Parking charges suspended in Dundee from Boxing Day
The council's agreed to scrap on and off-street fees for three weeks as mainland Scotland gets set to move to level 4 coronavirus restrictions
Last updated 22nd Dec 2020
On and off-street parking charges in Dundee will be lifted from Boxing Day, when level 4 coronavirus restrictions kick in.
The council's agreed to suspend the fees for three weeks.
Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said: “Under the level four restrictions the only people using our car parks and on-street parking should either be key workers, or those workers in our communities who are having to use bays or surface level spaces they wouldn’t normally be using.
“These charges were suspended during the first lockdown earlier in the year and it would be unfair and unjustified if we asked people to pay them now.
“We saw in March and April that there was a dramatic reduction in the amount of traffic on our roads and the need for parking dropped in line with that.
“The suspension will be reviewed after three weeks and a decision taken in light of the circumstances at the time.”
West End Lib Dems councillor Fraser Macpherson's welcoming the decision.
“Just two weeks ago, the council voted down my proposal to extend free parking in council car parks in residential areas in the West End," he said.
"Although I had the support of all opposition parties to my proposal, the SNP voted it down, with me losing by the closest of margins.
My argument is that it is nonsense for the council to charge people to park near their homes when the Scottish Government guidance is to work from home during the coronavirus health emergency situation.
“However, I am pleased to say, with the move of mainland Scotland into Level 4 restrictions from Boxing Day, the leader of the council has now asked other group leaders to now agree to waive all car parking charges - both on-street and off-street - during Level 4 restrictions.
This is common sense but I struggle to understand why this could not have been agreed when I first raised it given that the Scottish Government guidance about working from home has remained the same throughout.”
Hear all the latest news from across Tayside, Perthshire and Angus on the hour, every hour, at Tay FM. Listen on FM, via our Radio Tay app, on your DAB radio, online at TAYFM.co.uk, or say ‘Play TAY FM’ on your Smart Speaker.