Wick shop owner in closure threat over parking restrictions
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A SHOP owner in Wick's Bridge Street is threatening to close his business if parking restrictions are strictly enforced on the street.
Kevin Milkins, who runs Birons Ironmongers, has created a "closing down sale" poster to put up in the front window if cars are not allowed to park for a few minutes to allow people to pop in to his shop.
"We rely on people to be able to park up for a few minutes to pick up a bag of firewood or a heavy tool and suchlike," he said. "If these double yellow lines go ahead and are strictly enforced then our income will drop by so much that it's not worth keeping the shop open."
At a recent meeting in Wick Town Hall about plans for a local regeneration scheme, councillors had pointed out how the double yellow lines would help appease concerns over pedestrian and vehicle safety, especially when cars are parked on either side of the street for long periods and serious congestion occurs.
Mr Milkins had tackled the councillors on the issue at the meeting but felt he was being "fobbed off".
This week he said: "I've asked them [the councillors] for a straight answer and I'm just not getting one. I spoke to Councillor Raymond Bremner and told him I'd be putting up the 'closing down' poster if he can't give me a straight answer. Are yellow lines going down or not? I haven't had any answer yet."
Councillor Bremner said: "Kevin's concerns were well made and we explained exactly what is happening. We can't reverse where the council is with its work on traffic regulations."
The councillor added that the consultation on the subject has been completed and "has gone to legal" but it was still possible to take the shopkeeper's concerns forward with traffic management officers.
"What I think is important is that Kevin got a chance to raise his concerns at a forum of town centre stakeholders and prior to that he had no such platform."
Mr Milkins said he has "lost faith" in many of the promises of local councillors with their "failure" to address other long-term issues on the street.
"There's an empty restaurant beside me and a dead rat that you can see through the window that's been lying there for 10 years. That was something the councillors and the council said they would sort out and nothing has been done."
In a frank interview Mr Milkins showed how his trading figures had been affected by restrictions on street parking such as when roadworks occurred or heavy loads such as wind turbine parts were driven by and the street "coned off".
It’s regrettable that anyone would want to cease trading prior to the introduction of the traffic regulations and that’s certainly not what we want to see
In the wake of the concerns raised by shopkeeper Kevin Milkins, the Wick and East Caithness councillors issued a joint statement on the subject of town centre parking and restrictions.
The statement said: "We have had considerable representation made to us over past months saying that on-street parking is of great concern to local people, causing many issues for drivers and pedestrians alike. Those concerns have been well reported in the local press and repeatedly raised by Wick Community Council.
"Recently, local councillors, who are keen to start a regeneration of the town centre, called a meeting with town centre stakeholders. A number of points were raised in respect of traffic concerns on Bridge Street and High Street – including the recent consultation.
"Some comments suggested that double yellow lines would impact on businesses, but others felt that the current problem with on-street parking inhibits off-loading, on-loading and accessibility for disabled persons.
"We also had comments that the introduction of the traffic regulations were a good start. It’s important to note that, as outlined at the meeting, when the double yellow lines are implemented there will still be a 10-minute wait time to allow for disabled access, off-loading and on-loading. People will still be able to make a quick purchase then move along. The result should be much freer and safer movement through Bridge Street and beyond.
"We believe the town centre forum we have created will also be a good platform to take forward any more issues and reflect different views in the community. It’s important to hear what everyone has to say. To that end, we have a note of the meeting ready to send out and we are arranging a follow-up workshop to discuss traffic management and business rates.
"It’s regrettable that anyone would want to cease trading prior to the introduction of the traffic regulations and that’s certainly not what we want to see. We would really like to work together to address any effects on businesses by the introduction of the traffic regulations whilst reducing the real risk to pedestrians and drivers, making our streets a safer environment for them.”
