A SERIES of safety measures on roads in Hatherleigh have been slammed by enraged town councillors, who are objecting strongly to the borough-council-led scheme. West Devon Borough Council is introducing double yellow lines and marked parking bays in the main car park area of the town, because officers say they are concerned parked cars are causing a safety hazard in the area. But Hatherleigh Town Council is furious at the move, saying it will dissuade people from coming to the town and have a knock-on effect on trade. Cllr Denise Herrod-Taylor, mayor of Hatherleigh, said: ?They are proposing to put yellow lines past the bank, level with the front edge of the car park, then from the end, towards the market gate, they are making single parking places, which will be charged for. ?Hatherleigh has a car park which never used to be charged for and it was used ? now, people are not prepared to pay and they park elsewhere in the town.? Cllr Herrod-Taylor said the town council desperately wanted to attract people into Hatherleigh. ?I feel very strongly about this, and so does the rest of Hatherleigh. I think they are making a great mistake. ?The system works perfectly well at the moment; my personal view is they want to make people use the car park and get more money.? At last week?s meeting of West Devon?s economic, leisure and community development committee, members were told that the measures should be introduced on health and safety grounds. Some councillors felt the issue should be deferred, because the ward member, Cllr Dennis Bater, was not present to represent local people?s views. Cllr Dick Eberlie said the situation made him feel ?very uneasy?. But others felt the work should go ahead, because the borough could be held responsible if an accident occurred in the area. The committee eventually agreed the safety measures recommended by officers, on the casting vote of chairman Cllr Nick Morgan.
