Motorists living near a west Stirlingshire beauty spot will now have to pay to park there as the landowner fights against persistent fly tipping at the site.
Anyone visiting the Queen’s View and The Whangie Car Park – which sits on the A809, between Carbeth and Croftamie – will now be asked to fork out to park at the location, with parking costs ranging from £2 for an hour to £7 for 12 hours.
Signage was erected at the location in recent weeks, notifying drivers of the new charge.
The signage appeared at the behest of parking solutions firm Complete Parking Services (CPSUK) Ltd, who were contacted by the Queens View car park owners – The Auchineden Estate – back in April this year, with regards to the introduction of both a paid parking and an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system for this site.
CPS this week said the decision to introduce fees to park at the location was made to reinvest in the maintenance of the car park and the proceeds of the fees will also go towards tackling ongoing issues around fly-tipping at the site, which has become a “serious challenge” for the owners.
Images were also sent to us of a burnt out car at the beauty spot.
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A CPS spokesperson told the Stirling Observer: “The purpose of charging for parking on the site, is the reinvestment of revenue from parking payments, into both the ongoing maintenance of the car park itself as well as the upkeep and development of the trails and tracks leading to the Queens View, thus ensuring the public can continue to enjoy the beautiful landscape for the foreseeable future.
“The revenue will also be used to address the ongoing issue of fly tipping, which has occurred over the years.
“Fly tipping has become a serious challenge for the owners of the site, items such as burnt out cars, tyres, household waste and asbestos sheeting have all had to be removed from site due to the hazard to visitors and the degradation of the countryside, all at cost to the landowner.
“The ANPR system was installed to act as a deterrent to fly tippers as all vehicles entering the car park are logged by the ANPR camera system.
“The ANPR camera will also enable CPSUK to carry out enforcement to those motorists who do not abide by the site’s terms and conditions.”
Drivers who fail to stump up the parking charge could be issued with a £100 parking charge notice (PCN).
The signs warn drivers that they must pay the parking fee online and drivers must provide full and correct vehicle details when paying.
Blue badge holders are not exempt from the charge.
However, in the small print, the signage states that the “agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales”.
It makes no mention of its legalities under Scots Law.
According to Citizens Advice Scotland, when motorists park on private land, like a private car park, they enter into a contract with the landowner.
Any signs that clearly display rules for using the car park give you the terms of the contract.
The car park owner can take steps to enforce any of these rules if broken.
If you receive a PCN for parking on private land, you can decide to follow one of three options – pay the fine, do nothing or challenge the ticket.
Parking tickets on private land aren’t a criminal matter.
If you decide to pay the fine, often the parking operator will offer you a ‘discount’ if you pay the charge within the first 14 days.
If you decide to do nothing, the company may continue to send requests to pay and you could continue to ignore these.
Private parking operators could take you to court, but they may choose not to do this, as the amount of money being demanded is usually small.