AN EXHIBITION focusing on parking issues throughout Dunbar takes place on Wednesday afternoon.

East Lothian Council is keen to create a new car park between Woodbush and Church Street.

The exhibition will focus on the proposed 26-space car park but will also look at wider issues in the town, including the introduction of a time limit at Abbeylands car park and the possibility of an increase in parking spaces at the town’s railway station.

Pippa Swan, chairwoman of Dunbar Community Council, agreed that discussions needed to take place surrounding parking in the town.

She said: “My understanding from speaking or listening to people, the general sense is if parking for the station was sorted out then pressure on the car parks such as Abbeylands would be massively improved.

“There is plainly an issue with people abusing the time limit [for parking] on High Street, as stated in the council’s transport strategy.

“If there was better management of parking on High Street, the problem would be ameliorated.

“The perception is the station is the one that is really driving the problem, particularly at the south end of the town.

“That would seem to be a priority to try to get that sorted.”

Mrs Swan highlighted the increasing need for people to use public transport, as well as to travel on bicycle or on foot, and called for a full analysis to be carried out.

She added: “Before we put tarmac or concrete over grass, we need to have the story worked out.”

The exhibition, which takes place between 3.30pm and 7pm in the Town House, will feature a display showing initial designs of the proposal for the new car park.

A planning application is already with the local authority’s planning department.

That shows that the proposed new car park would be accessed by Lamer Street and Woodbush, with a metal staircase connecting the site – which is currently a patch of grass – to nearby Church Street.

Mrs Swan told the Courier that neighbours of the proposed development were “still strongly opposed” to the plans.

Officers from East Lothian Council will be on hand at the exhibition – which was originally planned for earlier this month but then cancelled – to discuss any issues.

Abbeylands car park, off High Street, currently has more than 30 spaces with no time restrictions.

However, concerns have been raised at community meetings that it is full from early in the morning, with people parking there and using the railway station to continue their journey.

Similarly, discussions are taking place between the local authority and Network Rail with a view to increasing the size of the car park at the nearby railway station.