Motorists are bracing for a “two tier” parking charge system from April, in a sweeping overhaul by South Hams District Council. The council aims to introduce steeper fees for non-residents starting April 2025, as part of efforts to generate funds for local services.
Following the conclusion of a consultation on proposals to hike parking charges at over 20 car parks in Devon, the council is looking to implement a dual pricing strategy. This could result in visitors paying up to double compared to South Hams residents.
Sue Hawkins, proprietor of Nature’s Larder in Ivybridge, criticised the plans for demonstrating a lack of understanding of the town’s community dynamics and being “short-sighted”. Council leader Julian Brazil spoke to the BBC about the necessity of the additional revenue for essential services such as waste collection, maintaining leisure centres, and caring for beaches and streets, reports Birmingham Live.
Hawkins, with 25 years of experience running her business, warned that the implementation would be “devastating”. She explained: “Most of our visitors aren’t holidaymakers, they’re people who work or shop here, so anyone from Plympton or Buckfastleigh will be classed as a visitor and charged extra.”
She added, “It’s just making it harder and harder. Ivybridge is very easy not to come into because you just drive past it. There needs to be an increase…but don’t use the car parks purely to fill a hole. It’s completely ignorant.”
Barbara Price, chair of Modbury Parish Council, expressed concerns about the impact of rising car parking charges on local trade: “For a small town like Modbury, our traders rely on passing trade. If they see the increase in car parking charges that’s going to be a deterrent to them. You can’t keep trying to milk the tourists because they just won’t come.”
She further commented on the counterproductive nature of such measures: “Whilst I appreciate it’s to increase their revenue for other areas they want to spend money on, that’s reliant on people actually coming and parking here. If you reduce parking people aren’t going to come and you’ve lost your main reason for doing it and you’ve lost revenue anyway.”