£2 parking to be introduced in East Devon

An across-the-board standard parking charge of £2 a day is being introduced across all East Devon District Council car parks for three months from December 1.

The temporary tariff will not only support local shops over Christmas, but will help boost trade during the traditionally quieter months of January and February.

The move was welcomed by East Devon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Colin Wright who said that he was delighted.

Mr Wright, who is also chairman of the Honiton Chamber of Commerce, said: “We’re very pleased that the district council has once again granted us a very generous concession for car parking.

“It was a great success last year – for example I know that the footfall of shoppers in Honiton increased by a considerable amount and extended the shopping time for our visitors and local residents. It’s really great news that the concession is also being extended to the end of February which will also help our businesses.”

The parking concession is available after 10am in all East Devon’s 39 pay and display car parks. The 10am start time avoids car parks becoming blocked by commuters and (in the case of Honiton, Axminster and Exmouth) by rail commuters. In addition, anyone buying a £2 ticket after 10am will be able to use the same ticket to park in any other EDDC car park for the remainder of that day.

Councillor Iain Chubb, the council’s Cabinet member for the environment, said: “We understand that our local business communities are competing during the festive season with big city shops and online retailers which is why we are introducing this parking concession.

“This is the second year that the concession has been extended to three months and that’s because it proved so popular with our customers last year and we want to thank them for shopping in East Devon.

“We do all we can to help our traders and the Chambers of Commerce, particularly at this time of year. For some of our businesses, the Christmas season is when they make enough money to keep them afloat during the quieter months of January and February so this initiative will be a welcome boost for them.”