Mid Devon parking charges going up

Lib Dems say finances are "a mess"

Mid Devon’s new ruling Liberal Democrat group has confirmed planned parking charge rises will go ahead later this month.

The increases were scaled back before the election following a public outcry, with the most expensive annual permits previously set to more than double in price.

But while these rises were mostly scrapped, some tariffs will still be going up considerably from Tuesday 27 June. For example, parking for up to 24 hours on Station Road in Cullompton, High Street in Crediton and Wellbrook Street in Tiverton will rise from £5 to £12.

Many increases have been reduced though, such as an hour in Tiverton’s Market Place car park going up by 25p rather than the previously planned 75p.

Mid Devon’s recently-appointed Lib Dem leader Luke Taylor says his new administration has “reluctantly” agreed to the increases as the “lesser of two evils,” describing the authority’s finances as a “mess.”

“Now we are running the council we are finding out how much of a mess,” he said. “It will take a lot of work to repair the council’s finances. There is a significant budget gap, and this will be the case despite these parking charge increases.”

The council says a new review of parking charges will take place this year, with cabinet member for finance James Buczkowski describing the previous approach as “fragmented.”

“We want to look again at the whole issue of parking charges,” Cllr Buczkowski (Lib Dem, Cullompton St Andrews) explained. “The two principles of this review will be fairness to local residents and ensuring economically vibrant high streets.

“We will also ensure that parking charges are fair across Mid Devon and reviewed more regularly. There will be no charging ‘hot-spots.’ Everything is open to discussion. We welcome suggestions from the public.”