A MUM says she’s at her “wit’s end” after a parking campaign on her street was blocked.

Morag Niven, 41, claims that her Bourtreehill street is so congested that it would mean that emergency services might not be able to gain access if the need ever arose.

Morag, a mum of two who works as an administration assistant at Bourtreehill Medical Practice, had appealed with her neighbour, Councillor John Easdale, for help. Together, they had proposed actions to North Ayrshire Council which they believed would resolve the matter on Bourtreehill’s Sidlaw Foot.

But the duo have just been given the devastating news that their ‘safety measures’ could lead to an accident and weren’t going to be given the green-light by council bosses.

Speaking to the Times, Morag said: “I am at my wit’s end, I don’t know where else to go. I know that there are other parking issues in my area, such as when the council took down one roundabout.” Their first idea had been to turn the roundabout in Sidlaw Foot into a parking area. The second plan was to make another car park in the vicinity, which both Morag’s street and neighbouring Hillshaw Foot council share.

Morag, who is a married mother of one boy and one girl, was so desperate to sort out the parking troubles that she even offered to turn her front garden into parking spaces as well as remove nearby bollards to create more space.

She added: “I just don’t understand why they won’t take the bollards away.

“If they took the bollards down my neighbour and I could get on with creating car parking in our gardens, taking four cars off the road.

“We would not be using the path as a road, more of an access to our properties. The council also said they would not put any money into our street because there is only one council tenant.

“Another issue is the bin lorry doesn’t even come right into our street but one of my main concerns is also any emergency response would not get down to the bottom of our street like the bin lorries as it is too congested.” Councillor Easdale insists the issue is not exclusive to Sidlaw Foot and believes the council’s system is affecting the lack of work available for these streets.

He said: “There are at least two other similar streets with the same parking and access issues, they are Windelstraw Court and Lochcraig Court. I mention these two as I have had recent parking issues there as well, but there are many others.

“I am sure there is a willingness from the council to help resolve the parking issues, but the main problem is their funding system. To do any meaningful alterations, the funding has to come from the housing budget and any proposed project is only considered if 50 per cent or more of the residents are council tenants, but throughout the two areas there are very few, if any, streets that fall into this category.” Councillor Easdale added: “The result is that nothing is being done to alleviate the problem. In the past I have put forward various proposals for consideration, such as doing away or reducing roundabouts and creating more parking spaces, creating an additional parking area in spare ground between streets and even doing away with some bushes to add parking facilities - all have been rejected.

“Mrs Niven’s idea to move an existing two bollards beyond her property and to drop a kerb, would free up three car spaces in her street.

“This would mean for a few metres she would be driving on an existing pavement to get into a driveway she wants to install and I believe it would also allow another neighbour to do the same.

“There are some safety issues, but I am sure with minimum funding and a willingness to do something to resolve the issue, a satisfactory conclusion could be found.” But North Ayrshire Council this week said they couldn’t give their backing to the plans.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said: “We have looked at various options for providing parking within the garden of Sidlaw Foot.

“Unfortunately we feel that Ms Niven’s proposals would cause confusion between pedestrians and vehicles which could ultimately lead to an accident.

“Allowing traffic to use the footway as an access road would also contravene the Highway Code and Road Traffic Act. We regularly consider environmental improvements, such as additional off-street parking, through our estate based projects scheme.

“This initiative is funded entirely from tenants’ rents and, following the council’s policy, which is based on Scottish Government guidelines, at least 50 per cent of the residents in the area must be North Ayrshire Council tenants.

“There is only one council tenant in Sidlaw Foot and we are therefore unable to give consideration to this project.

“There is not an recurring problem with access for our bin lorries. If the roundabout is blocked we can reverse as far as possible and bins can be easily pulled to the lorry as the street is so short.

“With regards to the bollards, they were installed as a direct result of the footway being blocked by parked vehicles.”