A TOWN councillor who hit out at the proposed introduction of parking meters in Okehampton has raised further concerns about parking provision in the town.

Former mayor Cllr Kay Bickley is concerned a meeting of West Devon Borough Council's car parking strategy group on November 29 may see a decision made to increase parking charges in the Market Street and Mill Road car parks in Okehampton.

She said: 'A decision to raise parking charges would be a double assault on the residents of Okehampton at a time when they're already being faced with new parking meters in the centre of town.

'I fear that an increase will be regarded as a form of stealth tax by the residents of Okehampton.'

A meeting on November 1 resolved that the borough council could review its parking charges for a second time this year, having last increased them in April. The parking strategy usually only allows for reviews of charges to take place once every two years.

A report presented at the meeting suggested the second review of charges was needed largely due to a fall in car park use, which will leave the council £90,000 short of income this year. The shortfall could render the council unable to properly maintain and develop parking services.

Both Okehampton Town Council and the town's chamber of trade are represented on the car parking strategy group, which will now meet to discuss charges on November 29.

However, on that evening, these representatives will be at a meeting of the town council, where a representative from Devon County Council will be discussing the proposal for parking meters in the town centre.

A spokeswoman from West Devon Borough Council said: 'As this is a stakeholder consulting group, comments are welcome in any form.

'If the representatives from Okehampton can't attend personally, perhaps they could submit their comments in writing, or send along a single representative.

'Ultimately, the meeting at the end of November is just to consider all options available to us, and to look at all potential ways to go forwards on this. No binding decision can be made at this meeting; they will only forward a recommendation on to the next stage.'

Cllr Bickley, who also sits on Okehampton Chamber of Trade, believes any increase in parking charges will have an impact on the town.

'I fear that increasing the parking tariffs is likely to alienate motorists and push them to park in more residential peripheral areas of the town, such as on side-streets outside people's homes. This is already a big problem in the town.'

'Alternatively, what may happen is that people will end up parking in the supermarket car parks for free, or the town council's car parks, which are cheaper than the borough's.

'This would mean any plan of increasing revenue from car parks would fail and lead instead to shifting income away from West Devon Borough Council rather than increasing it.'

l Cllr Bickley has been encouraging people to have their say in the ongoing public consultation on the introduction of parking meters in the town centre.

Any comments — either for or against the proposed parking meters — should be submitted to the county council by December 9.

A letter can be written to the Devon County Solicitor at Devon County Council, County Hall, Exeter EX2 4QD. Reference your comments IMR/B04005.

Alternatively, comments can be given by going online at http://www.devon.gov.uk/traffic-orders">www.devon.gov.uk/traffic-orders

Comments can also be sent directly to county councillor Christine Marsh at 17 Vicarage Road, Okehampton, EX20 1LF or by email at [email protected]">[email protected]

Representations can also be made in person at the planning meeting of the town council on Monday November 29 at 7pm, to which officers of the county council have been invited.