Town centre staff angry at new parking charges

Oct 8 2009 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

STAFF who work in Livingston town centre say they will be penalised for coming to work when the new parking charges are implemented on Monday.

They say that full-time staff face charges of £7 per day to leave their cars in the car parks at The Centre and Designer Outlet.

And they are angry over what they claim are broken pledges by the shopping centre’s owners, Land Securities, that all staff would be given free, or at least concessionary, spaces.

Margaret McDonald, who works in The Centre, said many staff will struggle to pay the fees.

She said: “People are up-in-arms about this. There are a very small number of spaces allocated to each business and staff are being told there will be an amount of concessionary spaces where we can pay £10 for five-days’ parking.

“However, there won’t be enough concessionary spaces for all the staff either, so that means people are having to pay the same rates as shoppers would pay.

“The difference between us and customers though is that we don’t have a choice of how long we are there because we need to go to work.

“When this was being planned, we were told that a different system would be in place for staff than for customers.

“Even if they charged us 50p or £1 per day they would still make money, but as it is a lot of people will not be able to afford this.”

The parking charges which will apply for all car parks surrounding the shopping centre are: up to two hours - 50p; two to four hours - £1; five hours - £2; six hours - £4; seven hours - £5; eight hours - £6; nine hours - £7; 10 hours - £12 and 24 hours - £15.

Another member of staff at The Centre said she believes the charges will also have an impact on the number of customers visiting the shopping centre.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “We have 15 staff and have been allocated two free parking spaces, which means people like me who sometimes work a 10-hour day, are facing a bill of £7 or £9 per day.

“For people on a minimum wage that is just not sustainable.

“Aside from the impact on staff, we are concerned on the affect it may have on customers as well.

“We have been trying to find out what the footfall is like in the centre this year, because our business is down 20 to 30 per cent on last year and this is certainly not going to help.”

Livingston MSP, Angela Constance, said she also has serious concerns over the parking issue.

She said: “I believe in the current economic climate, it will put many people off visiting Livingston at the very time when we need all the business and trade we can get.

“In terms of the impact this will have on staff, asking people to pay around £120 per month to park to go to work is just astronomical.

“I know some parking is being provided for staff by Land Securities and West Lothian Council, but I am lobbying them both to provide more spaces as this could also impact on residential areas surrounding the centre.”

Land Securities say passes at The Centre have been allocated fairly based on unit sizes and staff numbers and say retailers will receive up to seven passes each which they will distribute to staff.

Neil Carron, project director, Land Securities, said: “We will establish dedicated staff parking areas on level three of The Centre Car Park 1, and level six of Designer Outlet Car Park 1.

“These spaces will be free of charge and their use will be controlled by swipe cards allocated to tenants.

“There will also be concessionary staff parking areas on level two of The Centre Car Park 1 and level five of Designer Outlet Car Park 1.

“The number of spaces available in these areas will be limited and will vary depending on seasonal availability.”