Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Problems will only get worse
Gartcosh up in arms over parking
Gartcosh residents say they are being driven to distraction by parking issues on the industrial area in their village.
They say routes are clogged up with vehicles parked on roadsides by staff of the nearby Scottish crime campus; while lorries are also using the site to park for rest stops.
Now there are calls for North Lanarkshire Council to introduce a “clearway” throughout the affected business interchange area to prevent the roadside parking, which locals say is also ruining the area’s verges and impacting on its nature reserve.
Local authority officials say they are aware of the ongoing issues; they met with representatives of partner organisations last week and were scheduled to meet community council representatives yesterday.
Gartcosh resident Professor Sam McKinstry has written to council chief executive Paul Jukes, Strathkelvin councillor John McLaren and Police Scotland chief constable Phil Gormley, highlighting the situation and demanding action.
He said: “There can be an overspill of 200 cars from the crime campus because the car park isn’t big enough – it has less than 700 spaces for 1100 staff so it’s a gallon into a pint pot.
“The road where the parking occurs is the access for the railway station, and it’s dangerous for passengers trying to reach it because there are cars parked along both sides of the road.
“It means there have been a number of dangerous near misses, and it’s people’s deterring use of the station. There’s hardly anywhere to park for the whole campus, but the irony is that there’s no shortage of land to create more spaces.”
He continued: “Lorry parking has been a problem for the past three or four years, before the crime campus was even opened – heavy trucks are parking up long-term and overnight in the industrial site.
“All these issues mean the grass verges are being churned up and causing damage and problems caused with drainage. It’s ruining the amenity of the local environment for the people of Gartcosh.
“The recreation area like the bike and nature paths, and the newt conservation area, are now a joke; it’s made the entrance to the area awful and an eyesore and must be making the planned office and factory units unattractive to potential businesses.
“One solution being put up is imposing a clearway to prevent all the roadside verge parking and the damage it’s causing. It’s North Lanarkshire Council’s job to keep these roads in repair.”
Gartcosh neighbour Jim Diamond, who is the vice- chair of the area’s community council, said: “We raised the parking issue when the crime campus was being built. We have no issue with the staff there – all we want is another car park to take vehicles off the roadway.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve seen bulky lorries, including foreign vehicles, coming off the motorway for rest stops and overnight parking. They see all the cars parked up and think it’s a free-for-all. The damage from parking on verges has been enormous.
“Our solution is that the council creates a clearway with no parking and no stopping, and we’re trying to convince them. It wouldn’t cost a lot of money and would probably save it in the long term as they’ll have to repairs these roads very shortly.”
North Lanarkshire officials met last week with representatives of the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and crime campus building occupiers, and were then scheduled to update community councillors yesterday.
A council spokesperson said: “We are working with Gartcosh community council and the local owner/occupiers to address the problem with parking at the industrial site.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “The Scottish crime campus management board are actively looking at the issue of car parking at the campus and continue to work with all the interested parties.”
There have been a number of dangerous near misses . . .