Car park increases toned down to help high street

Plans to raise all-day car parking fees by 25 per cent in Holsworthy have been rejected in an effort to discourage people from shopping elsewhere.

Councillors wanted to maintain the £2 charge at Well Park car park to reinvigorate the high street.

A 50p rise had been proposed as part of annual fee and charge increases to help balance the council’s budget for the next financial year.

Torridge District Council is dipping into reserves to stay afloat and is predicting that its ‘budget stabilisation reserve’ will run out by 2028/29.

Car parking fees generate more than £2 million each year. Fees and charges as a whole, from planning applications to burials, account for nearly half of the council’s income.

The increases proposed are mainly in line with inflation, although there are exceptions where fees haven’t risen for several years.

Cllr Lyndon Piper (Lib Dem, Holsworthy) said the 25 per cent hike to the all-day fee in Holsworthy would result in the town losing more shoppers to Bude, where people can park for free at Morrisons.

Budget committee members voted for an inflationary increase instead and also agreed that Bone Hill car park in Northam should have free parking from noon on Saturdays until 8am on Mondays, similar to car parks in other Torridge towns.

The yearly charge for reserved bays at Windmill Lane in Northam will not rise from £360 to £525 as proposed, but there will be “incremental changes” over the next two years if councillors get their way.

They also voted to raise the rent on beach huts, which are currently £600 a year, in line with inflation.

The weekly fee to use the Castle Hill Work Hub in Great Torrington will remain at £99. It was proposed to increase by £10 as it is losing money, but councillors said this might discourage people from using it.

Cllr Lauren Bright (Lib Dem, Great Torrington) said the Castle is a great asset but it is probably “a fine balance” between working in the hub or at home, and that extra £10 could make the difference for many people.

She added that the council is likely to suffer from lost revenue if the prices go up, so it would be “a false economy”.

The committee heard that £142,000 is being budgeted for next year to replace parking machines to make it easier to pay in different ways.

The council’s chief executive, Steve Hearse, said the authority needed to find additional ways of bringing in income so it could use its reserves for more beneficial purposes rather than just balancing the budget.

The uplift in staff pay, the council’s biggest item of expenditure, is having a significant impact on the budget stabilisation reserve, councillors were told.

The council has a number of reserve pots of money, the majority of which have been assigned to capital projects up to 2030. This includes nearly £4 million to replace vehicles.

A budget report by TDC’s finance manager, Gordon Bryant, said it had not been possible to find the £500,000 requested by the climate change working group to tackle the council’s carbon footprint, nor the additional £200,000 to fund electric waste collection vehicles.

Torridge’s element of the council tax is being proposed to rise by 2.99 per cent, the maximum local authorities can charge without a referendum. This will increase the Band D council tax from £189 to £195 for the year and will be added to other parts of the council tax, including the parish precept, fire, and police.

The council’s overview and scrutiny committee will discuss fees, charges, the budget, and council tax before it goes to full council for final approval.