INCREASING car parking charges by 150% in Gunnislake will add further pressure to the on-street parking problems in the village and be detrimental to shops and people using the health centre, angry parish councillors have said.

In a letter to Cornwall Council, Calstock Parish Council said the proposed 'flat rate' charges do not reflect the needs of Gunnislake, the parish and its residents.

The council is proposing a first hour fee of 50p — car parks in the former Caradon area are currently 20p for the first hour. The aim is to make all council car parking fees across Cornwall the same.

Traders in Callington are also angry over the proposal, saying it will be the final straw for their businesses which are already suffering from the opening of a Tesco store on the edge of town.

Calstock parish councillor Dorothy Kirk said Gunnislake Health Centre was built without a car park because there was a free village car park across the road which patients could use.

'It was the whole rationale for building the health centre there and now patients will have to pay 50p minimum to park on top of prescription charges. It is a tax on health for the people of this parish.'

Councillors are also concerned about the loss of the residents' parking permits which are set to be replaced with seasonal tickets which would increase the cost six-fold, said Cllr Mark Yates.

'The annual permit at the moment is £48 and the proposal is that this goes up to £300 next year and between £600 and £825 next year,' he said.

The councillor said that when the car park was increased in size, and charges introduced two years ago it was to reflect the high percentage of properties in the village without off road parking.

'Residents will be left with little choice but to park elsewhere in the village now,' he said. 'This will add further pressure upon the little spare capacity for parking "on road" that remains within the village.'

Mr Yates is urging everyone in the parish to write letters of opposition to Cornwall Council before the consultation period on car parking ends on December 3 because the proposals would affect every parishioner.

Cllr Ian Kirk said the people who needed to use the car park were those who lived in the cheaper houses without a garage or space to park a car: 'The houses at the bottom of King Street and Commercial Street have no parking and are mostly occupied by people who cannot afford the charges that are being proposed.

'These proposals should be looked at again and the charges should be much more reasonable.'

Gunnislake postmistress Mary Taylor said the village only had a handful of businesses left and the new charges, if agreed, would damage trade and in turn damage the community.

'We do not have a tourism industry here. Gunnislake is just a regular, small village which depends on people from other villages to come here. We cannot depend on the people who can just walk here.

'It's okay for Cornwall Council to say let's have a clean sweep and make all car park charges across the county the same, but there is a huge difference between the likes of Newquay and Truro and Gunnislake.'

To submit your view to the council either email: [email protected]">[email protected] or send a letter to: Parking Policy, Cornwall Council, Dolcoath Avenue, Camborne, Cornwall, TR14 8SX.

Cornwall Council said the aim of the charges was to ensure a fair and consistent charging policy across the whole of Cornwall.