By Ted Peskett

Copyright walesonline

Councillors in a Welsh coastal town said they’re already noticing the impact controversial car parking charges are having on business. Vale of Glamorgan Council announced earlier this year it would bring in car parking charges at certain off-street locations like the Knap and Bron-y-Mor car parks in Barry and Penarth Cliff Walk. The council also revealed plans to get rid of two hours free parking at on-street locations in Barry Island and Penarth but this is yet to come into force. Businesses criticised the council’s proposals at the time arguing it would hurt trade. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . Now councillors in Barry are claiming they can already see the impact of the new policy and are demanding its removal. Plaid Cymru councillor for the Barry ward, where the Knap car park is located, Cllr Nic Hodges, said: “Earlier this year traders and Plaid Cymru warned the Vale council that introducing car parking charges in these areas would damage businesses. “We are only a few weeks in and have already been contacted by those whose businesses have been severely impacted. “Livelihoods and the small business fabric of our communities is at risk as a direct reason of this myopic decision-making. “Given this real-time information we believe that Labour should reverse this decision with immediate effect” Fellow Plaid Cymru ward councillor for Baruc, Cllr Mark Hooper, added: “As councillors with responsibility for Barry Island and the Knap Plaid were horrified that Labour wanted to introduce these charges and we voted against them in committee and the Vale council budget earlier this year. “All of the warning signs were there that this would be unsuccessful and would hurt our local businesses. “In fact those businesses told Labour this consistently during the consultation period and were ignored. “It’s not too late for Labour to admit they were wrong and change direction.” Car parking charges at the Knap, Bron-y-Mor, and Penarth Cliff Walk, Portabello and West Farm car parks were brought in following a traffic regulation order (TRO) public consultation. During this process residents raised concerns about a potentially “drastic” effect on trade and said they feared it would “force tourists away”. Businesses and car park users also raised concerns about the current state of some of the car parks put forward for charges, particularly Penarth Cliff Walk where one trader claimed an elderly man fell and broke his hip. Vale of Glamorgan Council said two new disabled parking bays would be created and resurfacing work carried out at Bron-y-Mor car park. The local authority also said it had already carried out resurfacing works at Penarth Cliff Walk car park. Vale of Glamorgan Council leader, Cllr Lis Burnett, said in July: “These charges are designed to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow by encouraging people to use car parks, public transport, and active forms of travel. “It has also been proven that people are moving directly from one on-street parking space to another, deliberately abusing the current system by overstaying. “We need to stop that. We also want to increase the turnover and availability of spaces. “The income raised will be reinvested into the resorts and highway maintenance at these popular locations. “We have made on-street parking at resorts free before 10am to try and accommodate those living locally and restricted on-street parking in these areas to a maximum of four hours to ensure different people can access spaces throughout the day.” As part of its wider car parking scheme, Vale of Glamorgan said it also planned to close Court Road multi-storey car park. The closure would save the council millions in operational costs but again local councillors raised concerns with one of them, Cllr Ian Johnson, saying Barry town centre was already full “to bursting point” and that closing the multi-storey car park would present a “huge headache” for shoppers. Vale of Glamorgan Council announced in July that it would go ahead with its on-street car parking plans at Barry Island and Penarth following a re-think. However, it did make some changes to the original proposal, like changing the hours from seven days a week between 8am and 6pm to seven days a week from 10am to 6pm. The local authority has said it plans to review car parking charges at on-street sites 24 months after their implementation.