Controversial new car parking charges at Marlow’s Quoiting Square have been approved by Buckinghamshire Council.

Parking is currently unrestricted at the small square in between Oxford Road and Marlow Road, which has room for around a dozen cars.

However, the council is now bringing in permit and payment parking at the site seven days a week from 7am-7pm.

The charges, which the council says will come into force on September 1, include a maximum 24 hour-stay, no return within 11 hours and no waiting at any time.

The tariff from Monday to Saturday will be £0.70 for up to 30 minutes, £1 (up to one hour), £1.80 (two hours), £2.70 (three hours), £3.20 (four hours), £4.20 (six hours), £6.70 (over six hours) and £1.20 all day on Sundays and bank holidays.

The new parking charges in Quoiting Square are part of countywide extensions to chargeable hours at dozens of on and off-street sites, which were approved by the council’s cabinet this week.

The council claims the changes to parking charges are necessary to help improve vehicle turnover, maintain parking infrastructure and to bring differing charges across Buckinghamshire in line.

Defending the changes, it has pointed to several other neighbouring local authorities that charge for parking on evenings, Sundays and bank holidays.

However, some in Marlow disagree with the changes, including Conservative Bucks councillor Neil Marshall.

In a written response to the plans, he said: “Given the very high levels of negative responses we feel that there should be a little compromise and whilst we support the increased parking charges, we have reservations on the Quoiting Square proposals.

“There is history on this as an attempt to have charged parking here was made some years back and we believe that issues on defining the ownership line between highways and Platts Garage remain.”

However, his Tory colleague Cllr Alex Collingwood claimed that feedback showed ‘residents support the Quoiting square proposals’

The third Conservative councillor for Marlow, Carol Heaps, said: “My thoughts on Quoitings Square are that it should be left as it is.

“I still have safety concerns about an increase in traffic movements there, so close to a very busy junction and a bus stop and also the displacement of vehicles to nearby residential roads.”

During the cabinet meeting where the charges were approved, council leader Martin Tett explained that parking was an important service the council had to provide while still balancing its budget.

He said: “Social media is awash with, ‘the evil council, why are they doing this? They are all crazy, they are all corrupt’ – the usual stuff. Everybody wants everything for free.

“If you go on social media, it is like everybody would like every car park free all the time and nobody has to pay for anything. The reality of life just isn’t like that.”