Motorists in the West End of Dundee have been forced to pay up or find another spot after the council failed to lift fees for home working residents.
Locals have demanded Dundee City Council lift parking fees at seven car parks across the West End — as was the case when the first Covid-19 work from home orders were sent out last spring.
Currently, drivers must cough up £2 a day to use each of the car parks between 9am and 5pm.
This expense may have been avoided if they were working in the office, however, the Scottish Government has put a legal duty on employers to allow home working.
The council’s lack of action has prompted an uproar from residents, with some even graffitiing signs in an effort to show their outrage.
One sign which notifies residents of the charges being reinstated has been marked “would someone with less to lose than me please knock the crap out of these despicable metres.”
Others have reported the issue to their local councillors.
‘A money-making excuse’
Rosie Ivins, a resident of Bellefield Avenue, has called the charges “a money-making excuse”.
She said: “We’ve asked if the council can lift the charges or at least give some sort of parking permit for residents but they won’t shift.
“I’m working from home now and I’ll always avoid parking there because you have to pay and keep running down to update your ticket — it just doesn’t work.
“People avoid parking there and what you actually get is double parking on the streets around here.
“(The council) won’t compromise on it.”
Karyn Joss, another Bellefield Avenue resident, added: “I moved in about a year ago and I originally thought there would be some kind of permit system.
“It hasn’t affected me yet, but I can imagine it’s quite the issue for a lot of people around here.
“I don’t know if it’s likely to change.”
‘No wonder residents are angry’
Councillor Fraser Macpherson has picked up the residents calls and plans to bring their demands to a meeting of the council’s city development committee next month.
He said: “I am very critical of the council’s inaction on this, which flies in the face of the Scottish Government’s instruction to work from home given the latest turn of events on Covid-19.
“The council is placing a disincentive to working from home – something that is not, in my view, a responsible approach.
“The West End is unique in the city in having the only Dundee car parks in residential areas with parking charges but without any form of residents’ parking scheme, due to the failure of the SNP administration to make progress on the issue.
“We now have a situation where people are being expected to work from home but the council is putting a clear disincentive by taxing residents for doing so.
“No wonder residents are angry.”
A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “Elected members are expected to discuss this matter at the city development committee meeting in January.”
Where are the car parks?
- Roseangle
- Pennycook Lane
- Miller’s Wynd
- Mid Wynd
- Bellfield North
- Ryehill Lane
- Union Place North
