As the consultation period on the proposed West End parking proposals ended, I spoke on the STV news last Friday evening about the issue.
It is vital that Dundee City Council actually listens to the views of the hundred of residents and businesses who have responded to the parking consultation. I’ll eat my hat if the council's proposal for a £80 parking permit finds favour in the responses the council has received. I have spoken with dozens of residents who were critical of the council’s flawed proposal but absolutely nobody who thought the council got the parking scheme proposal right. However, the parking problems for many residents will remain and it is therefore vital that the council looks carefully at the ideas put forward by residents.
The detail of the scheme proposed by the council wasn’t properly thought through and was a dead duck the day it was announced because it failed in three key aspects:
a) Charging West End residents 16 times as much for their permits as Menzieshill residents – totally inequitable and unfair.
b) Charging West End residents for their visitors’ parking when the Menzieshill scheme allows free visitor parking, albeit for a limited period.
c) Failure to provide new car parking provision at the University of Dundee campus to ease parking congestion on West End streets - as I have previously highlighted.
I have heard some very sensible suggestions from residents that could be taken forward in the areas of parking difficulty even in the council’s flawed £80 permit parking scheme is rejected – these include addition parking provision near the university campus and a review of waiting restrictions at several locations.
The vitally important thing now is that Dundee City Council actually listens to the views expressed in consultation responses.