Parking could become easier in Kirkcaldy town centre with some time limits extended and confusing inconsistencies scrapped.
Some on-street parking gives as little as 20 minutes, forcing drivers to rush back to their cars.
However, other areas offer half an hour or more – and in some cases, different rules apply in different sections of the same street.
Councillors believe a consistent approach with a two-hour limit will benefit both motorists and businesses.
Members of Fife Council’s Kirkcaldy area committee came up with a number of suggestions for transportation officials during a town centre walkabout this week.
Parking on the east end of the High Street, right along past La Gondola restaurant, is being looked at.
And another request is to do away with the disused Hunter Street taxi rank in favour of metered parking.
This would bring the south side of the road into line with the bays opposite.
‘People need a bit more time’
The taxi rank was the subject of controversy last month when several people received tickets for parking in it at night.
It has not been used since the Postings Shopping Centre was torn down more than a year ago.
Labour town centre councillor Judy Hamilton said: “What we want is to have the same system as the other side of the road.
“We’ve also asked to extend the time to two hours – the same along the east end of the High Street.
“People need a bit of time. Twenty minutes or an hour is not enough, even to go for a coffee.
“We’ve also asked for restrictions in these areas to end at 5pm.”
Things have changed since Kirkcaldy parking rules were introduced
Fellow Labour councillor Alistair Cameron said the issue has been troubling people for years.
“At the harbour end there’s different times on each side of the road,” he said.
“People are getting confused so we really need to lift these inconsistencies and have a uniform approach.
“A lot of the restrictions were introduced 15 years ago when things were different.
“For example, the college had a campus along past the harbour and we didn’t want students parking all day.
“But it isn’t there anymore so do we still need those restrictions?
“We’ve asked transportation officers to look at all these inconsistencies but nothing is set in stone yet.”
‘We don’t want parking all day’
SNP councillor Rod Cavanagh described the present Kirkcaldy parking situation as “piecemeal”.
“This isn’t addressing parking across Kirkcaldy full stop. It is mainly the waterfront and surrounding area,” he said.
“What we don’t want to do is to allow parking all day. We need turnaround and hopefully that will help businesses.”
Officers have been asked to prepare a report in time for the next area committee on June 25.
Conversation