Thurso should consider parking proposals, says Highland councillor
Binning all the current proposals to amend parking regulations in Thurso town centre would be “a missed opportunity”, it is being claimed.
Local Highland councillor Karl Rosie is urging people to think again, particularly about making the town the latest area in the Highlands to operate an invitation-to-pay parking regime.
The changes, set out in a Highland Council consultation, were roundly condemned at a recent public meeting in the town.
More than 200 who attended the forum, arranged by Thurso Community Council, unanimously registered their opposition.
These included parking charges on part of Janet Street and in the Meadow Lane car park and introducing residents’ parking permits on five streets.
Speaking at the community council’s latest meeting on Tuesday evening, Councillor Rosie believed the proposals had been presented without proper context.
“It’s clear that there was a rationale and explanation required,” he said.
Councillor Rosie said the document had been prepared in response to public concern about rogue parking at junctions and congestion in parts of the town centre.
“I think it’s wrong to dismiss it as, if more of an explanation was provided, there might have been a very different understanding.”
He said the invitation-to-pay regime has proved a success in many tourist spots in the Highlands, including elsewhere in Caithness.
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“The rationale would be that people visiting Thurso would expect to pay to park while local people wouldn’t have to pay.”
He said half of the voluntary contributions from the scheme go to the council’s local area committee to bankroll local projects.
The charges are £1 for up to two hours; £2 for up to four hours; £3 for up to 12 hours; and £5 for up to 24 hours.
“For me, it’s a very interesting proposal and I think it would be a missed opportunity not to look at this”, said Councillor Rosie.
Highland Councillor Ron Gunn said the official who drew the document is coming north for a meeting with local elected representatives.
He stressed: “We have made it quite clear that these are just proposals. Nothing is set in stone and the views expressed at the last meeting will be fed into all the other feedback.”
Councillor Gunn said the paper contains some good and some not-so-good ideas.
Community council chairperson Thelma Mackenzie said it would have been better had the meeting with the official taken place before the launch of the public consultation.
“We’ll need to come up with a compromise,” she said.
