PLANS to formally introduce ‘village-killing’ parking charges in four Pembrokeshire villages are expected to get the final go-ahead from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park members on Wednesday.

It is expected the May 8 National Park Authority meeting will introduce parking charges at West Angle, Amroth, Nolton Haven and Penally, effective from 2020, with a 30-minute free period of grace.

This is a formalisation of a previous meeting.

At its March meeting, the Authority declined expressions of interest from Angle, Amroth, and Nolton and Roch community councils in running national park-owned car parks in their areas.

This follows previously-agreed park plans to introduce charges at the sites, moving from a free year-round service to seasonal charging.

The matter is before the May meeting for members to reconfirm its parking charges to Pembrokeshire County Council’s Highways department.

It is also intended to extend the charging day at all national park sites from 5pm to 7pm.

It is also planned to increase the daily rate for coach parking from £3 to £8.

Concerns about the introduction of parking charges have previously been raised at a public meeting in Angle late last year, which many felt will “kill” the village through a decline in tourism.

The public meeting held at Angle village hall heard parking charges were expected to generate some £20,000 a year for the park, but there are fears introduction would make Angle a “dead” village, with a decline in tourism.

A petition objecting to the changes has collected more than 3,000 signatures.

In the case of Angle, it is expected the cost of a parking ticket machine, at an estimated £5,000, will be recovered during the first season of operation.

A report for members before the May meeting states one of the recurring themes presented following consultation on the charges was the claimed detrimental impact on the local economies charging would bring.

Other concerns raised were the national park “acting autocratically,” with no consultation, the charges being a “short-sighted ‘blanket-measure’ revenue-raiser,” traffic being displaced to other parts of the villages, or even choosing to visit places like Tenby and Saundersfoot instead.

The report for members recommends the changes be approved.