Calls to reverse Cornwall car parking price rises

Parking prices are set to rise 6% on Wednesday

A Cornwall Council member has called for a 6% increase in car parking charges to be reversed ahead of its introduction this week.

Connor Donnithorne also asked the council to say it "regrets" the decision and to freeze all parking charges "to support town vitality, small businesses and residents".

Donnithorne, Conservative group leader and previous cabinet member for transport, said the council had agreed not to increase charges when the 2025/26 budget was approved.

Joshua Macdonald, the council's parking manager, said the rises - expected to net more than £1.25m in two years - would ensure the council could "continue to manage and maintain its assets as operational and repair costs rise".

Mr Macdonald said discounts were available for locals and regular car park users, which depended on "keeping charges in line with inflation".

He also said councillors had had the chance to contest the decision for five days after it was made on 18 August but "no challenge was received", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

If the decision was reversed, it was too short notice to stop the changes coming into effect on Wednesday 17 September, he added.

Reversing the decision could take up to six weeks and would "significantly impact" the council's budget, he also said.

The motion will be discussed at a full council meeting at Lys Kernow (County Hall) in Truro, from 10:30 BST.