THE FIRST official meeting of key people took place on Monday (September 11) to consider the proposal to begin on-street parking for Tavistock town centre. Devon County Council (DCC) has aroused strong opposition to the draft idea, first mooted last year, from traders who fear charging drivers after an initial free 30 minutes would deter shoppers.

Tavistock councillors have criticised the county for not consulting them earlier or giving more formal and detailed plans.

Leading the opposition from the traders is the town’s Business Improvement District (BID) which has raised a 2,500 signatures on a petition, surveyed shoppers and parking behaviour and is fundraising to support its Stop the Meters campaign.

Janna Sanders, BID manager, attended the meeting. She said: “This was a preliminary discussion around the possibility of implementation of on-street parking charges. The views of Tavistock BID have not changed and we remain vehemently opposed to any charging for on-street parking in the town centre.

“Tavistock BID remains concerned that the view of DCC Officers in attendance is that on-street parking charging is the right policy for all communities, including Tavistock. 163 business representatives have signed the petition. We put forward the concerns of our members in the strongest of terms and submitted to DCC officers the petition signed by a vast majority of our businesses. We also presented the evidence gathered through our public survey, which shows that 86% of visitors would change the way that they use the town centre if they were asked to pay for parking plus raised concerns that such a move would disenfranchise a large proportion of our visitors - be that technically through the need to pay using a smart phone or economically in the current cost of living crisis.”

The matter will be discussed at the next BID board of directors meeting when a further plan of action will be devised. Further meetings - including a public consultation by DCC, are expected in the coming months.