Councillors are to consider allowing free parking in Ceredigion car parks in the morning – but concerns have been raised over the impact this would have on council coffers.

A report being put before councillors on Monday, 31 July, has also revealed that Ceredigion County Council is looking to ‘further optimise the council’s portfolio of pay and display car parks’ which will be discussed later this year.

Concerns were raised in February that Ceredigion County Council was considering introducing parking meters along Aberystwyth promenade, but at the time Ceredigion County Council said: “While there are no immediate plans to implement car parking charges on the promenade at Aberystwyth this is something for further consideration.”

A proposal being put before a Thriving Communities Committee on Monday will consider providing two hours of free parking between 9am and 11am at council-run car parks will go before a scrutiny committee on Monday.

A report drawn up by council off­icers says the scheme would cost the council around £130,000 in lost revenue. Car park ticket sales are expected to bring in around £1.2 mill_ion to Ceredigion County Council this financial year, the report says, and any change to the pay and display machines to accommodate two hours of free parking in the morning would cost £5,000 to implement and changing signage could cost as much as £15,000.

The report also says that providing free parking could ‘be seen as incentivising the use of private vehicles’ and may not align with the council’s declaration of a ‘global climate emergency’.

The report says: “A populist view is that free parking is a positive and has benefits in generating footfall and economic prosperity.

“However, it would appear that there is little tangible evidence to support this view in reality and reports have shown that there will be a number of factors which influence where, why and how often people will visit a location.

“While providing more free parking may be well received it is less clear what tangible benefits would be derived from doing so.

“The income generated from the pay and display car parks provides a significant budget contribution to the ongoing maintenance and management of the car parks, as well as the delivery of frontline and other associated services. The financial implications of offering two hours free parking before 11am at Ceredigion County Council’s pay and display car parks would be significant and would likely be in the region of £130,000 (net) per annum.

“The service is developing opp­ortunities and options that could further optimise the council’s portfolio of pay and display car parks and will look to bring and update on these to this committee later in 2023/24.”

Lampeter Chamber of Trade has written an open letter to Ceredigion County Council warning that an increase in parking charges in county council-owned car parks in the town is “driving people away” and are “too high for local people and visitors”.­