AFTER OPPOSING THAT Moray Council spend £60,000 on a review of parking in Elgin and moves to reduce parking charges in the town, it would be expected that the Convener of the Local Authority would be happy to use existing car parks.
However, an eagle-eyed local taxpayer has issued his own protest over the issue after spotting Councillor Alan Wright’s personalised Range Rover parked up in a ‘loading only’ area outside the Council HQ at the weekend – while he went shopping.
The irate insideMoray reader said: “I was looking for a parking slot myself when I spotted Councillor Wright’s car on Saturday morning at around 11.30am.
“It does seem a bit off that while the rest of us are pushing coins into Council car parking machines in the town centre our Convener prefers to save his money and park on the loading bay while he and his wife go shopping.
“If any of us do the same we would expect to get a ticket from the Council parking wardens – so it is hardly a good example being shown by the main man, in particular given his own position on reducing parking charges in the town centre or his opposition to the study of parking facilities in Elgin.”
Councillor Wright was noted to have been parked on the South Street loading bay for “around 40 minutes” by the reader after he had parked his own vehicle in a nearby paid parking bay.
“He was parked there for at least 40 minutes while he and his companion were shopping – I did wonder if he was in the Council building at first but that was shuttered and closed. The irony is that he has a reserved parking space in the Council’s own car park – but it does seem to be one rule for the Convener and another for the rest of us.”
insideMoray approached Moray Council for a comment but did not receive a reply.