Locals slam ‘devastating’ new council plan that will see drivers pay more for parking – pointing out key flaw
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LOCALS have slammed a "devastating" new council plan that would see drivers pay more for parking. South Hams District Council in Devon is consulting its residents on whether to increase parking charges in order to help fund other services. However, instead of raising fees for all parking users, the plans would only target non-residents, charging them twice as much as locals.
![[South Hams District Council is considering plans to charge visitors double the price of residents to use car parks in the region]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/parking-permit-cash-machine-sign-961748171.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
If the proposal is successful, it would make the authority one of the first in England to introduce a two-tier parking fee policy. South Hams District Council Leader Julian Brazil told the BBC that extra money is needed to pay for waste collection, to keep leisure centres open, and to look after the beaches and streets.
![[Car parking prices for non-residents could double in the region]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/close-businesswoman-making-contactless-payment-961748193.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
However, Sue Hawkins, who owns Nature's Larder in Ivybridge, slammed the plans as "short-sighted" and "devastating", saying they showed "ignorance of how the town works as a community". Sue, who has run her business for 25 years, focused on how most visitors to Ivybridge aren't tourists but in fact people who work or shop in the town.
Those living in areas such as Plympton or Buckfastleigh, which both lie just outside the South Hams region, would be classed as a visitor and charged extra, she said. Sue feels the plans would make it even harder for people to visit her town and described the idea as "completely ignorant.".
Modbury Parish Council Chair Barbara Price said she was against the plans, saying her town relies on passing trade. She feels an increase in car parking charges would deter visitors, adding: "You can't keep trying to milk the tourists because they just won't come.".
