Controversial parking meters along Aberystwyth promenade won’t be introduced until the new year, the town council has been told.

Ceredigion County Council’s Plaid Cymru Cabinet voted to go ahead with plans to charge £5 for parking on Aberystwyth promenade in January.

A consultation on the plan drew 106 objections with vehement opposition from residents and businesses.

A Ceredigion Council report last month stated that the implementation of the parking meters was expected to be in place by Christmas.

However, speaking to Aberystwyth Town Council, Penparcau county councillor and Cabinet member for Highways, Shelley Childs, said charges for parking on the promenade were likely not to be introduced until January 2026, due to delays in delivery and installation of payment machines, giving festive shoppers a reprieve.

The idea for charging for parking on Aberystwyth’s seafront had been proposed by the council’s Thriving Communities Scrutiny Committee as part of a package of parking measures for towns across the county.

The plans received backlash from residents, councillors and businesses.

A report into the proposal was noted by Cabinet members at the end of 2023 but was not progressed, with Plaid Cymru’s Cabinet releasing a social media statement ahead of a Penparcau county council by-election, saying the Cabinet had “decided not to charge for parking on Aberystwyth’s promenade.”

Just over a year later, and with a growing financial black-hole at the heart of council finances, the same cabinet approved the plans to charge people to park on the promenade, with charges coming in “as soon as practically possible.”

Objections received during a consultation on the plans said the move will “drive people out of town” and called the plan “completely and utterly unnecessary.”

A report put before members said that “none of the objections received raise significant issues.”

The changes will see 179 car parking spaces become chargeable along the length of New Promenade from Castle Point to Constitution Hill between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week.

Currently, motorists can park on the promenade for between two and four hours for free, depending where on the seafront they park.

Blue badge holders will be exempt from charges.

Start-up costs, including new ticket machines, signs, and bay painting could reach £150,000, along with increased staff costs.

The council’s own report into the plans warned there would be “considerable opposition” from residents and business owners and could discourage visitors.

The council report said: “It is anticipated that charges will act as a deterrent to commuter and long-term parking related traffic from circulating the seafront in search of available free spaces and, encourage them to seek more appropriate off street parking provision to meet their parking needs.”

The scheme was initially earmarked to raise £400,000 for council coffers this year, despite not yet being implemented.

Approving the plan in January, Aberystwyth councillor and deputy leader of Ceredigion council, Alun Williams said Aberystwyth is an “outlier” among seaside towns having free parking on the seafront.

“We need to see how this scheme for the prom pans out,” he said.