TOWN councillors have been left outraged over County Hall’s plans to charge for on-street parking on Clacton and Frinton’s seafronts.

Essex County Council is set to make a decision on whether to implement charges for on-street parking in the Esplanade, next to Frinton’s prized Greensward.

Lee Scott, cabinet member for highways maintenance and sustainable transport, will also decide on whether to introduce charges in Kings Parade, Holland-on-Sea, and Marine Parade in Clacton.

Frinton town councillor Terry Allen was left outraged by the proposal.

He said: “I do not like the idea of charging people to park - it will be no benefit to the town whatsoever.

“No-one that I know of locally has asked for this to happen “This will just be a cash cow for County Hall.

“They might say they’ll spend it on road projects, but we’ve heard such things before and still have hundreds of potholes.

“The is further commercialisation of Frinton.

“We are not a resort, we are a seaside town that welcomes visitors with open arms.

“They should be able to come here and enjoy themselves - all we asks is that they behave.

“We have a busy period for a few months a year, but that is it.

“We had a huge influx of people when foreign travel was banned during the Covid-19 pandemic, but those numbers have now become more manageable again.

“We also had issue with bad parking, but the introduction of yellow lines on street corners has controlled the problem.”

Mark Stephenson, Tendring Council leader, said: “We are deeply concerned about this proposed decision and the potential impacts on local residents, tourists and the tourist economy at a time of great pressure on the cost of living.

“We are therefore writing to Essex County Council asking that this decision is taken off the forward plan to enable consultation to take place with ourselves and others – this will allow proper consideration of the impacts."

Essex County Council's website showed a decision was due to be made from July 31.

After being approached by the Gazette, County Hall said a final decision will not be made on that date.

A spokesperson for Essex County Council said: “It is the council’s intention to consult with Tendring Council on the proposed decision on parking charges at Esplanade Frinton, Kings Parade/Marine Parade Clacton.

“However, in order to provide transparency, the first step of all our upcoming decisions is to add them to our forward plan.”

“No decision is due to be made on this on July 31.”