Council car parks set to take card payments

No need to dig for loose change under the car seat any longer! Orkney Islands Council has announced that it will be installing card payment machines in its car parks, thanks to a boost from the Scottish Government.

New ticket machines being installed in the coming weeks will offer contactless and chip and pin card payments.

Work to install the machines – which will also accept coins – starts from Monday 14 March.

The new machines are fully funded by the Scottish Government Place Based Investment Programme Capital Fund.

All new machines are expected to be in place by the end of March.

OIC’s roads support manager, Kenny Roy, said: “The existing machines require more and more maintenance now and are due to be replaced.

“The option to pay by card has been a growing request over the past few years from our community and visitors, so we’re pleased to have secured funding from the Scottish Government to help us invest in that option.”

Once works start, there will be periods during the installation of new power supplies and of the new machines, when parking in the car parks affected will be free of charge due to temporary unavailability of the machines.

All other conditions of the car park order will continue to apply and be enforced, such as maximum stays and parking within marked bays.

Drivers are being asked by the council to continue to use the bays in the short stay “pay and display” car parks for a maximum of three hours to ensure a turnover of available spaces. You should always check whether the machine is working and not assume free parking is available.