Free parking at Kirkcaldy shopping centre as new owners ring changes

The new owners of the Mercat Shopping centre are putting charges on hold while they update their systems.

And that’s good news for drivers who will be able to park without paying.

The multi-storey car park in Tollbooth Street is set to operate for free until the August 16.

The move comes as the centre’s new owners, Gatehouse Property Management, start work to install a new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) barrier system in the car park.

They are also bringing in a a new pricing structure which will offer a new, cheaper parking rates.

It’s another boost for the town centre to help bring more people back to the High Street.

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The new charges will be lower than all of the Fife Council operated car parks around the centre as well as previous operators of the multi-storey at the centre, Union Car Parks.

Alasdair Irving, the Mercat’s new centre manager, said: “The new lower parking charges will encourage more people to shop in the centre as we will be cheaper than other private parking locations in Kirkcaldy - and cheaper than the council car parks.

A number of new stores opening their doors in the Mercat, and the owners are also looking to add events to the build on the increased numbers now coming through its doors.

Mr Irving said: “By opening new stores and hosting footfall drivers like the Comic Con Markets and the monthly Craft Markets, we have seen an increase in footfall.

"We will be hosting Fife Farmers Market from September, and we are also hosting a massive wedding fair that arranged for October – I am also in meetings this week about Christmas events.

Mr Irving also revealed that the transformation of the Mercat is still not complete, and that he and his team have several plans in the pipeline.

“We are working on a big redevelopment of the BHS unit, and are also installing Amazon Lockers next week as well,” he added.

"The future is looking good – we are here for the long term, and have already made big improvements in the centre in our first 10 weeks.”

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