The Fife Free Press Keep It Free campaign against hospital parking charges has attracted enormous public backing.

The campaign was launched at the start of the year when Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust announced plans to charge staff, patients and visitors for parking at Fife’s three main hospitals – Victoria and Forth Park in Kirkcaldy and Queen Margaret in Dunfermline.

Under the scheme, which was initially intended to come onstream in April, visitors and patients would have to pay £1 every time they parked at one of the sites and staff would have to pay £60 per year for the privilege of parking at work.

The proposals have attracted widespread criticism from a variety of sources – Fife Council, the region’s MSPs, voluntary organisations, hospital staff and the general public – with one of the principal concerns being that the charges are an unacceptable tax on the sick and vulnerable.

As anger over the proposals has escalated, The Fife Free Press has kept the issue in the spotlight by carrying weekly news stories on the subject and launching a petition against the charges which has to date attracted more than 20,000 signatures.

The petition was presented to the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament and then referred to Health Minister Susan Deacon to consider.

Despite the overwhelming opposition to the plans, the Trust installed parking barriers at the three sites in May, although the charges to date have not been introduced.

In one of the latest developments, The Fife Free Press revealed that the Trust did not have planning permission for the barriers, despite being told last year by planning officials that this was necessary.

Applications have now been lodged in retrospect which has given the public a renewed opportunity to scupper the scheme by objecting to the barriers on planning grounds, a method which has been supported by the Press.

The applications will now have to be considered by the relevant planning committees at the end of August, when it is hoped councillors will reject the plans and bring the Trust’s controversial proposals to a halt.

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111 x6022, or e-mail us now

Back to the campaigns index