A Glasgow community has slammed a rollout of parking controls in their area as “shambolic” due to the restrictions it could pose to local residents and the lack of communication they have received about it.
A new parking zone in the Kelvinside area, proposed by Glasgow City Council to reduce commuter parking, has been deemed ‘overly restrictive’ to those living there.
More than 2600 people have signed an online petition calling to reduce the controls to five days a week from 8am to 6pm, rather than the proposed seven days a week from 8am to 10pm.
It reads: “If these measures are to reduce commuter parking, as stated in the council letter, then Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm would solve the issue and whilst allowing residents to have friends and family visit on evenings and weekends.”
Frances MacInnes, who lives on Wilton Street, feels that the council has ignored the community’s objections since the consultation was first launched and continued into lockdown in March 2020.
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She told the Glasgow Times: “People made their voices heard, and I’ve spoken to hundreds of people who were told their opinions would be taken on board.
“I recently held a public meeting and about 40 people turned up and more joined online. We took a vote of how many people wrote a letter objecting, and just about every single person put their hand up.
“If that’s representative of the community, then the council has not listened and is still not listening. We have more than 2500 people signing this petition.”
The controls were intended to be implemented in November 2021, but they are yet to be officially enforced, leaving locals feeling uncertain about what is required of them.
Frances said: “I was told it was being pushed back because signage wasn’t visible yet and meters weren’t fully installed.
“There are still no Ringo details on meters, so people cannot pay cashless. But meters are accepting cash and giving tickets. It’s shambolic.
“I had someone come over to my house to fix my oven, and he told me he’d have to charge me for parking.”
Frances has also found the process of obtaining a permit extremely difficult, claiming her application has been refused five times before she eventually gained one.
The application process requires a resident’s most up-to-date council tax bill and a vehicle registration document, and both must be under the same name.
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But as her car is registered to her husband, Frances says she was told that this was insufficient information.
She added: “Telephone lines are only available from 1pm to 4pm on Thursdays and Fridays, although you can do a live chat.
“I phoned the switchboard trying to locate anyone to help me. They too couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone and couldn’t locate the live chat, stating they were probably all on a call.
“I’m quite tech-savvy, and I struggled with it. I feel for older people trying to navigate this, it’s so prohibitive.”
With residents currently paying £85 a year and this set to rise to £98, Frances worries that the controls will ultimately be detrimental to the people who live, work and worship in the area.
She said: “We’re all paying this fee for a parking system that’s supposed to be of benefit to us, but there’s no guarantee we’re going to get a space.
“We’ve got to endure paying exorbitant rates at meters for parents to bring kids home, people coming to visit, for people to worship.
“The timings are punitive to us and our visitors.
“It’s about residents and our community being able to live, work and have people be able to safely commute in our own city.
“We need a joined-up approach - something not detrimental to local communities but that fixes the problem of commuter parking.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “Parking schemes have been successful in many communities across the city and we are confident that residents in North Kelvin and North Woodside will experience similar benefits.
“This scheme has been driven by complaints about parking from the community with cars causing obstructions at junctions, dropped kerbs and on footways.
“Permit schemes, however, help to reduce parking by vehicles from outwith the community and increase the availability of parking spaces closer to people's homes.
“Like all parking zones, we can only provide spaces where it is safe to do so and forthcoming zones reflects this principle.
“Fewer parked cars also means greater road safety, particularly for pedestrians, and ease of access to streets for vehicles from the emergency and cleansing services.”
The community petition can be signed here.
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