A public meeting on Wednesday evening showed, in the opinion of the locals, that democracy in Viljandi is not functioning properly – as decisions get made first, and only then is the public consulted.

Paid parking in Viljandi city center takes effect on June 1. From that date, up to two hours' parking is free at any time, provided a parking "clock" is displayed on the dashboard.

Longer stays during working hours on weekdays, and 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturdays, will incur a parking fee of one euro per hour.

Viljandi entrepreneur Silvia Takkel collected over 200 signatures for a petition against the paid parking.

"I think there are several thousand people who go to work every day, park in front of their houses, who take care of their business here. Plus, our city guests who come, especially in the summer, when we have only two major events that bring people to Viljandi, that generate income for businesses. And to penalize them as well, this has been done completely wrong," Takkel, who is also head of the local Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) chapter, said.

In changing the parking arrangement, the city government says it aims to head off problems associated with the addition to Viljandi's streets of 250 cars a day, once the town's hospital has relocated from the Jämejala neighborhood to the city center.

Viljandi Mayor Johan-Kristjan Konovalov (Reform) said: "We can see that when the hospital moves to the city center and the city does not respond proactively, all the parking burden which comes along with the hospital will simply spill onto the city streets."

As for local residents who live within the paid zone, a monthly fee of €25 will be applicable for on-street parking.

Local resident Margus Viira said: "To be honest, I don't understand what problems this is supposed to resolve. Since I live in a private house and the city requires sidewalks adjacent to the property to be cleared, but I can no longer park my car there for free, it doesn't seem very logical."

Viljandi opposition politician Helir-Valdor Seeder (Isamaa) called for the city's parking system to be reconsidered as a whole and to wait until the hospital starts functioning.

He said: "The introduction of paid parking should be postponed until after the hospital has started operating, so that we can see where the actual bottlenecks are and whether such a paid parking system is necessary in this form."

The three city-owned parking lots will become paid too, alongside the existing eight private-sector-owned lots.

All new paid parking is on city-owned land.

Local residents will present counter-suggestions to the council next month.

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