ON-STREET parking meters ? dubbed ?Daleks? by one councillor ? could be ?littering? the streets of Tavistock if they are introduced to subsidise residents? parking schemes, a councillor has warned. Tavistock residents will be consulted at an exhibition later this year to assess the support for residents? parking schemes with or without on-street pay and display meters. Only 30% of people living in Bannawell Street, Chapel Street, Fitzford Cottages and Parkwood Road, which are the areas where residents are experiencing parking difficulties, responded to a recent questionnaire gauging support for a residents? parking scheme. With this in mind, members of the West Devon Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) decided last Friday to agree to further consultation. Committee member Roger Mathew, who represents Tavistock on West Devon Borough Council, said all Tavistock?s residents needed to be consulted because they would be the ones subsidising the parking schemes for 400 to 800 people if pay and display meters were installed. Householders have been told they may have to pay up to £200 a year for a parking permit if the meters are not installed at the four locations. Cllr Mathew said: ?It is not right that everyone has to pay to park on the street to benefit the minority. ?People who live in houses without any off-street parking just accept that fact when they buy. One assumes that their houses are grossly cheaper because of it. They should not expect everyone else to pay for their ?semi-reserved? spaces.? It is likely that only 50% of residents will be able to take up the scheme with permits rationed to one per household. Cllr Mathew believes any scheme should be financed by the residents themselves. ?I know that once these ?pay daleks? are introduced they spread and I would not want to see these machines littering the streets of Tavistock,? he added. The committee was told that as off-street parking charges rose, more drivers circled the town looking for free on-street parking in the town centre and roads nearby, adding to town centre congestion. Commuter parking was a particular problem. Town centre traders had also expressed a desire that street parking spaces used by shoppers needed to be turned over more regularly in the interest of supporting the community. Local service officer for Devon County Council Brian George said the fact that the committee only had positive feedback for a residents? parking scheme from approximately 20% of residents was why a further consultation was needed. ?There is a charge for permits but the level of charge would depend on what on-street pay and display we had in place. If there was no on-street parking, it would depend on how many people wanted permits. At the moment we are not sure.? Mr George said options would be drawn up and an exhibition held somewhere central in Tavistock so as many people as possible could give their opinions.
