Councillors were booed by angry protesters as they arrived for a chaotic meeting to approve the next step in introducing parking charges in town centres across East Lothian today.
Dozens of objectors gathered outside Haddington Town House waving placards and shouting at councillors to ‘do the right thing’ as they entered the building with passing cars and vans honking their horns in support.
Within half an hour of the meeting getting underway in the council chamber Provost John McMillan called a halt as the noise from protesters threatened at times to drown out the discussions among council officers and elected members.
Councillor McMillan appealed to members of the public who had come into the chamber to ask protesters outside to quieten down and allow them to go through the process of discussing the plans.
However he then decided to adjourn the meeting for advice before returning after a 20 minute break to carry on.
The live webcast was cut again after a vote approved pushing ahead with the proposals for Dunbar town centre with amendments. As the Provost suggested breaking for lunch one member of the public began shouting “shame on you all” at councillors and was asked to leave before the feed was cut.
Earlier council officers had stressed the meeting was being asked to approve the next stage of plans for parking charges in Dunbar, Haddington, Musselburgh and Tranent and there would still be public consultation opportunities as the process to apply for Traffic Regulation Orders moved forward with reassurances it was not a ‘done deal’.
SNP group leader Councillor Lyn Jardine said that while she supported the introduce of parking charges, more transparency was needed along with clearer communication with the public moving forward.
She put forward an amendment calling for more work to be done to ensure people were clear on what was being proposed, which was widely welcomed by fellow councillors. However a call, in her amendment for plans for the towns to be delayed until a review of the impact on North Berwick, where charges have already been approved, was brought back to council was rejected.
The first paper seeking approval for officers to start work on Traffic Regulation Orders for Dunbar were supported alongside a revised amendment dropping the delay for North Berwick feedback was approved by 11 votes to eight with councillors Shamin Akhtar, Ruaridh Bennett, Fiona Dugdale, Andy Forrest, Norman Hampshire, Carol McFarlane, Colin McGinn, Shona McIntosh, John McMIllan, Brooke Ritchie and Colin Yorkston supporting it. Councillors Lyn Jardine, Neil Gilber tand Tom Trotter voted for the original amendment while Councillor Kenny McLeod supported the officers recommendation with no amendment and Councillors Lachlan Bruce, Donna Collins, Jeremy Findlay and George McGuire voted against the progression of the scheme.
Council leader Norman Hampshire told the meeting that the parking scheme was required to fund enforcement to keep to town centre safe and parking available to more.
He called for changes to the proposals including a review of a free five minutes drop off time for parents at a local car park to extend the time allowed as well as reducing the time on street charges are enforced to between 10am and 4pm so residents had longer to move their vehicles.
Fellow Dunbar councillor Donna Collins, however, warned the parking charges would impact the many rural residents who had no option but to drive to reach the town centre.
The meeting is due to reconvene to discuss plans for three more towns after lunch.
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
