RESIDENTS in a coastal area of Cornwall have again vowed to resist moves to introduce charges at a beach car park.

The protesters want to prevent the Caerhays Estate from installing car parking equipment at the West Portholland beach car park on the coast south of St Austell.

The issue looked to have been resolved to the satisfaction of local people last summer when a planning application to put a payment machine and an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera on a pole was refused by Cornwall Council.

However, the application by Birmingham-based Initial Parking Ltd on behalf of the Caerhays Estate, which owns the beach, was approved on appeal by a government planning inspector in December.

At a meeting of Veryan Parish Council in January, councillors discussed the possibility of seeking legal advice to pursue a claim that the whole area is common land/public space and has been and should be used for the benefit of residents and definitely shouldn’t mean people having to pay to park to use the beach and coastal path.

“It’s been used by generations, by both locals and visitors, and people have been parking here for nothing since the car was invented. It’s part of our heritage and shouldn’t be exploited,” said one of the protesting group.

The protesters stress there is no phone signal at West Portholland, which could add to any parking problems and fines.

Another campaigner said: “As we have failed to stop it officially, we only have one route to go which is direct action. We have a large call-out list of people who, as soon as we know the company is down here installing the cameras, will come down and do their very best to prevent them.”

Caerhays Estate previously put a machine and camera up at the spot, which were taken down by local people.