Councillors hit back at Reform motion to permanently end parking charges

Furious North Ayrshire Labour councillors have hit back at Reform UK rivals after voting against their “madcap” scheme to permanently end parking charges.

Cllrs Matthew McLean and Stewart Ferguson, who defected from the Tories late last year put a motion to the full council on Wednesday, calling for a byelaw to protect free parking in any car park that it owns, controls or manages subject to the existing arrangements for car park charging in Largs remaining in place.

Labour put forward an amendment calling for parking charges not to be introduced for the remainder of the term.

Cllr Nairn Angus-McDonald said: “North Ayrshire doesn’t have town centre parking charges because Labour councillors found money elsewhere in the budget to stop them being introduced in 2023. That was the council’s policy before Wednesday’s meeting, and it remains the council’s policy.

“What was proposed was a madcap idea for the council to pursue a byelaw against itself, for which there is no legal precedent. When the council is cutting teachers and crossing patrollers, Reform and the Tories want the council to spend an unknown amount on legal costs associated with pursuing this bylaw against itself.

“The local businesses who have organised opposition to parking charges know which councillors stopped them being introduced, and it was not the political non-entities in the Tory Group, or their two Reform defectors, who between them couldn’t find a single brown penny in the council’s budget to stop the SNP administration implementing parking charges back in 2023.

“Labour councillors stopped parking charges in 2023. We opposed them this year when the SNP brought them back. And on Wednesday we proposed that the council should rule them out for the remainder of the council. That’s what should now happen.”

Reform said: “North Ayrshire residents have been let down once again by Labour’s incompetence and political game-playing, as our bold proposal to kill off the threat of parking charges and enshrine free public parking in a permanent bylaw was defeated in the council vote.

“Reform UK Councillors put forward a common-sense motion which reflected the overwhelming public support for free parking across North Ayrshire.

“This was a chance to deliver real change—supporting local businesses, supporting families,and putting residents first. But Labour chose petty politics over principle, and their blunder has left the door wide open for parking charges to return.

“The SNP stood firm in their support for keeping parking charges on the table—consistent with their previous votes to fleece drivers.

“ Labour tabled a sneaky amendment to delay charges, leaving room to ram them through later. Labour failed to grasp that the SNP’s amendment took precedence, abstained on the final vote, and handed victory to the pro-charges camp.”

Tory group leader Cllr Cameron Inglis, said: “Residents shouldn’t have to pay to shop in their town centre, visit their GP, or pick up their children. We voted to make sure that this would be the case. The policy would have also protected what we have and blocks any attempts for private car parks to be paid for if the council was to sell the land.

“The administration has not listened to residents who have been saying for two years now that they do not want car parking charges in their towns. The SNP put forward a motion saying that they should retain the power to introduce parking charges.

Cabinet member Tony Gurney said: “The section of the motion asking for a byelaw to be introduced is not conducive to good governance.

“The process is time-consuming. There would be drafts and finalised documents would have to go through standard governance processes and we would require consultation with any impact assessments. Any final bylaw then approved would have to go to Scottish ministers. The outcome would be a bylaw which even if confirmed by Scottish Ministers could be revoked by the authority or any successor simply by building it the local press. So lots of time, resources and angst for no practical benefit – even if the bylaw was approved.”

The SNP amendment defeated the Reform motion which meant that the Labour amendment was negated.