A HIKE in car parking charges to help attract more shoppers into West Devon towns appears to be working well, says a leading councillor.

West Devon Borough Council’s lead member for communities, Cllr Terry Pearce, said feed -back following the recent introduction of new charges was positive.

The charges, which were put on hold following the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic last March, were designed to keep a steady flow of visitors passing through the towns rather than having car parks clogged up with vehicles all day, were hotly debated by members of the council earlier this year.

The charges were brought in against a background of an expected tourist boom as visitors flock to the South West as Covid-19 restrictions were lifted rather than risk going abroad.

Mary Tavy representative Cllr Pearce, who fully backed the introduction of the new charges, said: ‘I believe the reaction to the charges has been good. There’s been some good comments from traders who have been saying there appears to be more people in the town (Tavistock) and also some from the public.

‘The idea was to get more people visiting the towns in the borough and that appears to be happening. The Bedford car park in Tavistock in being well-used and it looks good from other towns as well.’

The council increased the cost of all day parking and long stay in its Bedford, Brook Street and Riverside car parks in Tavistock, Mill Road Car Park in Okehampton and the car parks in Hatherleigh and Chagford in an effort to give visitors better access to short stay parking. The new charges followed on the back of a 2019 consultation, which found that residents wanted more short-stay parking to be available.

In response, the new proposals increasing long stay charges aimed to encourage vehicle turnover to give visitors and shoppers better access to parking. It was anticipated this will, in turn, improve the vibrancy of towns as the council attempts to help lift the area out of the damage caused by Covid-19.

In Tavistock’s Bedford and Brook Street Car Parks, the all day rate increased from £2.50 to £4, while the Riverside all-day rate increased from £2 to £2.50. The all-day tariff in Okehampton’s Mill Road Car Park and Chagford Car Park went up from £2.50 to £3.