Wednesday October 1st 2025
North Berwick High Street
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Plans to install parking meters across North Berwick town centre will go before a public meeting next week after dozens of objections against the proposals.
East Lothian Council has lodged 12 separate planning applications covering 27 meters they want to place in the town as part of their plans to charge people for parking in the seaside town.
All 12 applications have been called in by local ward councillor Jeremy Findlay after officers recommended them for approval despite objections from North Berwick Community Council and locals.
He has urged elected members to look into the proposals saying: “Given the level of opposition both from residents of these streets and from the population of North Berwick as a whole, the planning committee should look at these applications and allow residents to give voice to their concerns so that local democracy can be seen to being followed.”
Earlier this year East Lothian Conservative MSP Craig Hoy described initial attempts to get the meters approved as ‘farcical’ after five applications were withdrawn, one of them twice, before being resubmitted.
While the council insisted this was ‘normal practice’ in planning it is understood issues were raised about the impact of the meters on some of the town centre’s narrow footpaths.
Reports to go before the planning committee next week outline concerns from the community council about the impact of the parking meters, which they describe as “sizeable columns,” on the town centre conservation area and listed buildings as well as the cumulative effect of approving all the separate applications together.
A report from planning officers says the community council said that “whilst certain individual locations may be more discreet or less obtrusive than others, when considered together it is a fact that they do not preserve the character underpinning the designation of the conservation area and certainly do not enhance it”.
They say: “The community council advise that this is just one application, but the cumulative impact of all of the meters will also be a consideration. They state that the submitted design statement assesses impact on trees and listed buildings, but fails in its fundamental purpose by not assessing or otherwise referring to the impact on the Conservation Area.”
North Berwick is the first town in East Lothian where parking charges have been approved to be introduced with discussions over introducing charges in Dunbar, Musselburgh, Tranent and Haddington, continuing.
The council had been due to start charging in April this year, however, delays to getting planning permission for the on street meters saw all charges delayed until the scheme could be introduced at all locations involved, including car parks
Councillors will be asked to vote on the parking meter plans at a meeting on Tuesday, October 7.
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