Council hell-bent on driving people out of Hamilton

May 1 2008

I AM writing in response to the recent story in the Advertiser about shops closing down in Hamilton.

It’s true when they say the council don’t do enough to encourage shoppers to the town centre. In fact, it would appear they’re trying to do the opposite.

We all know that parking is a nightmare. There are yellow lines absolutely everywhere, even in places where they’re not required.

The council have to get real. They should try parking at the retail park for instance (currently the only free parking available), then unpacking a pram and getting three kids up the street to, say, Bairds. And please, Mr Councillor, if you choose this experiment at least choose a day when it’s raining (as it usually is!).

By the time you get there, you’re exhausted and not much in the mood to be blown away. Who wouldn’t go to East Kilbride, where there’s free parking on Sundays? It’s all indoors, it’s clean and dry, and warm too. And not forgetting there’s a wide variety of shops.

People want to get out of their cars and into the shops with as little fuss as possible, which is why retail parks are springing up all over the place.

The council have to take a long look at the future of Hamilton and see the harm the parking issues are doing.

They have to be more lenient. It’s not London we’re living in — it’s not even a city — and yet it’s a struggle to do the simplest of things like picking up your child from school, parking and going to the local shops.

The best thing they can do is scrap the Blue Meanies and wipe out a few yellow lines.

But most of all, at least provide free parking within walking distance to the centre for even one day a week!

Hamilton citizen, letter sent by e-mail.