Luss parking plans may be reversed

Hugely controversial plans for new parking restrictions in Luss could have hit a dead end.

The proposals by Argyll and Bute Council would have reduced the number of spaces in the picturesque village and forced residents to pay for permits.

They were bitterly opposed by residents, the village community council, MSPs and landowners Luss Estates, who offered to build a parking area just outside the heart of the village for some of the 750,000 people who visit every year.

Almost 300 people objected to the council’s plans, and a report to the Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Thursday acknowledges: “It is unlikely that a legally deliverable solution acceptable to residents could be reached.”

Five options are proposed for councillors

• Doing nothing
• Referring the draft traffic regulation order to a government Reporter either as it stands or with changes – both these would involve ‘significant cost’
• Starting afresh – though it is thought unlikely a legal solution could be found which would satisfy objectors
• Implementing an experimental traffic regulation order, which ‘may be unpopular’

No specific recommendation is made, but it seems likely that councillors will prefer the option of doing nothing ‘in reflection to the strength of feeling and significant number of objections’.

The report adds that if this option is taken there would be minimal changes in and around the village, but signs might be put up directing visitors to the off-street car park and advising that Luss is a conservation village with narrow streets and not suitable for traffic.

Luss and Arden Community Council commissioned a report from traffic consultant Andrew Carrie which put forward an alternative solution, but Argyll and Bute’s lawyers said they had

In 2015 it was revealed here that cash-strapped Argyll and Bute Council was already raking in £72,000 annually from car parking tickets in Luss – since then the cost of parking has been increased.

But residents say they see little in return for that money and want visitors to park outside the village.