£10 a night parking fees start battle
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PLANS to increase overnight lorry parking charges to a maximum of £10 a night have been announced by the Lothian Regional Council—but the Freight Transport Association will challenge the scheme on legal grounds.
In the FTA's view the council's proposal falls foul of the Traffic Orders (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 1969.
The council does not want to make the full increase immediately but has asked for the powers to do so in the future. However, the FTA believe that this would not be legal since it does not provide "a statement of all the charges proposed."
It would also, claim the FTA, allow the council to increase charges at will without further recourse to the laid down consultative and procedural requirements. "As a result," said the FTA, "those affected by the increases would be denied for all time their right of consultation."
According to the FTA's highways and traffic adviser, Richard Turner, the proposal challenges a fundamental principle and could have serious implications for the procedure surrounding the whole range of traffic management orders.
"In effect it is like advertising a one-way system without defining the traffic flow," he said. "Even at 5 per cent inflation level it would take 33 years to reach the maximum laid down by the council."