Mearns motorists could soon be hit with greater parking fines under new proposals from Aberdeenshire Council.
However, although the charge would be raised from £50 to £60, the fine will be cut to just £20 if it is paid on the day of issue.
The present £50 fine can be reduced to £40 if paid within 21 days but the new proposal would see that limit cut to only 14 days.
In a report to next week’s infrastructure services committee meeting, director Stephen Archer said the level of charge and deduction for an early payment has been unchanged for some time.
He said: “It would appear that a standard charge of £60 would seem appropriate with a lower charge of £40 if paid within 14 days of issue of the excess charge notice.
“To provide greater options for payment and to further minimise staff workload, it may be an option to introduce a lower payment tariff of £20 if the payment is made on the day of the issue of the notice and is done electronically via the key pay and chip and pin facility on the new machines.”
Almost half of the region’s pay and display machines have been replaced with solar powered machines that also allow payment via debit and credit card.
These machines are also equipped with keypads that will be available for a number of services such as the possible rapid payment of excess charge notices.
The redundant power supply for the replaced machines will be used to install one electric vehicle charging point in each town with pay and display.
The points will be operational by the end of the year and the use of these electric vehicle charging points will be monitored and reported back.
The cost of installing the points is estimated at £40,000 and will be met from agreed budgets. Mr Archer said there is a scheme to allow residents adjacent to pay and display car parks to apply for a permit to park there.
The current cost for an annual permit is £20 which is equivalent to paying for four days parking per annum.
Mr Archer added: “Whilst it is not proposed to do away with the scheme, the current charge seems very low and it is proposed to raise this charge to £80 per annum.
“At present, a resident has to obtain a new permit and is charged another £20 when they change their vehicle. It is proposed to do away with this charge.
”A series of meetings took place during June and July across the nine towns with car parking charges in place.
These meetings were held with interested groups such as local members, business associations and traders groups. The meetings have led to a series of draft proposals for future discussions with both area committees and the wider community.
The range of draft proposals that emerged from the initial meetings include:
* Free periods from charging within pay and display car parks.
* Removal of pay and display from some car parks.
* Free periods after 3pm.
* Reduced tariffs for shorter visits.
* A need for additional parking.
Following consideration of these draft measures at area level a full set of proposals will be reported back to the committee at its December meeting.