Crisis meeting over Cumbernauld town centre parking

Bosses at the Cumbernauld campus of New College Lanarkshire say that the number of their staff and students being hammered with £100 fines is far too high.

They say they are equally aware that the controversial parking charges are an issue for the wider public and want to invite them along to the event on campus at 4pm.

The meeting will be chaired by Councillor Allan Graham who has been liasing with various parties in the hope of finding a solution to the problem,

This is the product of restrictions served by Tesco and the Antonine Centre.

Other interested parties appearing include police, the fire services and Hamcap, the existing owners of the town centre who recently snapped up the lower level of the mall.

A spokesperson for the College said: “We are pleased to facilitate a public meeting to allow all parties affected by the restricted parking arrangement in the town centre to air their vies.

“We have had two very constructive meetings with town centre management representatives and feel there is a potential to work towards a solution together.

“We invite all interested parties to attend the public meting to help form a solution that will work to benefit everyone in the wider Cumbernauld community.”

Billy Lees of Cumbernauld Community Forum said: “We do not feel that these parking resrictions are unnecessary and we are 100 per cent behind these moves to sort this situation out.”

Tesco management will also be involved in the talks.

Meanwhile, Karen Blair of the Antonine Centre said: “I will be attending the the meeting to review and discuss the parking restrictions.

Mrs Blair said that a four hour parking restriction had been in place for eight years ‘‘with no complaint’’ and that Tesco’s restriction was one hour shorter than the Antonine’s.