REVISED parking charges introduced in November are forecasted to cost Craven District Council £121,590 a year.

A special seminar has been called to consider implementing yet another set of charges.

The new parking scheme which came into effect in November included a blanket charge of 50p an hour in all car parks, with the exceptions of Waller Hill and Keighley Road in Skipton, Greenfoot in Settle, and Ingleborough Community Centre car park.

It also introduced a seasonal de-restriction on the use of residents' permits.

However, a monitoring survey raised certain concerns, including the income impact of allowing permits at Skipton's High Street car park.

A report to the council proposed several options to fill the hole in the council's budget, including yet another tariff under which the prices would remain at 50p for up to one hour, a 20p increase for up to two hours, 10p increase for up to three hours, and unchanged for all other lengths of time.

It was also recommended that the amount of parking allowed under the limited residents' permit be reduced from three to two hours.

However, this week, the policy and resources committee voted to defer any decision until full council next month.

Members agreed to set up a seminar for councillors where they could put forward thoughts on the proposals.

Council leader David Crawford was criticised by Coun Carl Lis who said: "Every day this goes on tax payers are losing money. I think you should consider standing down."

And Coun Robert Heseltine said. "It is an issue of tremendous public interest and it may be an embarrassment to members but that is no reason to defer debate."

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