A parking protest backed by more than 4,200 Devizes people but thought not big enough to be considered by Wiltshire Council will be presented – thanks to the Gazette.

Officials have backtracked on a petition against a cut in free parking in the Market Place after first saying not enough people had signed for it to be considered before a decision on charges was made.

The petition, organised by Devizes Guardians and Devizes Chamber of Commerce, was handed in by Councillor Nigel Carter. He wanted it to go either to this week’s Cabinet or a meeting of the full council on Tuesday but council rules on petitions would mean it going to the next meeting of Devizes Area Board on March 21 – too late to affect a decision on the parking proposals.

Consultation on the proposal to cut the free hour parking to half an hour, along with increased parking charges, runs out on Monday.

But, following the Gazette’s intervention, the council’s Cabinet member for highways, Dick Tonge, has agreed the petition can be presented to the full council on Tuesday.

“I wasn’t aware there was this technical complication of the petition not going to Cabinet because it did not have enough signatures on it,” he said. “I didn’t want the petition to go the Area Board as it would have been too late to be considered.”

Under council rules a petition must have 5,500 names for Cabinet consideration and 11,000 for the full council.

Richard Jaggs, chairman of the chamber of commerce, said: “The petition needs proper consideration as it reflects the concerns of residents and businesses, notably independent businesses, that reducing the free parking to half an hour will be damaging to businesses and inconvenient for residents.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said the rules on the number of signatures on petitions was adopted from Government legislation but said council Cabinet members had discretion to refer petitions to Cabinet or full council. In this case it had been done because of the timescale of the consultation.

Coun Carter, who will be seeking a review of the rules, said: “I’m delighted the Gazette’s intervention has enabled the petition to be presented. The number of signatures is impressive.”