Mebyon Kernow councillor for Callington and St Dominic, Andrew Long, is playing a key part in the fightback against the decision by Cornwall Council to introduce new charges in car parks in Callington. Cllr Long, along with others in the town, is particularly angry that Cornwall Council installed new machines featuring the increased tariff while a public consultation was still under way.

He said: “For years, MK and other groups have been saying to the administration – not just the Conservatives but the one before – you cannot use car parks as a cash cow.”

Cllr Long is especially aggrieved that Cornwall Council did not carry through an agreement he had negotiated with Callington’s new B&M store in 2018 in which the chain agreed to subsidise the first hour of free parking for shoppers using the New Road South long stay car park.

“The final nail in the coffin was that the Council had the opportunity that B&M gave an agreement – and I’ve got the emails to prove it – to take on the paying of the first hour charge which is what Co-op did before them. It was effectively one-hour free parking.

“The council officer never followed it through to its conclusion. I was told ‘we’ll take it from here.’ Well they took it from there and did sod all with it. Even more frustrating, for the next four years we still had the one-hour free parking. None of us knew that they didn’t have the agreement with B&M – the council just sucked up the price. And now we are having to pay that hour charge.”

For the full story, see:

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornwall-council-car-parking-controversy-8571406