OIC eyes proposals to reduce car park discount period

Christmas shoppers benefiting from an hour’s free parking this November and December may find themselves coughing up full price next winter.

That is if islands councillors agree proposals to shrink the winter discount period from seven months to three.

As it stands, Orkney Islands Council (OIC) charges £1.20 for one hour of parking in its short stay car parks between May and September (inclusive). The rest of the year, vehicle owners go free for the first hour.

OIC development and infrastructure committee is set to discuss recommendations to “amend the period of winter tariff” while keeping the current pricing structure. If agreed, this would see the one-hour-free offer available only from the beginning of January until the end of March.

A report by the council’s corporate director for neighbourhood services and infrastructure, Hayley Green, suggests this would generate an additional £89,976.00 in income for the authority.

But the report, which sets out a variety of alternative options for car park tariffs, also reveals concerns shared by Kirkwall BID.

The organisation, which aims to promote businesses in the centre of town has called for a compromise — reducing the winter discount to five months instead of three. This, BID suggests, would incorporate the two-month period before Christmas, helping businesses “survive through winter”.

The matter will go before the committee this coming Tuesday.

More on this story in next week’s The Orcadian.