Parking charges are to be gradually re-introduced in Dundee, with concessionary prices until September.
Concessionary parking will be introduced at Bell Street and Olympia, from mid-August, to continue supporting key workers and small businesses.
Parking charges in the city were suspended following the Coronavirus outbreak, to support key workers while most people remained in lockdown.
Now, as lockdown eases and more people return to workplaces and shopping areas, parking charges will be reintroduced on a phased basis between July 13 and October.
City development convener Alan Ross said: “The unique circumstances of lockdown meant that temporarily removing parking charges was absolutely the right thing to do.
“That arrangement has now been in place for three months, and I’m sure it has been of great benefit to our key workers and others across the city.
“However, we now need to start charging again, as the income generated supports the delivery of the service, and we are planning a phased approach to this between this month and mid-October.”
The first phase of charging from July 13 applies to all on-street bays, as well as the surface car parks in the city centre and Broughty Ferry. Limited wait bays will also be enforced from this date.
If progress on the route map out of lockdown continues as expected, the gradual roll-out will see charging resume at city centre multi-storey car parks in August. Greenmarket and Gellatly Street will be full price, while Bell Street and Olympia will cost £3-a-day.
Normal pricing is expected to resume at Olympia and Bell Street from mid-September.
Finally, the re-introduction of charging at car parks in the West End is planned for October 2020.
Councillor Ross added: “We are giving people as much notice as we can to ensure everyone is aware of the changes.
“From mid-August, shoppers and workers will benefit from the £3 per day deal on offer at Bell Street and Olympia to park on the edge of the city centre. This will help to continue improve the air quality and maintain low traffic within the centre of Dundee, as we’ve seen during the lockdown period.
Depute city development convener Mark Flynn said: "Of course, we continue to encourage active travel such as walking and cycling. The last few months have changed all of our habits, including how we get around, and there are lots of health and environmental benefits to maintaining them, some or all of the time.”
The move was agreed today by the leaders of the political groups on Dundee City Council under essential business arrangements.
Up-to-date information throughout the phased return of car-parking charges can be found on the Dundee City Council website.
Dundee City Council
Dundee draws skilled workers from a 60-minute catchment population of 640,000 and has a local population of over 140,000. The availability of a large pool of highly skilled labour is a key feature in the Dundee economy. Flexibility in the labour force is currently more prevalent in Dundee than in Scotland as a whole. All forms of labour market flexibility - part-time, temporary employment, self-employment and shift work - are widely operational within the city. Labour force stability in the city is excellent, enabling companies to plan with confidence. Labour turnover levels are less than 5% and absenteeism averages 2%.
