COUNCILLORS on Thursday agreed an arrangement with Stagecoach East Scotland which will mean that a daily £1 charge to park proposed at Halbeath Park and Ferrytoll Park and Ride facilities will no longer be necessary.

Cowdenbeath Area Committee took the decision in June to impose the charge at the facility outside Crossgates but the agreement with Stagecoach has changed all that.

Convener of the Asset, Property and Facilities Committee, Cllr Craig Walker, was delighted the £1 parking charge will no longer need to be implemented.

He said: “I’m really pleased that we have managed to reach an agreement with Stagecoach which means we will not need to charge drivers at these facilities.

"We were well aware the proposed charge was an unpopular move but the fact is the facility costs us a lot of money to maintain and run".

He added: “In the current financial climate the Council could no longer afford to absorb these costs.

"However, we understand the importance of these sites in helping us to meet our sustainable transport and climate change targets so we continued to search for a way to offset some of the costs.

“When Stagecoach indicated a willingness to work with us and explore alternative options to parking charges, we were happy to pursue that option.

"Councillors on the committee have now agreed that those discussions can progress to allow a formal agreement to be put in place.”

The details of the agreement are commercially sensitive and the paper was considered in private but councillors agreed the Head of Assets, Transportation and Environment and the Head of Legal Services would conclude the proposed agreement in legally binding form.

Paul Thomas, Managing Director for Stagecoach East Scotland said: ”We were aware of the impact that any proposed parking charge could have on our customers, so we were glad to be able to work with the Council to reach an agreement which could stop this going ahead. "As the main operator at the Park&Ride facility we were keen to do what we could for our customers.”

So it business as usual for those wishing to use the Park and Ride facility which sees several hundred cars a day parked as people use the bus links to Edinburgh and the west.