Your last chance to tell Devon County Council what you think about on-street parking charges!
Tomorrow is the last day that you can take part in Devon County Council's online consultation about paying for parking on the streets of Tavistock.
If you signed this petition, then please tell them what you think!
DCC proposes to introduce pay & display in some key areas to manage congestion, improve air quality and maintain reasonable access to premises. These restrictions are proposed so that availability of parking is improved for short stays.
DCC has not provided any evidence to justify their proposals, nor has it conducted an impact study to show why the current system needs to change or how the imposition of charges would affect our community. DCC has also refused to explain or justify these proposals to the wider community in an open public meeting.
- Even to park for free, visitors will be required to find a machine, register their number plate and get a ticket - or use the App. This will change the ease with which people visit the town centre and cause stress. We believe it has the potential to disenfranchise a large number of people who rely heavily on their visits to the town centre.
- The current proposal would allow visitors to park on certain town centre streets for a maximum of 2-hours (1 hour free, 1 hour paid), whereas currently parking is limited to 1-hour free of charge. We believe that DCC’s proposal will reduce the turnover of spaces and the availability of on-street parking and possibly increase the number of vehicles circulating looking for somewhere to park. The likely result is that fewer people will come to the town centre to shop and that support for businesses already impacted by COVID and the cost-of-living crisis will be further reduced.
- Charging £1.30 for the second hour is cheaper than the town centre car parks so will not encourage those who want to stay longer into off-street parking. This goes against their idea that this will improve short-stay availability.
- Once the scheme is implemented, the principal of paying for parking on the street is established and the pay & display machines are here to stay, making it easy to subsequently change the free and maximum parking periods and/or increase the price of parking.
- We are Devon's only World Heritage Town and our streetscape is important to our UNESCO listing.
Members of the public can also make representations before 7th January quoting reference imr/DEV001/644 | website reference 6056
To: Director of Legal & Democratic Services, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QD