South Hams Council is spending too much money fighting climate change and not enough on housing local families, it has been claimed.

The comments from Conservative councillor Nicky Hopwood (Woolwell) came as the authority set its council tax for the coming year, with an increase of 2.99 per cent.

That means an extra £5.70 a year for a typical Band D property, bringing the district council’s share of the tax to £196.66.

Cllr Hopwood said she supported spending on climate change but argued that the council's priorities were wrong.

It plans to spend more than £2 million on climate measures over the four years of the current Liberal Democrat administration, and Cllr Hopwood challenged the leadership: “You said it is your top priority instead of housing. Tell that to the people on the housing register and see what their priority is. I’ll bet you it won’t be climate change.

“It’s not that I disagree with how the budget is balanced. I just think some of the priorities are wrong.”

She said spending on climate change was excessive.

“It may help future generations, but it won’t help now,” she added. “For many of our residents, the money in their pockets now is the issue, and we need to help them in different ways.”

Car parking charges also featured prominently in the council’s budget debate.

Some local communities have opposed the changes, and a group of Ivybridge traders organised a protest boycott of the town’s main car park the day before the meeting.

But council leader Julian Brazil (Lib Dem, Stokenham) said the protest had backfired. “We had more people using the car park because the spaces weren’t blocked by commuters,” he said.

Cllr Hopwood claimed the new parking charges amounted to an “unofficial tourist tax.”

Cllr Brazil said regular employees could buy discounted parking permits and added: “Our view was that a lot of visitors, and tourists in particular, use a lot of the services we provide, all paid for by South Hams taxpayers. We felt it was only fair that they should help pay for some of that as well.

“I appreciate some people don’t agree.”