Miss Morna Mulgray (Courier letters, September 5) addresses issues related both to parking in North Berwick and to second homes and short-term lets (STLs).
At a 2021 public meeting, Miss Mulgray memorably characterised changes in the town as turning the coastal area into “a desert” of unoccupied houses and winter darkness.
Miss Mulgray now acknowledges that, although the parking proposals contain good ideas, they’re probably “unworkable”, particularly parking meters cluttering up the conservation area’s narrow pavements.
As a long-established resident, her intervention is a timely reminder to the council and all politicians elected to serve the community that those living and working here all-year round know that parking – and the use of holiday homes and short-term lets – are seasonal issues. Applying a ‘one-size-fits-all’ to parking isn’t a nimble, innovative, 21st-century solution addressing climate change and applying low intervention or digital solutions.
What alternatives to antiquated and intrusive meters were explored? Parking tokens, for example, obtainable from every shop, would guarantee footfall along the full length of High Street and be a low-tech, low-cost, low-carbon solution.
STLs and second homes are back in the headlines. Pembrokeshire Council’s 200 per cent council tax surcharge has prompted a three-fold increase in properties for sale, due to what a local property agent – who believes small terraced houses “will do for local families” – calls a “jealousy tax”. Are the people of Wales ‘jealous’ of newcomers?
The Scottish Government is unequivocal that it’s an honour that people choose to live here. Whether migrants or millionaires, straightforward fairness dictates that those most in need get support.
The Pembrokeshire property agent claims “chocolate box cottages” aren’t suitable for year-round occupation being “dark, damp and horrible in winter”. Many rentals across the UK are also dark, damp and horrible but desperate people live – and two-year old Awaab Ishak died – in mould-ridden homes.
East Lothian Council has 393 households in temporary housing. Just one out of North Berwick’s multiple lettings websites lists 256 STLs offering 845 beds – in addition to hotels, guest houses and other well-established listings.
If a fraction of owners able to do so switched to offering affordable rentals, it would be transformative, and re-purposing existing homes (rather than resource-intensive new-builds) would help the planet. Reducing local homelessness would further justify North Berwick’s Sunday Times billing as “the UK’s best place to live”.
Dr Geraldine Prince
North Berwick
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