CAR park charges are set to soar in Weymouth.

Charges at Park Street and Melcombe Regis will increase by 20 per cent from £1 to £1.20 for two hours with some other charges being raised by between 10 and 38 per cent.

A gap between what the council needs to run services and what is expected from grants and council tax means car park users will foot the bill as charges are raised as much as possible to make up the shortfall.

Director of environmental services at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council Richard Burgess said: "Generally speaking the charges are not going up, many of them are staying the same.

"The Pavilion and the Swannery are staying the same and the one-hour charges across the borough are staying the same.

"But the council is in a position where we need the money. Costs are increasing and we don't expect a huge increase in our government grant.

"In the past we have been subsidising costs through the council's balances but we can't do that forever.

"In light of that we had to look at ways of raising revenue that would be as painless as possible. We don't want to do it, but we have to.

"We are in the position where we can either increase the council tax, increase specific services, such as car parking, or both.

"We know people won't like it because nobody likes increases, but hopefully it won't be put up so much that people will stop using them."

Chief executive of Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bill White, said: "We're not very happy about the size of the increases - it's an extra burden that we could do without.

"It's been a successful season but this is not good news and it's not going to go down well with the businesses in the borough. I can't say if it will discourage people from coming to the town, but it's certainly not going to encourage them.

"We depend on people coming in and anything that could discourage that is bad.

"We will certainly be making our views known in the consultation."

As well as the 20 per cent rise for two-hour charges at Park Street and Melcombe Regis, officers recommended at the council's management committee that three-hour charges are raised 38 per cent from £1.30 to £1.80, with one-hour charges remaining unchanged. The same would be done for the car park at the council offices.

Governors Lane, the Harbourside and the Loop have been recommended for an increase from £1.80 to £2 for three hours with the one and two-hour charges remaining unchanged.

Season tickets and permits would increase by 10 per cent across the borough. All the increases would produce an extra £103,000 for the year.

The committee approved the proposed increases ready for agreement at a full council meeting on December 5, though a public consultation is set to start in the middle of this month on what areas people would prefer to be increased.

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