Sidmouth: All council seaside car parks to cost £2 per hour in East Devon

New parking fees will be in place from April, with charges rising to £2 in all 21 of the council car parks and to £1.50 in six other 'prime locations'.

It comes in a bid to bolster the council's finances by raising an extra £1.1 million.

The car parks in Sidmouth that will see the rise to £2 per hour are Ham (East and West) Short Stay, Manor Road Long Stay, Roxburgh Short Stay, Mill Street Short Stay, and Manor Pavilion Short Stay.

The council says parking charges have been benchmarked with other providers around Devon and Dorset with a maximum tariff of £8 per day agreed by a cross-party group of councillors on the overview and scrutiny committee.

Local residents will be able to buy permits for £10 per month. A £2 a day winter parking offer will continue between October and March each year.

The proposals have irked East Devon MP Simon Jupp who in a recent article wrote: "These new increases will make East Devon's town and high streets some of the most expensive to park in coastal Devon, Dorset and Cornwall.

"I am really concerned by the impact on local shops, jobs, and tourism. So are my Conservative colleagues on the council."

The hike, the council's first for almost 12 years, drew criticism from some members of the public. A petition by Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce calling for a smaller rise of 20 per cent has received over 1500 signatures.

The change.org petition says EDDC has not expressed "any concern for the impact upon residents who shop in our town centres, or for the beleaguered traders, who have suffered a lot recently and did so much to support their customers during the pandemic."

The monthly option for parking permits of £10 per month works out at £2.31 a week which the council believes "is a very competitive option to park in our car parks."

Speaking at a recent EDDC cabinet meeting, Councillor Paul Millar (Labour, Democratic Alliance Group, Exmouth Halsdon) said he was originally against the rise but decided it was justified and would take parking prices in prime locations to levels seen in many other parts of Devon.

Cllr Millar said: "We're faced with a very difficult decision but one I think we have to take. It's a decision about whether this council wants to be an austerity council or whether it wants to be a council that invests in its services for its residents.

"If Exeter, Teignbridge and Mid Devon are doing that by increasing their charges then why aren't we?"

The move would allow the council to restructure its revenue budget, putting an extra £737,000 into staffing.

This includes money for its contractor Streetscene, which cleans and maintains public spaces in East Devon including parks, public gardens and council-owned toilets.

The revenue boost also allows the council to put £50,000 into a 'tree strategy,' without eating into its climate change budget. A further £159,000 will go into funding the council's recycling and refuse service.

Additional funds will also go into hiring more staff for 'development management,' which is struggling to stay on top of record numbers of planning requests. Under the plans, two new members of staff will be hired at Manor Pavilion, Sidmouth.

The council's chief executive, Mark Williams, said: "There's no logic why we should be so behind the curve in terms of the way we approach our charging policy for car parks compared to our neighbours."

He said that with the increase "the council will be on a much better footing to achieve what it wants to achieve."

Ahead of the final vote on the budget Conservative members at EDDC rallied against the measures one last time.

In a surprise turn, Councillor Ian Hall (Conservatives, Axminster) stood up brandishing a car parking ticket and called on fellow members to introduce an amendment so that councillors would have to pay their own parking fees while on council duties.

"I believe we need to share the pain that the high streets are feeling," he announced.

Cllr Hall was told by council chair Ian Thomas that such a measure was not within the scope of the budget meeting and was reminded that any councillor could choose to waive their right to free parking while on council duties if they wished.

The budget went through with 29 votes in favour, 12 against and no abstentions.

Speaking after the meeting, leader of the council Paul Arnott (Democratic Alliance Group, Coly Valley) said: "I think that the majority of councillors are very disappointed that the Conservatives sought to wreck the budget by opposing it. Fortunately, they lost very clearly."

All 21 seaside car parks in East Devon operated by the council are due to increase to £2 per hour.

The other 'prime location' car parks set to see a rise to £1.50 per hour are:

Exmouth: London Hotel

Honiton: Lace Walk, King Street and New Street (North and South)

Seaton: Orchard Road

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