An upscale seaside town in Scotland has become a hotspot of resistance against new parking meters, with vandals damaging 30 out of 40 machines and causing £38,000 in losses before any fines could be collected.
Extent of the Vandalism
Attackers have spray-painted graffiti on the machines and signs, covered them in glue, and plastered stickers proclaiming ‘Resist!’. East Lothian Council planned to launch the parking charges this week but delayed the rollout until next month.
New Parking Rules
The proposed system offers motorists 45 minutes of free parking on the high street, followed by £1 for up to 75 minutes and £2 for a maximum of 90 minutes.
Resident Backlash
Locals claim council officials overlooked a petition with 7,000 signatures opposing the meters. One resident stated: ‘There are only a couple of weeks when it’s busy in the summer, the rest of the time, it’s fine as it is, so it’s really just moneymaking.’
Alana Anderson, owner of local business Madame Butterfly, expressed concerns: ‘I’ve been here eighteen years and when I first heard about the meters, I was terrified. I’m still terrified. You read social media and see people saying they won’t come to North Berwick again, and the council aren’t doing anything to reassure business owners. I don’t live in North Berwick, and I don’t know where I’m going to park. It’s a tricky place – people might just get in their fancy cars and go to Tesco. I don’t think vandalism is the answer, however I’m not really surprised. I do think it’s taking it a wee bit far, because I don’t think they’re going to change the council’s mind. They’ve put the machines in, and they’re not going to take them down. The vandalism won’t get us anywhere.’
Carol Smith added: ‘I’m against the meters. The parking is only an issue during the summer months when all the visitors come. I think it’s unnecessary and it’s causing issues for people on residential streets who don’t have drives. I think it will cause chaos. I think the vandalism is wrong. I sympathise with the feelings behind it, but I think it’s just going to cost us more money to get them repaired. I don’t think the council has listened to the residents at all.’
Council and Installer Statements
East Lothian Council leader Norman Hampshire stated: ‘The council budget can’t afford to employ traffic wardens and the income from the parking charges will allow us to employ them. If people think by vandalising the machines they will stop the parking charges coming in, we will bring them in. We need to do this. North Berwick is a small town, some people will know who is responsible for the vandalism and Police Scotland are confident they’ll be able to apprehend the people responsible.’
Freddie Jones, managing director of IPS UK, which installed the meters, described the damage as unprecedented: ‘We have experience of commissioning thousands of parking meters across the whole UK over a number of years. We have never seen the sheer volume and extent of the vandalism which has taken place in North Berwick. For a project of this type, it is completely unprecedented.’
Police Scotland called the attacks unacceptable.
