Parking meters look set for Tywyn promenade after local councillors were offered the chance to claim 10 per cent of the takings.

Gwynedd Council and Tywyn Town Council have been at loggerheads for several years over who owns the promenade, with the town council claiming it was left to the town, not the county council.

Local councillors had fought plans to introduce car parking charges on the promenade, but at their monthly meeting last week, were told that they could put a levy on parking charges, up to 10 per cent, which the town council could spend on local projects.

In the meeting, councillors pointed out the potential problems that introducing parking fees could bring.

Cllr John Pughe expressed concerns about people parking on the road in the wake of fees being introduced.

He said: “This is going to exasperate that tenfold. I strongly suggest that Gwynedd Council should not touch the promenade. It is going to be a detriment to this town if we start charging for parking.”

Other councillors suggested that the extra money would serve a purpose to cover maintenance costs of the town and prom. Cllr Quentin Deakin said that parking charges would “offset some of the cuts being made” to maintenance budgets, both in the county and the local area.

Cllr Marisa O’Hara added that, while she believed that the prom belonged to the town and that Gwynedd Council shouldn’t be the ones to decide parking prices, “there is no way that we as a town council would be able to maintain it without charging”.

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