New off-street parking policy could generate local investment

A new off-street parking policy which could generate income for local investment, will be considered on Thursday (24 Oct 2019) by members of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee.

Depute Leader Cllr Alasdair Christie said: “Every area has unique local priorities, whether this is gully cleaning, pot hole repairs, resurfacing or just managing traffic and tourism pressures. Changing our approach to charging for off-street car parking can provide a way to support some of the additional investment required to address these problems.

“This new approach can also enable real local decision making and local choices to be made about improvements – Improvements which we simply cannot afford from our current budget which has to be spread across a huge geographical area.”

Chair of the Committee, Cllr Allan Henderson said: “The Council manages infrastructure comprising some 4,000 miles of roads, 100 harbours, 1,400 bridges and over 200 schools. Each year, there is a reducing pot of money to invest in local infrastructure and services, and to find solutions for tourist congestion and traffic management across the region.

“Engagement with communities and staff across the Highlands has identified a number of areas which need more investment – people have also told us to generate more income to protect services and jobs. We have already successfully demonstrated that we can do this in Inverness, Lochaber and Skye.”

“The new policy would streamline and simplify the process for introducing charging for many more of our car parks and it would enable people to be involved locally in the decision making and in finding solutions to any concerns raised.”

The policy will be considered at a special meeting of the EDI committee on Thursday 24 October.