Green light for parking charges in four East Lothian towns

Plans to introduce parking charges in four East Lothian town centres have been given the go-ahead despite public opposition.

The process will now begin on introducing traffic regulation orders to support on-street and off-street charges in Dunbar, Haddington, Musselburgh and Tranent.

The meeting at the council chambers in Haddington Town House began with noisy protests outside.

In the county's biggest town of Musselburgh, parking charge plans were welcomed by local members with councillor Andy Forrest saying the town needed action.

He said: "There is no doubt Musselburgh needs parking management. There are no spaces seven days a week in Musselburgh town centre."

Scottish Greens councillor Shona McIntosh told the meeting that the proposed charges were cheaper than taking the bus into town.

"I do not think it should be cheaper, but that is the scale of the charges we are talking about," she added.

Earlier in the meeting, Ms McIntosh said the proposals for all four town centres were never about whether parking charges should be introduced - but about how they would be imposed.

She told the meeting: "There was never going to be a referendum about charging for parking, it was about how to introduce parking charges."

There would still be public consultation opportunities as the process to apply for traffic regulation orders moved forward with reassurances it was not a "done deal".

The SNP group councillors called for more transparency and clearer communication with the public moving forward and listed a number of areas in each town where additional work was needed.

The full details proposed for each town can be found here.

Reporting by local democracy reporter Marie Sharp.