A Welsh council has been slammed for begging its residents to withdraw complaints over a recent parking fee hike.
Conwy residents were up in arms over the council’s decision to introduce “extortionate” parking fees on Old Colwyn prom. The area recently had a makeover as part of the Old Colwyn seafront £18million sea defence work paid for with Welsh Government funding.
The seaside town’s council plans to make drivers cough up for parking from 10am to 4pm. If these plans go ahead, drivers will be forking out £5.50 to park for up to four hours from May 1 to September 30. When it’s not high season, the damage drops to £2.40 for two hours and £3.80 for four hours.
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Parking is free between 4pm and 10am, but motorhomes won’t be allowed to stay overnight. Public notices about the proposed changes are now plastered around Old Colwyn as part of a public consultation wrapping up on November 15, North Wales Live reports.
(Image: Daily Post Wales)
However Conwy residents who’ve written complaints about the fees have received a cheeky reply back, asking them to “consider withdrawing their objection”. The skint council outlined why they thought the parking chargers were needed in their reply.
It read: “We would be grateful if you’d consider withdrawing your objection by replying to this email to that effect.”
Local councillor Cheryl Carlisle has laid into the council for acting “undemocratic”, claiming local members weren’t consulted ahead of the plans being announced.
Cllr Carlisle said: “Local councillors were completely unaware Conwy intended to charge for parking at this Old Colwyn end of the prom.
“There was no prior warning, no consultation, and no chance for us to inform our residents and collect their views. This is contrary to the accepted officer/member protocol, and we only found out about it when Conwy attached the notices to lampposts and put it out on their social media platforms.”
She continued to lay into the council by calling the authority “undemocratic”.
She said: “These emails are asking each resident to rescind their original opinions/objections. This is completely undemocratic, as residents have every right to respond to an official Conwy CBC consultation and to expect their voices to be heard.”
Cllr Carlisle added that while she “fully understands” the council’s financial situation, she and her fellow councillors couldn’t see how “this costly scheme is going to address any of Conwy’s current woes”.
She continued: “The fact that residents of Old Colwyn are being asked to withdraw their complaints when they are perfectly entitled to respond to a consultation is an absolute scandal and wholly undemocratic.
“It suggests that these decisions are already made, and this scheme will go ahead, despite there being no facts and figures produced to evidence the financial viability of this scheme and its attendant costs. When are residents going to be listened to? Old Colwyn and surrounding areas deserve better.”
A representative for Conwy County Council said: “We have proposed a traffic regulation order to extend the controlled parking zone on Old Colwyn Promenade. The statutory (legal) consultation process for any traffic regulation order allows residents to object to or support a change.
“The council responds to objections and provides further information or explanation where possible. Having given an explanation, it is then standard procedure to ask the resident whether they wish to withdraw their objection.”
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