AFTER the successful pilot of a £2 a day parking scheme in Okehampton, councillors at West Devon’s Hub Committee agreed that the proposal for a permanent £2 tariff should now go forward to full council for approval.

At the request of the West Devon Car Parking Strategy Group, the £2 a day parking tariff was brought in last spring for a 12 month pilot in all the borough’s car parks, including Mill Road car park in Okehampton and the council’s Hatherleigh and Chagford car parks.

The group introduced the scheme in response to requests from Okehampton and Tavistock businesses who were keen to encourage more footfall in the towns.

The new £2 a day ticket was launched to take the pressure off visitors who would otherwise leave the shops and town centres quickly due to a lack of parking time. With the new tariff in place, visitors have been encouraged to stay in town centres for longer, browsing in local shops and businesses for longer.

The pilot has largely seen positive results for West Devon businesses, visitors and residents, with feedback from Okehampton Chamber of Trade and Tavistock BID indicating that this has been the case.

Cllr Robert Sampson, lead member for commercial services and contracts, said: ‘With the support of local businesses, the pilot has been seen as great success. At the Hub Committee, we agreed that there were many positive outcomes from the pilot, listening to residents from Tavistock and Okehampton, we have resolved that the proposal should go forward to full council but with more signage put up to advertise the car parks and tariff.   

‘The key outcome from the pilot is the success it has brought for our local economy. An increase in visitors and residents using our car parks and staying for longer has led to more people browsing and buying in our local shops, leading to positive results for our local businesses.’

Okehampton Town Mayor Cllr Jan Goffey said the initiative was a good idea in theory but needed a bit of tweaking to work for all kinds of car park users in Okehampton: ‘The problem is, it’s either £2 for all day or it’s just half an hour. If you want to go to one of the pharmacies in town to pick up a prescription, half an hour just isn’t quite long enough. I’ve stood over half an hour in a queue for a prescription before.

‘Mill Road is the nearest big car park to Boots and places, but it might be better to have a tariff for £1 for an hour’s stay and £2 for all day. It means people who want a short stay will go to the supermarkets, which are congested already, or try to park on the town streets.

‘The car park is underused and I’d support anything to make it more used. I wish more people who work in Okehampton and park on our residential streets would consider using it. £2 is a reasonable fee for the whole day, and it would reduce the parking nightmare at Station Road, Barton Road and our other streets.

‘Mill Road is a good sized car park, but it seems a lot of people aren’t aware of the exit out the back of it, which leads you out near the school and right into town. You look at the Abbey car park in Tavistock, which is a further walk into town, yet it’s busier than Mill Road. We have a couple of initiatives to improve signage and promote Mill Road as a good place to park your car, especially if you plan to spend all day in Okehampton.’