Elgin's free parking extended until October
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MORAY Council has agreed to extend free parking in Elgin until at least October to help town-centre businesses pick up after the Covid-19 closures.
Parking charges were suspended at all 15 car parks in the town at the end of March. It had been planned to reinstate pay-and-display charges on August 1, which prompted widespread opposition from businesses and the public.
Local firms' concerns focused on the timing of the reintroduction – they said charges would be a deterrent to people coming into the town centre to shop, hindering economic recovery. Concerns were also raised over the lack of sanitisation next to ticket machines.
Councillors agreed yesterday to review the policy again on October 6 during a meeting of the emergency cabinet.
However, council officers warned that delaying the reintroduction of the charges would pile further pressure on the council's finances.
They said delaying the charges could result in an income loss of £37,000 each month, at a time when the authority faces a significant budget gap made worse by the pandemic.
The council is forecast to have a budget gap of £5.4 million in 2020-21 and £6.7 million in 2021-22 – before taking account of the Covid-19 impact.
Councillor Tim Eagle (Buckie) said the Conservative group was supportive of business requests to delay the reintroduction of charges. But he raised an issue of workers and residents taking up spaces when the suspension was designed to draw in shoppers.
Labour councillor John Divers (Elgin South), however, said that was not the main issue and called for an extension until October. He said: "The issue that we're dealing with is to draw people back into the town to the businesses there.
"It's fair to say some businesses do still want to leave the car parking charges until the end of January, but I think they realise here that the council has an issue here as well, that we're struggling for funding, and so we need to get a balance – a balance that is good for the council and good for the businesses of Elgin."
Independent councillor George Alexander (Forres), however, said there was no evidence that not charging for car parking in Elgin benefited the businesses – but there was evidence that people were taking advantage of it and motorists were benefiting most. He said the policy should come to an end in early September.
He said: "I do not think the present policy is benefiting businesses and it's certainly damaging the council."
Council leader Graham Leadbitter said: "Car parking charges are a significant part of the council's income and it's not, in my view, tenable to continue for an excessive amount of time without reintroducing car parking charges.
"We have to take some responsibility for getting our income back on track, otherwise we'll all be faced with more difficult problems further down the line."
Moray Chamber of Commerce said the extension was welcome for both businesses and customers, especially as support would be needed for town centres after the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme finishes.
