Protest over parking fees plan

Public opposition to plans to introduce charges at Llanfyllin's car park has reached an "unbelievable" level, the town's county councillor has said.

Powys County Council is proposing to introduce pay and display charges in more of its car parks.

These include Llanfyllin. but half of the town's car park is owned by Llanfyllin Town Council, which has vowed to keep its share free.

Councillor Peter Lewis, county member for Llanfyllin, told a town council meeting last night that he had been amazed at the level of public opposition to the campaign against the charges.

He said: "We have got a lot of letters now.

"It's amazing the amount of letters we have had.

"The pile is growing so big, it's quite unbelievable," he added.

"We must keep the momentum going.

"The public must keep writing the letters against this."

A petition against the proposal has so far attracted more than 1,100 signatures for the campaign.

Last night's meeting heard doubts over whether the cost of installing a meter and advertising the new fees would be covered by the level of income from the parking charges.

Critics have previously described the proposal to charge for parking for only one half of the car park as "ridiculous".

They claim the proposal is unworkable.

They say that it could end up turning Llanfyllin into a ghost town in the wake of the huge economic crisis currently gripping the country.

Town councillors have repeatedly stressed they will not be imposing any charges for their half of the car park.

They are worried any new charge would discourage visitors from stopping in the town.

Despite the opposition, county council bosses said they were continuing to investigate the proposal as part of a budget decision to increase car park revenue by £100,000 throughout Powys.