Plaid Cymru councillors in Barry say they're already noticing the impact of controversial parking charges on local buisnesses.
The council also revealed plans to scrap two hours free parking at on-street locations in Barry Island and Penarth, but this is yet to come into force.
Businesses criticised the council’s proposals at the time arguing it would hurt trade - and now, local councillors are claiming they can already see the impact of the new policy and are demanding its removal.
Baruc ward councillor Nic Hodges, whose area includes the Knap car park, said: "Earlier this year, traders and Plaid Cymru warned the Vale council that introducing car parking charges in these areas would damage businesses."
"We are only a few weeks in and have already been contacted by those whose businesses have been severely impacted. Livelihoods and the small business fabric of our communities is at risk as a direct reason of this myopic decision-making."
"Given this real-time information, we believe that Labour should reverse this decision with immediate effect."
Another Baruc ward councillor, Mark Hooper, added: "As councillors with responsibility for Barry Island and the Knap, Plaid were horrified that Labour wanted to introduce these charges and we voted against them in committee and the Vale council budget earlier this year."
“All of the warning signs were there that this would be unsuccessful and would hurt our local businesses. In fact, those businesses told Labour this consistently during the consultation period and were ignored."
"It’s not too late for Labour to admit they were wrong and change direction."
Listen to Cllr Mark Hooper talking to Bro Radio News reporter Gareth Joy on concerns over parking charges
Car parking charges at the Knap, Bron-y-Mor, and Penarth Cliff Walk, Portabello and West Farm car parks were brought in following a traffic regulation order (TRO) public consultation.
During this process, local residents raised concerns about a potentially “drastic” effect on trade and said they feared it would “force tourists away”.
Businesses and car park users also raised concerns about the current state of some of the car parks put forward for charges, particularly at Penarth Cliff Walk where one trader claimed an elderly man fell and broke his hip.
Vale of Glamorgan Council said two new disabled parking bays would be created and resurfacing work carried out at Bron-y-Mor car park.
The local authority also said it’s already carried out resurfacing works at Penarth Cliff Walk car park.
Council leader Lis Burnett said in July: "These charges are designed to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow by encouraging people to use car parks, public transport, and active forms of travel."
"It has also been proven that people are moving directly from one on-street parking space to another, deliberately abusing the current system by overstaying."
"We need to stop that. We also want to increase the turnover and availability of spaces. The income raised will be reinvested into the resorts and highway maintenance at these popular locations."
"We have made on-street parking at resorts free before 10am to try and accommodate those living locally and restricted on-street parking in these areas to a maximum of four hours to ensure different people can access spaces throughout the day."
As part of its wider car parking scheme, Vale of Glamorgan Council said it also planned to close Court Road multi-storey car park.
The closure would save the council millions in operational costs, but again local councillors raised concerns with former Barry mayor Cllr Ian Johnson saying the town centre is already full “to bursting point” and that closing the multi-storey car park would present a “huge headache” for shoppers.
However it did make some changes to the original proposals, including changing the hours from seven days a week between 8am and 6pm to seven days a week from 10am to 6pm.
The local authority will review car parking charges at on-street sites two years after they are implemented.
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