Council spends £90k on car park charges scheme

Car parking charges could be introduced in Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford, Watton and Attleborough

A council has spent £90,000 on developing the introduction of a car parking charges scheme.

Conservative-controlled Breckland Council in Norfolk voted to bring in the charges earlier this year as a means of alleviating budget pressures.

The plan was met with significant backlash and some locals have suggested they would prefer to have their council tax increased in order to keep parking free.

The council hopes to introduce car parking fees in Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford, Watton and Attleborough and has been developing the project since it was officially launched in July.

The authority said ongoing budget pressures were forcing it consider how best to maintain car parks

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, these plans are still in development and the authority is set to launch a public consultation this month to assess how much people would be willing to pay and during which hours they would prefer to see charges implemented.

Paul Hewett, the council’s executive member for property, said: "The challenge that we are facing is that the clock is ticking. Every month that we spend talking about an alternative option is costing us.

"We need to act now. I’m absolutely clear that these are difficult choices to make but we need to be fully aware of the impact of the decisions we are making."

The council has already agreed a £56,000 spend to cover project management and communication costs and has recently assigned a further £32,000 to undertake initial detailed design and technical preparation work.

The authority said ongoing budget pressures were forcing it to find alternative measures – namely, the introduction of fees – to pay the current bill for the upkeep of the car parks, which amounts to £450,000 a year.

Fees are expected to differ from town to town and Sam Chapman-Allen, the leader of the council, has conceded that some car parks may have "no charging at all".