Charges are set to be reintroduced at public car parks across the north-east, council officials have revealed.
Aberdeenshire Council has announced it plans to begin charging drivers for using its pay-and-display car parks from January 4.
The local authority suspended charges for using the facilities earlier this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in response to concerns over members of the public having to touch payment machines.
The decision was also taken to minimise the risk to members of staff.
However, Aberdeenshire’s car parks cost the council around £48,000 to operate and maintain each month.
And officials are also keen to re-establish charges to assist with parking management.
The council’s head of transportation Ewan Wallace said: “As our town centres have started returning to higher levels of car use, some customers have been experiencing difficulty accessing parking spaces due to a lack of turnover.
“Charging is a way of managing the supply and demand of our pay and display car-parks and it helps bring our facilities closer to covering their own costs which is absolutely vital.”
Meanwhile, Aberdeenshire Council has recently carried out improvements at car parks across the region, including the introduction of new card payment options.
Cashless payments can also be made using the RingGo mobile phone app.
All payment machines have also been linked to hand-held enforcement devices used by wardens – benefitting those who pay but forget to display their ticket.
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