'It's East Lothian, not east Berlin' - German data influences parking charges plan
Hugely controversial plans to introduce parking charges to four East Lothian towns will be decided on Tuesday.
Business leaders have reminded councillors ‘it is East Lothian, not east Berlin’ after it emerged that data gathered in Berlin is being used to justify the introduction of parking charges in four small towns across the area.
Charges could be introduced to those parking up in Dunbar, Haddington, Musselburgh and Tranent, with a Full Council meeting on Tuesday to decide the issue.
The charges, which will raise funds for the council as it faces a £43m shortfall in its budget over the next five years, have proved highly controversial among residents and small traders.
Now, it has emerged that data gathered in Berlin, which showed that more than half of shoppers lived less than one kilometre from the shops, is being used by the council to refute claims from small businesses that customers travel by car from outlying areas to shop.
Garry Clark, East Scotland Development Manager for the Federation of Small Businesses said to compare the behaviour of shoppers in Haddington with those in Berlin was “just not credible or helpful”.
Mr Clark added: “Haddington is a beautiful market town whose great strength is its high street with its range of interesting and award-winning independent traders. They rely on people traveling from around East Lothian, and further afield, to shop there. Like in many other communities across Scotland, many of their customers travel by car to do their shopping.
“The council should be learning from the experience elsewhere in Scotland, such as in Angus or in towns like Inverurie, where the introduction of parking charges has caused serious damage to local town centres.
“They should not be studying comparisons between market towns with a population of 10,000 and the capital city of Germany with a population of nearly four million.”
The data gathered from Berlin showed that traders tended to overestimate the distances travelled by shoppers. It found over half of customers lived less than one kilometre from the shops.
However, Svetlana Kukharchuk, owner of the award-winning The Cheese Lady shops in Haddington and North Berwick, said parking charges would “place an avoidable barrier between local pe0ple and the small shops they cherish”.
She added: “Many of our customers – older residents, families, and those travelling in from nearby villages – value the freedom to pop in without worrying about a meter.
“Add a fee, and they will drift towards supermarkets, retail parks, or online shopping, leaving our high streets quieter and our towns poorer in character and financially.”
“Independent retailers are already carrying rising costs in energy, staffing, and supplies. Parking charges risk tipping the balance at a time when every sale matters.
She added: “You can’t compare Haddington to a city like Berlin with all its fantastic public transport, its subway and so on. That doesn’t make sense, it’s like comparing apples and oranges.”
East Lothian Council has spent 18 months consulting on the issue, with some concessions made before Tuesday’s meeting. Among them are free parking permits for parking staff at two main car parks in Haddington.
The council has argued that the charges will help raise revenue while improving enforcement of existing parking controls in town centres, residential parking, safety and tackling climate change, wellbeing and health.
An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “In formulating the parking management proposals, extensive research work was undertaken and the detailed reports going before Council refer to multiple sources of information relevant to the matters being considered.”
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