Around 70 short-stay parking spaces at Borders General Hospital are to be turned over to car-sharing staff in a bid to ease parking issues.
At a well-attended public meeting in Darnick on Monday, Calum Campbell, NHS Borders chief executive, said the move would hopefully remove much of the parking that has blighted the village since new restrictions were brought in at the hospital.
The meeting, called by Bridget Khursheed, chair of Darnick Village Trust, was also attended by police officers and Brian Young, the council’s roads network manager.
In response to concerns about the safety of both pedestrians and drivers from cars parked at junctions and on footpaths, the police officers told residents to report inconsiderate and dangerous parking through the 101 non-emergency number.
John Raine, chairman of NHS Borders, said he could not deny that Darnick had been adversely affected by the new parking regime at the BGH. He added: “We want to be good neighbours. We have a responsibility and want to work with you on a solution.”
Ms Khursheed told The Southern: “I hope the promised increase in staff car parking for car sharing staff results in a significant improvement for our community from next week. However, this may not be a quick fix.
“The community council and village trust will continue to work with the NHS, SBC and police to monitor the situation closely.”