CONTROVERSIAL car parking charges could be introduced if a council votes in favour of the scheme this week.

Hambleton District Council's cabinet has already voted in favour of the charges. The council needs to find £450,000 a year from next year to plug a financial black hole.

Parking charges were identified as the best way to raise the money as council tax cannot be increased due to Government capping.

Sixteen other councillors attended a meeting of the cabinet in Northallerton's Hambleton Forum, along with 15 members of the public.

The authority's consultation generated 376 letters, 168 emails and 24,428 signatures on petitions.

If the full council agrees with the cabinet, at their meeting on Tuesday (June 24), charges will take effect from July next year.

Parking in Northallerton and Thirsk would cost £1.50 for long stay and 40p an hour for short stay. In Stokesley, the cost would be £1 for long stay and 20p an hour for short stay. In Bedale, the charge would be 50p whatever the length of stay.

Lorries will be charged £5 for overnight parking in Northallerton's Applegarth parking area and a oneoff sum of £5,000 will be allocated to help set up a park-and-ride scheme at Northallerton's Civic Centre.

Northallerton will retain its twohour disc parking scheme along the high street as these spaces belong to North Yorkshire County Council.

Thirsk will offer one-hour's free disc parking before the need to pay and its residents can buy an annual short-stay permit for £40 and a longstay smart card that will give them a 20 per cent discount.

Arthur Barker, council leader, defended the council's management of its finances.

He said: "It's easy to say we are no good, we need to make savings - but the services are run well. Members of the public get good value."

A march against the proposals is planned for Tuesday, and hundreds of people took part in two referenda held last week.

A vote in Bedale saw 455 people cast their ballots on charges, with six people voting yes, and 449 people voting no. The turnout was 17.7 per cent. Another vote was held in Hambleton Forum, Northallerton, where 741 people cast their ballots, with ten in favour of charges and 731 against - a turnout of 9.3 per cent.

Both polls attracted residents who were not eligible to vote because they lived outside the parish boundary of the town concerned.

Gavin Leach, whose address falls in the parish of Romanby, which adjoins Northallerton, said: "The final result will not give a true proportion of the strength of feeling because the charges will mostly affect people living on the edges of town who need their cars - and we are not allowed to vote."

11:42am Tuesday 24th June 2008

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