THREE mums are taking the fight to the city council over proposed car parking charges at a popular park.

Louise Marie, Shevaughan Georgiou and Sam Brunnock are spreading the word about the proposed charges, and are urging people to register their objections in writing to the council.

The three mums are creating drafts of letters and aim to present 500 written objections to the council by the April 11 deadline.

To get to 500, they are offering to deliver letters to people’s doorsteps, and collect them after they have been signed.

As well as raising awareness door to door in the residential streets around the park, they are even planning to spend next Saturday in Tredegar Park with copies of letters to collect objections.

Mum of three Ms Marie, from the Duffryn area of Newport, works in St David’s Primary School near the park, and says she is worried that congestion could be made worse in the area because of the charges as people try to avoid the charges by parking on nearby streets.

“People are going to find somewhere else to park,” she said.

“They will just park wherever. It’s going to cause a lot of problems for local residents and a lot of potential safety issues too.”

Ms Marie added that the park should be left for families to use free of charge.

“The point is that land is meant to be used by the residents of Newport. It was given to us for recreational use.

“People and families shouldn’t be charged to use it.”

Mum of one, Mrs Georgiou, 38, lives on Cardiff Road. She said it was important to be organised about the issue.

“A lot of people can’t be bothered, even when they know they disagree with something,” she said.

“But if we can get a lot of community spirit behind this the new can actually change something – I’m sure of it.

“If charges are introduced I think it will stop people coming to the park, especially people who come from far away.

“It will also create huge problems for the residents because people will just park on nearby streets if they come.

“We already see the affects of this with the handful of concerts and events in the park every year. You can handle it when it’s a few times a year, but all year round would be terrible for the residents.:

A formal notice of the plans was published in March, giving residents until April 11 to lodge objections.

The charges at Tredegar Park and Fourteen Locks are planned to be in place from 6.30am until 4pm, seven days a week.

At Tredegar Park, the charge would be £1 for up to two hours, £3 for up to five hours, and £5 for more than five hours.

Meanwhile at Fourteen Locks the charges would be £1 for up to four hours, £3 for up to five hours and £5 for more than five hours.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “Newport City Council, as part of its budget proposals for 2019/20, is seeking to implement car parking charges at Fourteen Locks and Tredegar Park following the installation of car parking charges in Belle Vue Park in 2018.

“Revenue raised from the charges will be used to support the annual costs associated with the overall budget for environment and leisure sites.

“A formal notice of the proposed charges has been published. The public has until April 11 to respond.”