RESIDENTS in Pocklington should get a say on the future of parking in the town, according to councillors.

The debate over the future of free car parking in Pocklington has been raging for several years.

At the June meeting of Pocklington Town Council, Coun Graham Perry said people in the town should be consulted over three possible options.

The first would mean leasing the car parks back from East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) at a cost of £25,350 keeping them free to use, but meaning that Council Tax payers would have to pay £76.53 for their annual town precept for a Band D property – an increase of £9.35.

The second option would be to leave things as they are and introduce pay and display at the old railway station and on West Green.

The third option – which would have to be agreed with the county council – would be to extend the proposed half-an-hour free parking to one hour and to have pay and display after that. The cost of this is as yet unknown.

Coun Perry said: “We should discuss it as a council and decide how the people of Pocklington can have their say.”

He said he wants the consultation document ready ahead of the full council meeting in August.

ERYC started a review of parking, looking at introducing pay and display systems into free car parks in 2009, which has been put on hold.

Last year, talks on the possibility of introducing charges to park in various towns in East Yorkshire proved highly controversial and thousands of residents and traders signed petitions and staged marches against the move.