As reported in today's "Courier", I have expressed concern that the City Council may be “kicking into the long grass” improvements to residents’ parking in parts of the West End – work on which was originally supposed to have started this summer and is now likely to be seriously delayed.The parking situation in the affected area – roughly east of Windsor Street and Tait’s Lane and south of Blackness Road – is difficult for residents given its closeness to the City Centre metered parking zone and the University of Dundee campus and the situation is getting more and more of a challenge for local residents. I am therefore increasingly concerned at delays to the promised proposals to improve parking for residents and public consultation on the matter.
I receive a steady stream of complaints from residents very regularly about the difficulty they have getting parked. Because of this, during my period as Planning & Transport Convener, the council used the expertise of traffic consultants to come up with possible improvements. However I am increasingly concerned that the current council administration does not have a handle on the issue and, as a result, promised progress on the issue has stalled to a halt.
In January 2010, the Council’s City Development Committee agreed a report that should have seen work on possible parking improvements such as a residents’ parking scheme starting in the summer. However, unfortunately there’s been absolutely no progress since. The council says this is because work required as a result of the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009 has taken longer than expected and the engineer resource needed to progress residents’ parking improvements cannot yet be released.
As recently as 12th July, the Director of City Development advised me that although residents’ parking work had failed to start on time, the work would start later on this year. He has now written to me to say it will now not be until sometime in 2011 and there’s no clarification as to when in 2011 – it is all very non-specific and unsatisfactory and of no help to the many residents who are hoping for improvement in the parking situation.
I am to meet the Director of City Development later this month to discuss the issue further and seek specific assurances about the importance that improvements to residents’ parking in areas of difficulty in the West End will get the priority already agreed by council committee.