Parking charges are set to be introduced at a Dalbeattie beauty spot.
From next month it will cost £1 to park for an hour at the Town Wood – and it can only be paid by phone or online.
Abbey councillor Kim Lowe said: “There is the understanding they do need to get money in to repair the walks and routes, but it’s the means they’re going to do it.
“If it was a machine, people might not complain too much but the last thing you want to do when you go out for a walk is to stand for five minutes downloading an app, trying to make sure you don’t get charged for anything else.
“There has been a lack of consultation – April 1 is two weeks away and there is just a little sign, which wasn’t up two weeks ago when I was in that car park. The lack of notice is awful.”
Visitors to the Town Wood will be charged £1 for an hour or £3 to park all day.
Charges also exist at the nearby car park for the 7Stanes mountain bike trails in Dalbeattie Forest – but this can also be paid in cash.
Visitors can also apply for an annual pass, with Blue Badge holders not being charged.
Councillor Lowe fears people may park elsewhere to avoid the charge – potentially leading to a repeat of scenes in lockdown when the car park was closed and people parked on the main road and blocked nearby driveways. She added: “At the next car park along you can put money into a machine and people don’t mind that as you’re also getting loos for that and loads of
parking.
“This is just a little car park with nothing else. It is going to stop people going for a walk.
“There’s also a lot of people go out for a walk for mental health reasons and you’re going to add that stress to them – they have to log onto an app to park which might prevent people locally quickly getting out for a
walk.”
An FLS spokesman said both the community council and Dalbeattie Forest Community Partnership were told in December of plans to introduce charging, with a community meeting taking place that month.
The signs were put up to cover anyone missed out.
He added: “Most of our visitors prefer to pay via an easy to use app and this reduces the cost of cash collection and machine maintenance leaving more income to look after our visitor sites.
“We have found that many people think that a small, proportionate car parking fee is an acceptable contribution to make for health and well-being benefits well maintained woodlands provide.”
