Manager defends introduction of parking charges at Falkirk estate

Guy Wedderburn said the barriers would be going up at the Lochgreen Road car park and parking charges introduced in September.

There will be a charge of £2.50 for those staying longer than 30 mins or an annual charge to regular users of £50. There is also an annual charge of £500 any small businesses can apply for if they regularly use the car park in the course of their work.

Callendar Estate has a 67km network of paths and over 17km of cycle trails - which are soon to be added to – and it is hoped the charges will help pay to maintain these well used recreational facilities so people can continue to enjoy them.

Mr Wedderburn said: “We have substantial costs to maintain our cycle trails and path network – it all adds up. In the good old days we used to get grants to help us with this and we still try and get them if we can, but those grants are drying up now.

"We’ve already seen parking charges introduced at other locations in the area like Muiravonside Park, I’m afraid it’s a sign of the times.”

While the imminent introduction of car parking charges is seen as a way to fund new developments – new cycle trails are hopefully going to be created – and maintain the existing paths and trails, they are not something everyone is happy about.

An angry dog walker got in touch with The Falkirk Herald this week and stated he thought the people who use the facilities were being penalised – especially during the current financial climate.

He said: “This area has been a favourite spot for lots of locals for years and the public are getting dealt a bad card to fund something that most can't afford during the peak of a cost of living crisis.”

The Canada Wood restaurant stated it was looking at some way of providing a parking validation system for those customers who are using the car park specifically to frequent the restaurant.