Falkirk charity hits out at motorists leaving cars in Dollar Park

Customers have been finding it harder and harder to get parked at Arnotdale House, in Dollar Park, as so many spaces are taken up by people leaving their cars all day while they go to work.

The cafe is run by the charity Cyrenians who also have a new charity boutique in Arnotdale House, which is also used as their base for a range of services aimed at tackling the causes and consequences of homelessness. Next door is the Joint Dementia Initiative (JDI) which offers services to people living with dementia and their families.

General manager Jonathan Reid said the problem has been getting worse in recent months and it has been getting very difficult for people who want to use the park or the other facilities to get parked.

He said: “I get here at eight o’clock in the morning and often about three-quarters of the spaces are already gone. There is no-one in the park at that time and no-one in the house, so it is people parking to go work, leaving their cars all day.

“It’s having a really detrimental effect on our trade as no-one can get parked near us thanks to thoughtless parkers. Many of our customers are elderly and their mobility is limited – in addition the users of the JDI clearly need somewhere close to park, but are being prevented by selfish parkers.”

Mr Reid acknowledges that it is a public car park and there is nothing he can do legally to stop people parking there.

But he is hoping that people using it to park all day will realise the impact this is having on the charities and the people who actually want to use the park and the facilities within it.

“We just want to appeal to people’s better nature and ask them to think about parking somewhere else,” he said. “The other problem is that people are parking on grass verges and in bushes and it’s actually ruining the park.”

Falkirk South councillor Lorna Binnie has now taken the issue up with Falkirk Council Place Services and Falkirk Police.

Councillor Binnie said: “Cyrenians are a fantastic charity and Arnotdale is a busy social enterprise. It is doing great work, and loved by all in the community – therefore I have contacted the police to discuss these alleged car parking issues.”

She also pledged to ask Falkirk Council to look at initiatives that would discourage all day parking.

Councillor Sarah Patrick has also offered to help speak to town centre employers to see what can be done.

She said: “Arnotdale is a great facility with its café and shop and it would be a shame if parking restrictions had to be put in place. I am hoping that a bit of publicity and persuasion may encourage people who work in the town to park elsewhere.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said : “We were recently made aware of concerns regarding limited parking in Dollar Park, Falkirk. We would ask drivers to park responsibly and to be considerate of others.”