A MOTION to scrap plans for Barry town centre parking charges was voted down during a fiery meeting of the Vale of Glamorgan council this week.

During the meeting Councillor Gwyn John, Cabinet Member for Visible Services and Leisure, told councillors opposing the charges to "stop playing political games" and face the fact that the Vale council have to make significant savings in the face of an uncertain future.

"We have no choice," he said.

The motion - put forward by Plaid Cymru members Ian Johnson, Chris Franks, Nic Hodges and Steffan Wiliam - stated "This Council disagrees with charging for town centre car park places in the Vale of Glamorgan and will not introduce them."

The motion was voted against by 23 councillors - attending Labour and Llantwit First members - defeating the 22 councillors for the motion, Plaid, Conservative, Independent and UKIP members.

The plans in question aim to introduce parking charges to town centre car parks in Barry and Cowbridge. Opponents fear that the charges will drive shoppers away from the struggling town centres for the sake of what would amount to a tiny monetary gain - an estimated £70,000 a year in Barry.

The proposals were recently deferred for "reappraisal" following feedback from the council's Scrutiny Committee.

During the meeting, councillors voiced their opposition to the plans with Plaid Cymru councillor Stefan Wiliam (Baruc) saying that these are measures which could "kill our town centres".

He said: "Car parking charges may well be a good idea in thriving town centres but if you talk to the traders in Barry and Cowbridge they will give you a very different story of how thriving our town centres are."

Independent councillor Richard Bertin (Court) said: "This will drive people away from our already ailing town centre" adding that the council leaders need to "think hard about the future of Barry town centre".

Conservative Councillor Rhodri Traherne (Peterston-super-Ely) called the charges "nothing less than a new tax on hard working people in the Vale".

UKIP councillor Kevin Mahoney (Sully) recalled admiring Gwyn John's previous opposition to parking charges in his Llantwit Major ward, asking him to clarify why he feels differently about these new proposals.

Addressing the room, Llantwit First Councillor John said that, although he has been against car parking charges in the past, people have to face the fact that the Vale council have a very hard road ahead of them.

"It's all very well playing political games," he said. "But I'm here to see that this council doesn't go under with problems. We've got to face a huge deficit over the next three years.

"A tiny percentage of the car parking area in Barry is in that report. This has taken so long to come to you because we tried to avoid this, but we've come to the stage where we can't keep repairing car parks, it's as simple as that.

"If you want car parks, well I'm sorry but someone's got to pay.

"Everybody shies away from the fact that we've got to make savings. It's time every single one of us stop playing political games.

"If we stop looking after the car parks, if someone takes the car parks over from this council, there will be charges, make no mistake about it."

Council leader Neil Moore (Cadoc) added that 92 per cent of parking in Barry would still be free under the current plans.

He said: "Car parks don't come for nothing, they actually cost us money, we should at least be trying to recover some of that.

"It's not a new tax on car owners but if, it was a new tax on car owners, another way is to not make that saving but put up council tax for everyone."

Councillor Lis Burnett (St Augustines) added that she believes concerned traders do not yet have the "full picture" of the plans and the issues the council face, saying that looked forward to talking with them once they do.