The consultation on increasing charges at South Hams District Council car parks closed on January 5.

Dartmouth Chamber of Commerce is deeply concerned that the proposed changes will have a negative impact on town centre businesses.

A spokesperson said: “As a visitor economy we rely on visitors to come and spend time and money here to ensure our town thrives.

“At the current time Dartmouth (and other towns across Devon) are seeing lower visitor footfall, particularly outside of peak season, connected to the continued cost of living crisis.

“Some businesses are also reporting a decline in revenue compared to the previous year. In this current context, we strongly believe that increasing car parking charges would harm our town’s economic vitality.”

“There is no workers scheme proposed for South Hams workers.”

Dartmouth relies heavily on workers in the hospitality and retail industry in our visitor economy, many of whom earn the National Living Wage.

Living and working in our rural area poses challenges from limited public transport services leaving many people reliant on cars for their daily travel.

Travelling to Dartmouth for work is already expensive, and businesses report that some staff are turning down job offers due to the high cost of commuting to Dartmouth.

The Chamber believes that higher parking charges will disproportionately affect workers.

They continued: “South Hams District Council assumes that both residents and visitors to Dartmouth can absorb the proposed increases.

“However, while SHDC’s parking revenues at Mayors Avenue have remained steady in 2023/24, the Park & Ride has experienced a decline in usage.

“Additionally, there was a noticeable increase in the availability of on-street parking within the town during the summer season.”

More empty spaces than usual were observed during peak times, suggesting a decrease in the number of cars in town.

Responses to the survey will be considered by the South Hams Executive Committee.