A REFERENDUM may be the only way to let Devon County Council know the strength of feeling against parking meters, angry Okehampton councillors and businesses said this week.

Their comments came as plans abandoned earlier this year to introduce meters looked like they may be resurrected.

Okehampton town councillor Kay Bickley accused Devon county of being 'arrogant' and trying to sneak parking metres in the detail of a new traffic management consultation without people noticing.

But the authority says parking meters are one option of a much wider range of options that might or might not form part of local traffic management plans.  

'Do they think we are stupid?' said Cllr Bickley. 'They are billing it as a tidy-up exercise on traffic management, but here they are having another bite of the cherry and trying to get these parking meters in again.

'They are not what people want and I think in the end we may have to resort to a referendum so we can finally tell them where to stick their pay and display machines.'

The county council had proposed on-street parking restrictions in ten towns, including Okehampton and Tavistock, but the plans were dropped in January after 4,400 objections were received.

The council is reported to have had bought 100 machines as part of the original proposals, but business leaders and councillors said the move would drive people to out-of-town supermarkets where it was free to park.

County councillors are being asked to determine whether a new traffic management plan should be developed in consultation with parish councils and local members.

Mrs Bickley said she welcomed a new approach but would have liked to see some sort of consultation over the last few months.

'The council has to listen, not just say it is going to consult and then do what it wants,' she said. 'We need to look at the parking issue in a holistic way.'

Okehampton Town Council has commissioned an integrated traffic management plan which looks at periods of free parking away from residential areas, encouraging shoppers to come into town and help for people who work in Okehampton.

Menswear shop owner Donald Rooke said: 'None of the traders want parking meters, nobody you speak to wants them, it would mean more street furniture and things looking untidy.

'It is crazy, someone has to enforce them and that means more work. Why not leave the town as it is — 30 minutes free on-street parking is perfect. If it ain't broke, why fix it?'

Stuart Hughes, county council cabinet member for transport, said in towns where pay and display was advertised last year the county council's traffic management team would be contacting local county councillors to arrange an initial meeting to discuss responses and determine whether to develop a traffic management plan.

'Following these discussions, a programme can then be developed that takes into account the identified needs of the community and resources available,' he said.

'This could include residents' parking schemes, amendments to parking restrictions, park/pay and display, minor highway improvements to reduce congestion or improve sustainable transport, and larger schemes that fit with longer term Local Transport Plan or are associated with the Local Development Framework.

'I am calling on all Devon county councillors to be "champions" in their local areas to help identify the needs of the community and to work up traffic management plans that meet their needs.'

County councillor for Okehampton Christine Marsh said she would be working to find the right parking strategy for Okehampton.