A BUSINESS group accused Scarborough Council of gross mismanagement of the local economy during a row about the town's on-street parking scheme.
The Business Alliance warned that unless there were major changes to the scheme it would run an information campaign alongside councillors' re-election campaigns later this year to inform the public of "how badly it has been run".
But council offi
cers say on-street parking has brought large amounts of Government cash for transport improvements and helped alleviate town-centre congestion.
During a heated debate at the town hall which lasted almost three hours, Penny Marsden, one of the Business Alliance leaders, said the parking scheme was not as profitable as it could be and tourism and car park usage had fallen since it started.
She said: "We can only hold you responsible for gross mismanagement of Scarborough's business and tourist economy.
"We now require a firm commitment from you to rectify this monster as from today.
"Should we not receive this firm commitment from you that there will be major changes, then make no mistake we too will launch a campaign alongside yours to inform the electorate of Scarborough how badly the scheme has been managed."
The on-street parking scheme is bringing in £250,000 profit a year.
Derek Rowell, the council's director of technical services, said its introduction had been vital to attract further investment for transport schemes.
Government grants to the council were £70,000 in the year on-street parking was introduced.
The figure rose to £524,000 the year after and more than £1 million in the current financial year. All the money has been spent on transport improvement projects in the Scarborough area.
