Parking Costs To Fall In Kirkcaldy

Parking charges are to be temporarily cut in Kirkcaldy in a bid to attract more shoppers.

A six-month trial, which will begin on 28th September 2015, will see charges drop by around 50%. The highest daily charge will be £3, while shoppers who wish to stay for up to two hours will pay £1.00.

A discounted quarterly season ticket will also be introduced to encourage local workers to park in central, convenient, long stay car parks within the town centre.

Chair of the Kirkcaldy Area Committee Cllr Neil Crook said: “Parking is a well-documented issue for Kirkcaldy town centre, particularly as we see other town’s parking rates recovering better following the recession.

“Although car park charges are usually considered on a Fife-wide basis, I’m pleased we have been given the opportunity to try to positively react to this situation locally. The impact of the closure of the Tesco store has given us a solid case to make these changes. We’ll be looking closely at this trial which will hopefully encourage more people to pay less and stay longer.

“Parking is as a key action point in Kirkcaldy’s ‘Time for Action’ plan and there will be great interest in whether this trial will contribute towards regenerating the town centre. I hope people get behind it and take advantage of these new parking options.”

Councillors have also approved the introduction of taxi ranks on the High Street, Cromarty Place and Seafield Road.

Cllr Crooks said: “Obviously the closure of Tesco’s Kirkcaldy store at the Postings shopping centre has changed the shopping patterns of people visiting the town centre. We need to consider alternatives close to where people may now shop instead of Tesco and have done this with input from the Taxi Owners Association. This is another positive step in addressing the changing issues our town centre faces.”