor Euan Stainbank said it would also help staff working in the town centre who can be on low wages and quoted a survey that found 93 per cent of businesses felt the removal of the provision would have an adverse impact on them.

Neither the SNP administration nor Falkirk Conservatives supported the Labour motion.

The SNP did back a Conservative amendment that urged the council to explore ways to improve active travel access to the High Street “in a way that is environmentally and financially sustainable”.

Speaking after the debate, Conservative councillor James Bundy, said: “With limited funds, we should be making investments which support both our businesses on the High Street and reduce area-wide carbon emissions.”

However, the SNP portfolio holder for economic regeneration, Councillor Paul Garner, said that the local evidence did not show that people were staying away due to the parking charges after 3 pm. Year-to-date figures, he said, predict that the council will generate £65,000 of income from the reintroduction of parking charges after 3pm – £15,000 more than anticipated.

“This clearly suggests that the car park occupancy in Falkirk after 3pm is strong and that people are still coming into the town centre.”

He cited several ongoing projects to support the town centre, including parcel luggage lockers, footfall sensors and improvements to Newmarket Street as well as the administration’s commitment to relocate the new Falkirk Town Hall to the High Street.

All this, he said, “will have a far greater impact than anecdotal views linked to the ‘Free After 3’ parking scheme at a time when council car parks are busier than expected”.

The council leader Cecil Meiklejohn added that the massive budget gap of nearly £70 million facing the council could not be ignored and it was the “wrong time” to be spending money. She said: “We know that there is a £20,000 deficit that we’d have expected from town centre parking. To add the cost of ‘Free After 3’, which would be another £50,000 on top of that just creates a further problem.”

She added that she would support the Conservative amendment as the council is currently looking to do a masterplan for the town centre anyway that will focus on active travel.

Mr Stainbank said after the meeting that he was very disappointed that the SNP and Conservative groups had “voted against the re-introduction of a scheme to stimulate footfall that was already well-known, could’ve re-engaged people in the town centre and provided assurance to business that our focus is on our town centre now”.