Councillor Alexander Stewart, Conservative Member for Perth South, today re-enforced the fact that the Conservative Budget proposal which would have provided free Saturday off-street parking across Perth City and the whole of Perth and Kinross would have been a success and has been commended by some within the business community.
Councillor Stewart said: “I was surprised and dismayed by some of the comments made by senior SNP Councillors at the Budget meeting last week when they rejected free parking and insisted that it was only “tokenistic” and would only benefit shop workers. To describe trade in Perth as “thriving” is perhaps an exaggeration as many retailers are still finding it challenging in the current economic climate and I believe we should be doing all we can to support any ideas which could be beneficial to the trade. A number of small businesses have spoken to me over the last few days to express their disappointment that the SNP-led Administration is so short sighted. This would have cost a few thousand pounds out of an in excess of £300 million budget and I believe would have been a shot in the arm for the retail sector in Perth City but also communities like Crieff, Dunkeld, Pitlochry and Blairgowrie.
The Conservatives have continually tried to support the retail sector and customers alike by proposing that pay on exit is introduced as well as managing to freeze parking charges across the Council area which were proposed to increase by 10%. The free parking on a Saturday would have been another method of doing this but it fell on deaf ears by the SNP Administration.”