Time to think differently on car parking

I am glad that the council has agreed to take action around West End car parking. Discussions at meetings must lead to action. I will be keeping a close eye on this it is important that these meetings do not become the equivalent of the long-grass.

Some local people are suggesting that we look at using city centre car parks as a means of taking cars off the streets of the West End.

It seems to me that many of the standard approaches to car parking have been tried already. I think that there is a need for open minds which are prepared to think differently. We need to listen to local people about the problems and listen to their ideas about the way forward.

We need to look at ideas from other places, can we solve the problem by doing things differently.   I welcome the proposals which have been discussed by the West End Community Council.  We should be looking to see if it is possible to use all of the car parking resources of the council to solve the problem.  These may or may not be the solution to the problem but we need to be open to new thinking.  If the proposed meetings are to have any point then nothing should be ruled out prior to the meeting.

We also need to engage with employers and organisations which generate large amounts of traffic such as Ninewells Hospital and the University of Dundee.

I am looking forward to constructive meetings and hopefully some genuine progress to try and solve the problems which I see on a daily basis as a local councillor and resident.