It was quite illuminating to read your report about the council meeting (East Lothian Courier, February 29), where more decisions about future parking arrangements for North Berwick were made.
Councillor Shona McIntosh’s claim that “feelings aren’t facts” and “anecdotes aren’t evidence” were two statements I could not agree more with. And apparently all Labour and SNP councillors present agreed too.
So may I ask where the evidence is that North Berwick has a parking problem outside the festival and main tourist season? One count in August? One council official having to take “one of the last two remaining spaces in the Glebe” on a beautiful winter weekend?
And I am looking forward to seeing the evidence that the new proposed scheme will alleviate the parking problems we experience in the high season when day visitors are streaming in, who want to park for a day’s outing. Any new spaces for them? The only effect may be we get less traffic from fewer visitors, because people stay in Portobello instead. Is that what our councillors want?
And where is the evidence that (according to Shona McIntosh) “people... feel safer” if they have to pay for parking? Are there even anecdotes for that? I can’t think where they’re coming from...
Instead, we have real evidence from Berwick and Ayr that the local councils had to withdraw paid parking because it was killing their local business. And shops in Cardigan saw booming sales after vandals destroyed the ticket machines.
So, dear councillors, do as you preach and provide us with hard evidence instead of anecdotes and fairy tales!
Christiane Maher
Emeritus Professor for Strategic Transport Management
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