Traders concerned at Cumbernauld Village parking shortage

Jim Walker, who owns the Black Bull pub and Puccini’s restaurant, said: “They’re spending all that money on improvements in the Village Main Street and it will look very nice, but nobody will come here unless they can park. We have around 29 businesses in the Village and most of the limited parking there is is used by staff. The Village is pretty much gridlocked from 8.30am when people come to work.

“We need more parking spaces. They could build a car park at the rear of main street or put meters in the car park there is now. My restaurant is empty at lunchtime most days as people don’t have the time to come here if they can’t get parked nearby.”

However, the council says it has not been contacted by others sharing these concerns during the development of the CARS scheme. Business manager Dave Sutton said: “Throughout the development of plans for the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS), the issue of car parking has not been raised by the community. There are no plans within the CARS to introduce any additional parking. We have regular meetings with the local Community Council and others to discuss progress with the project, and if anyone has concerns they can contact us directly or come along to the meetings.”