Edinburgh Sucks! | Problem with parking

City Council

Problem with parking - read something

By The Basa ⋅ June 2, 2005 ⋅

The council have yet again put a strange spin on the enormous parking problem facing small businesses in the city.

Idiot Meadowbank Councillor Ian Perry, who is jokingly called the City’s economic development leader has had the council pay for the writing, printing and distribution of a booklet which does not one thing to help with the problem that the council created by dishing out parking fines, a lot of the time for no apparant reason.

Craig Docherty, director of Thompsons Sports in Great Junction Street, said that “no parking” zones have had a huge impact on his business. He is calling for more free parking spaces to be set up across the city to allow shoppers to visit high street stores without worrying about buying a ticket.

“We have had Greenways put up outside two of our shops, which has had a huge impact on business,” he said. “[The number of] people walking into the shops has deteriorated since they were introduced. There should be more free parking for a certain amount of time, which works in places like Musselburgh. Our shop there is OK.

“Greenway restrictions should be lifted out of rush-hour times, which would allow people to shop locally. If they stayed for longer than an hour, they could still get a ticket, but that would give them enough time to shop.”

Unfortunately, the booklet doesn’t address their issues - it doesn’t tell’s them bugger all about their problem. Instead, the council are distributing booklets which:

tells business owners where they can get advice on issues such as dealing with crime, marketing, employing staff, health and safety and trading standards.

It includes phone numbers and addresses for the police, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, and the Health and Safety Executive.

It would be interesting to find out how much all this cost.

More info: Retailers say parking restrictions hit profits