Teignbridge District Council’s leader has said ‘We won’t price ourselves out of the market’ by raising car parking charges in town centres.

In stark contrast to Exeter City Council, who have hiked prices in city centre car parks by an inflation-busting £20 a week, Cllr Jeremy Christophers, has said that the council won’t be ramping up its prices.

The Conservative council leader has said that despite the current pressures on the High Street, Newton Abbot and the other towns in the region remain attractive for businesses and that the council is doing what they can with their regeneration plans.

He said: “One thing that we are doing throughout the work in Newton Abbot is to maintain or increase the number of car parking spaces. We know that people are getting wary of going to Exeter because of the traffic problems but also because they have ramped up their car parking charges – but we won’t be doing that.

“We are also aware of the impact of out of town shopping centres, so we don’t want to price ourselves out of the market by making it unaffordable and not viable to visit the town centre.

“This goes for Newton Abbot and our other towns as well as it is tough going on the high street at the moment. If national retailers are suffering then smaller traders must be as well, but we want to be part of the solution.

“There are a lot of issues in the High Street at present with shops closing – and it looks like Poundworld is next and is about to go – but we are leading the efforts to regenerate our town centres.”

A £30million investment programme between the council and private investors of the next five to 10 years is set to transform the centre of the town, the redevelopment is expected to see the historic 800-year-old cattle market close when the plans come forward and were implemented.

It had been hoped that a report around the redevelopment would come before the council earlier this year, but it has continually been delayed.

But Cllr Christophers revealed: “There is good news that is imminent on the rest of the market development and there will be big announcements to come that will be a good news story.”

The first phase of the work is the £2million scheme to transform the look and feel of Market Walk shopping centre, and Cllr Christophers said that work is well under way and is still on budget and on time, and it will be complete in time for the autumn.

He said that the scheme will make for a brighter and lighter and enhanced shopping experience that will attract locals and visitors to the heart of the town.

Newton Abbot’s Marks & Spencer store will close on July 28 and there are fears for the future of the Argos store as well, but he said: “Part of our plan going forward for Newton Abbot is to understand the aggressive atmosphere for retail at the moment. We are trying to help by taking on as much of the risk as we can in the development.

“Newton Abbot is still an attractive offer for business and for people, and there is a lot of interest from local businesses and national chains, but we are aware that they need our support.”

Sally Henley, Newton Abbot town centre development manager, added: “We have an extremely high occupancy rate in Newton Abbot at the moment with vacant units, which I can count on one hand only. I am, therefore, reasonably confident the premises will not be empty for very long.”

She also urged shoppers who claim to love the high street to go out and ensure that no more shops have to close.

Cllr Timothy Golder, Teignbridge District Council’s Executive for Economy, Skills and Tourism, added: “Work is currently under way to transform the look and feel of Market Walk shopping Centre while we are regularly looking at opportunities to attract new business into the town and district.

“Teignbridge District Council is leading efforts to regenerate the town centre, including large scale investments to support and boost the local economy.”

Exeter City Council want to increase the use of public transport, cycling and walking while also making the city less congested and car-reliant.

Some commuters could be left an extra £20 a week out of pocket as a result of the increases that will see all day charges increase from £12 to £15 in Guildhall, Mary Arches, John Lewis car parks, from £10 to £12 for zone one car parks and £6 to £10 for zone two car parks, while annual parking permits could increase by between £25 and £300.

Cllr Rosie Denham, portfolio holder for city transformation, energy and transport, at the time of the parking charges going up said: “There has been a lot of discussion on this and it is an example while there is a shared view across the city about the need to do something about congestion and taking steps towards it.

“We are rapidly reaching capacity in our car parks and they are going to become full unless we do something about it, and part of that is discouraging people from driving into the city.

“I am not concerned that this is going to have any detrimental impact on city centre businesses, and in fact the number one reason that businesses raise concerns in the city centre is congestion, and you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have really cheap parking and tackle congestion in the city at the same time.”