TRADERS, parents and residents in Hatherleigh have joined forces to mount a campaign to stop the introduction of parking charges in the town.
Ray Taylor, who runs the town post office with his wife, Madeline, has launched a petition which has attracted around 400 signatures asking West Devon Borough councillors to think again before introducing charges.
Mr Taylor said: ?This is the last thing Hatherleigh needs. It is a waste of taxpayers? money.
?They have to resurface the car park, put in markings for disabled parking, move the recycling skips and put in lighting and ticket machines and then police it.
?The only people that are going to prop up this car park are the ratepayers of Hatherleigh.?
Parents and governors of the town?s primary school are also opposed to the proposed charges.
Most parents use the free car park near the school before walking their children to the gates, but some fear the charges will increase congestion around the school.
Hatherleigh Community Primary School headteacher Linda Mitchell has written to West Devon Borough Council to voice her concerns about the possible increase in traffic around the entrance of the school.
Mrs Marshall said: ?It is already congested. It is a very small gateway which is on the corner of two busy roads.
?We have three school buses which take children to nearby villages which already have to park on the road. We do have one crossing patrol but it is still an area of concern.
?We are concerned there will be more cars stopping and parking on the road because people are trying to avoid charges at the car park. It is bound to encourage on-street parking which is always an issue for children?s safety.?
Mrs Mitchell added: ?We have got children coming in from quite a wide area, from Folly Gate and Meeth, and parents have to park somewhere.?
Mrs Mitchell said the parking charges would also affect staff at the school when much-needed building work gets underway there in the near future.
?We have a proposed building project at the school which will take away space in our car park and will mean staff will have to park off-site and so will visitors to the school, which is an added concern.?
Cllr Debbie Laing-Trengove, mayor of Hatherleigh said: ?As a council we feel it may cause even more parking problems in the town.
?I understand West Devon Borough Council want to look at making more money from car parks, but I don?t think it is a good thing for Hatherleigh. It may encourage people to park more irresponsibly in the street.?
Mrs Laing-Trengove said most Hatherleigh residents appeared to be against the move, despite the council?s insisting that the charges would be on a low level.
West Devon Borough Council is currently advertising for consultation and says representation will be listened to.
The borough council will receive the residents? petition at the meeting of the full council in Okehampton next Tuesday, January 20.
Hatherleigh and Chagford are the only towns in the borough which do not charge for parking and so the council approved the principle of introducing charges in the towns last November.
David Inman, borough deputy chief executive, said that with reduced government funding in recent years, local authorities had to find revenue where they could.
He said: ?Car parking charges have risen in keeping with other places, and it has become a case of how can we get as much income as we can without putting the rates up by a massive amount??
Mr Inman said the borough was seeking to introduce charges in Hatherleigh next year, although charges would be at a lower level than in towns like Okehampton or Tavistock.
?The other side of the coin is, should people have to pay in Okehampton and Tavistock to support a car park which is not producing any revenue?,? Mr Inman added.
Mr Inman said the problem with congestion outside the school had been overstated. ?If parents want to use the car park quickly to drop children off, we have no objection to that and would ask attendents to use common-sense. So congestion by the school gates may not be an issue,? he said.