A NEW seasonal parking permit hopes to cut costs for residents required to use Cornwall Council car parks. 

The county council has announced the introduction of the ‘Resident Season Ticket’, which will cut the cost of parking for residents who live in Cornwall for at least six months of the year.  

From April 1 the new permit can be purchased to cover a six, seven, or 12 month period.  

Over the last year, residents have expressed their frustration with Cornwall Council’s decision to hike the price to park in carparks across the county, with many saying that the rises were unfairly targeting locals and could affect local business.  

These new tickets reduce costs for locals, however, are only valid for use in ‘one specified car park’.  

Examples, based on current prices, of how much the Resident Season Ticket will cost include:  

• Camborne, Helston (Castle Green) and Cawsand - £105 for six months and £210 for a year.  

• St Austell, Redruth, Launceston, Bodmin and Penryn - £160.65 for six months and £302.40 for a year.  

• Truro, St Ives, Falmouth and Bude - £273 for six months and £504 for a year. 

Richard Williams-Pears, Cornwall Council cabinet portfolio holder for transport, said: “We remain committed to putting the infrastructure in place to make it easier for people to choose more sustainable options for how they travel. Road transport makes up about 25 per cent of Cornwall’s carbon emissions and so we all need to look at the journeys we make and the impact this has.  

“However, we also know that there are residents who have no option but to drive and regularly park in one of our car parks – for example for work, or because there is no on-street parking near their home. And so, we’ve listened to what people have told us and will be introducing the Resident Season Ticket as a result.”  

As well as this, there are plans to introduce a year-long trial of overnight motorhome parking at The Crescent car park in Bude.  

Cllr Williams-Pears continued: “We know there is a desire from the motorhome community for overnight camping in our car parks and while we want to be able to accommodate those requests, we’re also mindful of the needs of local communities and businesses. We’re hoping the Bude overnight camping trial will give us a good insight into how we can run similar schemes in other council car parks in the future.”