A Moray Labour councillor has criticised an increase in car parking fees in Elgin.

At a meeting of Moray Council on the 27th of September, councillors agreed that the cost of parking in Elgin would double from January 2024.

This was criticised by Councillor John Divers (Elgin South), who claimed that increasing fees would not result in greater income for Moray Council. He commented:

“This will not deal with the illegal parking problem.

“For example, the police have advised Elgin councillors and Elgin Community Council that when issuing parking tickets, the advice that they’re getting from people who are illegally parked is that it’s actually cheaper to take the fine than to pay for parking.

Raising prices may seem to be good for the Council, but we actually lowered them at one time and got a better return on what we did.”

Councillor Divers proposed an amendment against raising the prices, which was seconded by Councillor Sandy Keith (Elgin North), however it was defeated, with a majority of Conservative and SNP councillors voting to increase charges.