News / Port Arthur parking saga rumbles on as roads department disputes college claims
THE COUNCIL’S roads department has disputed the results of a parking study carried out on behalf of UHI Shetland around its Port Arthur building in Scalloway.
The college has applied for planning permission to change the use of the first floor of the building from student residences to offices.
However Scalloway Community Council has raised concern about the plans, with a strain on parking in the area one of its reasons.
It was claimed just 29 cars were parked outside the Scalloway campus on two separate dates in October.
Douglas Thomson, writing on behalf of UHI Shetland, said it proved more than half of the spaces at the site were empty.
But roads chief Neil Hutcheson said he had “concerns” about the figures, which he said were taken when the college was “winding down for the holidays” in October.
“This might not have provided the most accurate or representative data,” he said.
“A lower occupancy during that time could definitely skew the results, meaning that they aren’t reflective of typical usage and any associated parking demand.”
UHI Shetland has said 24 parking spaces are available directly outside Port Arthur House, which it has deemed sufficient – despite saying the new offices would create space for 28 staff.
An overall total of 82 parking spaces are available at the Scalloway campus.
The roads department conducted its own parking survey earlier this month, and found its numbers were “somewhat higher” than UHI Shetland’s.
They found there were 80 vehicles parked around the college at 10am on Wednesday 15 January, and 73 vehicles there on the same day at 2pm.
This included vehicles which were not parked in designated bays, but around the bus turning point and turning heads around the college.
“I am particularly concerned as one of the days shows the area approaching physical capacity, with some potentially obstructive parking occurring, and the nominal designated capacity of 68 spaces is approached on a couple of other occasions,” Hutcheson wrote.
He has called on UHI Shetland to submit a revised parking submission to address his “obvious concerns”.
“While I understand and appreciate the applicants desire to move things forward I am concerned that ‘piecemeal’ developments like this will hinder the overall picture of the college’s campus transition onto a single site at Scalloway,” Hutcheson said.
And he urged UHI Shetland to also develop a transport strategy for the Port Arthur campus, as he also did last year.
UHI Shetland has applied for planning permission to turn 15 en-suite bedrooms in its Port Arthur House to offices.
It comes amid a “strategic vision” to move to a single campus – with Scalloway identified as the top choice.
Scalloway Community Council questioned the move, saying there will surely be “higher demand for student accommodation in and around Scalloway” if they do so.
However UHI Shetland has said this sole application has nothing to do with its aim of moving to a single Scalloway campus.
While Scalloway Community Council voiced issues with the application, it stopped short of actually objecting to the plans.
That would likely have led to the SIC’s planning committee having the final say on whether or not the move went ahead.
In its submission to planners, the college called the move the “proposed first stage” of a redevelopment project intended to transform its existing spaces.
It said the 24 parking spaces were “sufficient” to meet the needs of its staff, with some expected to work remotely and with the possibility that more staff may do this in future too.
The roads department, responding to the application last year, said however it would “seem inevitable” there would be more demand on parking.
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