Hansard

I think that there is general agreement that we should close the petition. I suspect that we have all been on the journey that Gail Ross went on, which is understanding that it is an important issue, and that it is not completely nailed down that there will never be parking charges, but that there would be transparency around any decision making on the issue. Given the need for an island communities impact assessment, we would hope that there would be recognition of how significant the matter is for particular island communities. There has been sufficient reassurance for us to close the petition. However, we are mindful of how important the issue is. The importance of understanding the impact on island communities of decisions that are made, and why they are being made, is reflected in some other petitions that we have had. However, on this particular issue, there has been progress. Therefore, we agree to close the petition under rule 15.7, but we thank the petitioners for highlighting the important issues, and remind them that it is possible to return with another petition in the new session if those commitments do not prove to be as strong as we believe them to be. I thank the petitioners for their engagement with the committee.