THE rising cost of parking in Cardigan has been slammed by the town’s traders.

It now costs £1.40 to park for an hour in the town’s main Ceredigion County Council-run car parks at Quay Street, Mwldan and the back of the Guildhall and local businesses argue that is costing them dear.

In nearby Newcastle Emlyn, drivers can park for £1 for four hours in the main Mart car park run by Carmarthenshire County Council. At the High Street car park at St Dogmaels, in Pembrokeshire, it is 50p for an hour’s parking.

“We are fed up to the back teeth. This is not helping small businesses in Cardigan town centre at all,” said Cardigan Traders chairman Martin Radley.

“High streets are struggling everywhere to compete with the internet and out of town shops, yet people say they want to see a vibrant high street.

“We should be fighting for our town centres and to get people in, not driving them out.

“Well, being charged £1.40 for an hour’s parking does us no favours whatsoever as people are simply refusing to pay. People will pay 50p for an hour but the current figure does not give us a chance.

“These sort of charges are killing off town centres and locals wanting to support their small, independent shops are being clobbered.”

A spokesman for Ceredigion County Council said: “It is widely accepted that a number of influencers will affect the footfall in any town centre. Differentiated parking pricing can both stimulate and facilitate the turnover of spaces as well as extend the length of visits which should be beneficial for local economies

“As part of Caru Ceredigion the Council seeks to work with local stakeholders to develop and maintain a positive profile for the overall offering in the towns of the county.

“This includes the availability of reasonably-priced off street parking which, taking into account what these actually are in real terms, should in fact be promoted as part of this offering.

Local or frequent visitors to the towns can take advantage of season tickets which, in Cardigan, can work out as cheaply as under 80p a day – further information is available at www.ceredigion.gov.uk

“There are of course various costs associated with providing and maintaining car parks and these will be borne by those providing the car parks.”