In response to feedback from those who use it, and as part of wider review of town centre parking focused on recovery from the pandemic, the car park will return to a ‘pay on foot’ system. 

This will enable drivers to pay at the end of their stay, rather than estimating in advance under the current pay and display system.

Explained Councillor John Anderson, Chair of the Community and Enterprise Resources committee: “What we want to do is give customers greater flexibility on where and how long they can park, as our communities look ahead beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“We have listened to what drivers and shoppers are telling us, and we believe that the change to pay on foot in Duke Street car park will benefit all users of the town centre and its businesses.

“The car park will be fully open as usual over the next couple of months as the works take place, however, as with any project of this kind, there will be some minor disruption.  This will be kept to a minimum as much as we can, and we thank users in advance for their patience and co-operation. 

“All going to plan we expect the new system to be up and running by early January.”

The return to pay on foot has been designed to complement the introduction of the RingGo cashless payment app and the ‘free after 3pm’ initiatives, both introduced in the past year.