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West Lothian residents have last chance for say on possible parking charges

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorStuart Sommerville
Published date29 June 2022
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
A survey, launched in May will close on Friday July 1 - and its results will be taken into account as the council decides on a parking strategy

A £50,000 review of parking strategy potential, delayed by the pandemic, is also expected to release its findings later this year.

Like most councils in Scotland West Lothian does not police parking, the only places that charge for parking are the Livingston Centre and the Vennel car park in Linlithgow , both of which are privately operated.

However new Holyrood legislation is set to come into force next year, which bans parking on pavements and West Lothian will have to start policing parking, either by hiring its own traffic wardens or by contracting out to private companies.

It is unclear as yet as to whether extra resources will flow to councils to manage parking laws.

The deadline looms just as East Lothian Council has agreed to launch a consultation into paying for parking on its town streets.

In West Lothian the extensive survey also crucially asks what people would be prepared to pay per hour to park on town streets - ranging from 50p to £3.

The survey asks 19 questions, including where drivers usually park,and if they pay for parking in surrounding towns and cities in central Scotland.

It also asks where drivers find it most difficult to park and how much time drivers add to their journey times to allow for a search for parking spaces.

The survey also questions what other measures the council could introduce to discourage car use, to promote public transport and the improvement of the environment of towns and villages.

It also asks for opinions on the development of the electric car network.

Many local authorities now either run what is known as Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) schemes where they can issue fines for parking violations, which are not recorded as offences, or they contract out DPE to private firms.

West Lothian decided against this particular option in late 2019. In the last council administration Labour also ruled out the introduction of workplace parking charges.

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