Labour’s Dover district councillors are opposing the increase in car parking charges, approved by cabinet earlier this month.

The 10% hike is set to raise an extra £195,000 from motorists and residents who pay for parking permits will pay an extra £15 per year.

An all-day ticket on Dover seafront is due to go up from £7.50 to £8.25 in February.

It is feared they could go up again when the result of the district’s parking strategies are presented to the council next year.

Cllr Simon Bannister, who represents Buckland in Dover, said: “This is the wrong time to put up prices and short-sighted by the council.

Some of these price rises are well above the rate of inflation.

“Low prices encourage people to shop, to visit Dover, Deal and Sandwich and it helps small businesses who are really struggling.

“We have enough empty shops on our high streets without making it harder to attract customers.”

Cllr Peter Wallace, whose ward covers some of Dover town centre, said: “Earlier this year the council made it free to park after 5pm but that’s when most of the shops close.

“We really need imaginative schemes to draw people in when the shops need them and encourage people to visit the district to experience our heritage but so far the council haven’t done so. Instead they’ve put prices up.

“A 20% rise in parking permit prices is huge and it is always a worry when people sign up to a parking permit scheme, there should be a cap on annual increases.”

Sandwich town Cllr David Wood said: “Sandwich would benefit from cheaper parking prices, not dearer, because on Saturday we are competing with places like Broadstairs, Canterbury and Westwood Cross where parking is either free or £3 for the whole day.

“We should have prices that help us compete against those towns but instead prices are going up 10%.

“They should at least stay as they are.”

Conservative Cllr Nigel Collor, the council’s portfolio holder for access and licensing, responded: “They haven’t been increased for four years.

“We have increased them with the hope that if nothing unusual comes up we can freeze them for another four years.

“Our costs are going up. We have just built a new car park in Dover and a lot of our car parks want re-lining.”

Cllr Collor said that despite the increase, the charges were still the cheapest in comparison to other councils such as Canterbury.

He said: “We have got to a point, at the end of the day, when we had to do something.
“I don’t like doing it but all of the car park machines need replacing.

“There are a lot of costs.”