South Hams District Council (SHDC) is to consider increasing car parking charges.

The aim is to replace the current set of tariffs with a tiered ‘premium’ and ‘standard’ system, according to a report.

‘Premium’ car parks will include those serving main shopping areas, while those that are less busy will be classified as ‘standard’.

Parking charges in the South Hams last increased in April 2021, when tariffs went up by four per cent.

But since then, service costs have risen “significantly” due to inflation reaching a 40-year high, increasing by 26 per cent between April 2021 and July this year.

However, although parking charges in the South Hams were “significantly lower than almost all comparable areas”, SHDC was no longer able to absorb the increases by keeping parking prices fixed.

The report advised SHDC to increase all car parking tariffs annually, set in relation to the previous year’s inflation figure.

Car parking income is used to support street cleaning, including the maintenance of public toilets, as well as litter picking and bin emptying, the costs of which were more than £3 million in 2023/2024.

However, the costs for the maintenance programme for car park resurfacing is approximately £4 million. A replacement programme for pay and display machines would also add £270,000 over the next 10 years.

To mitigate the impact of higher charges on local people, there are plans to introduce a residents’ discount parking scheme, which would accessible to a maximum of two cars per household.

SHDC will be discussing the issue at the October 10 council meeting, with a possible decision by the executive due on October 21.