CHAGFORD?S residents and traders are facing a double blow with the introduction of car parking charges in the town centre and plans to reduce on-street parking.
Despite major opposition, West Devon Borough councillors agreed this week that the authority?s town centre car parks in Chagford and Hatherleigh should no longer be free.
Plans by Devon County Council to change on-street parking arrangements in a bid to ease congestion in Chagford have further exacerbated local people who fear the new regulations will drive away custom.
Petitions from Chagford and Hatherleigh, both containing more than 400 names against the parking charge proposals, were submitted to the borough council.
Chairman of Chagford?s Business Association Chris Webber said he was very disappointed in the decision: ?We wanted a stay of execution so everyone could sit around the table and find a sensible solution to the town?s traffic problems,? he said.
?Instead they have just steamrollered this through and it will compound the problem.?
He said the 75-space car park was used by many residents, who had no garages, in order to free up on-street parking for visitors.
?We simply do not have enough parking available in this town ? what we need is an additional car park and that is something we have been pressing for for 20 years.
?Chagford is congested with cars and introducing charges is not going to help matters because it will just push people out onto the street.?
With the county council?s traffic enhancement proposed for later this year, Mr Webber fears further restrictions on parking will prevent people from visiting Chagford.
?This is a vibrant community but the changes are bound to have a detrimental effect on businesses ? in the last ten years the growth in the amount of cars on the road has been tremendous and that is set to continue.?
Car parking charges were proposed in the two towns to find extra revenue for the local authority in light of reduced Government funding.
Cllr Mandy Govier said tourists were used to paying for car parking and would probably laugh if they found they did not have to.
Other councillors felt that the two car parks should be on a par with all the others owned by the borough council where charges were made.
The charges in Hatherleigh and Chagford will, however, be lower than those in larger towns like Okehampton and Tavistock and Sunday charging will not begin until noon to allow people to park their cars to go to church.
Devon County Council is proposing a system of white boxes on the road for people to park in, and loading and unloading bays.
A spokeswoman for Devon County Council said a voluntary scheme with on-street parking was introduced a few years ago but was not particularly successful and was abused enough for the authority to make changes.
The latest proposals were currently subject to consultation and permission being granted but it was hoped they would be implemented sometime in the next year.
Hatherleigh postmistress Madeline Taylor who, with her husband, led the fight against car parking charges, said the outcome was inevitable: ?Because we were the only free car parks left in the borough we knew this would happen but we had to try,? she said.
?There is no way this car park will pay for itself because it is not used enough. The charge of the machine, man hours, revamping and maintenance will put cost onto the taxpayers not take it away.?