Parking charge hike approved by Weymouth and Portland councillors

A shake-up of parking in the borough was discussed at yesterday’s management committee meeting.

The proposals - which include introducing a seasonal parking tariff and increasing the price of a season ticket frp, £390 to £546 to cover a shortfall income - have caused outrage amongst business leaders in the town.

Cllr Christine James, briefholder for transport and infrastructure, asked for the matter to be deferred to the scrutiny committee- but the proposed changes were approved regardless.

If they had deferred the decision, councillors were warned they were at risk of being unable to make any changes until after Easter.

Cllr Mike Byatt, chair of the committee, said: “It’s quite a significant and serious step we would be making to delay this decision in terms of financial consequences.”

But speaking during the meeting, Cllr James said: “This whole report has been thrown in and rushed because of a shortfall in income.

“I would rather it went back to the scrutiny committee before we make a decision today.

“There is just so much in here that we need to look at, not just income.”

She added: “For me, this is quite emotive. It took a long time. It was five years of work trying to get something done and things done differently.

“If I had it my way, I would put in a recommendation in here and put ‘E) No change’.”

Cllr Colin Huckle said money from parking charges had already been earmarked to raise income.

He said: “If we take the briefholder’s advice, we would need to find that saving somewhere else in the budget that was agreed last Thursday.”

But Cllr Mike Goodman said a seasonal parking tariff could send out the wrong message to visitors.

He said: “In terms of publicity outside of the borough, it gives an impression that we want to fleece visitors that come here.”

A customer survey will be carried out this summer to 'gauge' the opinions of car park users and how satisfied they are with the service.