Somerset Council’s new and increased car parking charges spark outrage and despair.
Liberal Democrat run Somerset Council have announced their intention to introduce a new parking policy that will see residents across the county pay more for parking. This includes:
- EXPANDED Sunday charges covering the whole county.
- NEW overnight charges that could total a budget busting £365 per year.
- NEW on-street parking charges.
- The removal of free parking in many of our market towns and villages.
The move has been met with widespread criticism from residents and local businesses, who are concerned that it will put even more financial pressure on them and the local economy.
Opposition Spokesperson for Transport, Andy Dingwall, said “This is a really short-sighted proposal. It’s going to push people away from our town centres, putting even more pressure on local businesses, many of whom are already struggling – we’re being asked to pay more and more for a council that is delivering less and less.”
Talking about these changes, a Somerset resident and business owner said: “It’s just one thing after another! They want to put council tax up, national insurance, wages and our costs are all going up, and now they’re stopping people from wanting to come into town – it feels like they don’t want us to continue to run a business in Somerset!”
Mandy Chilcott, leader of the Conservative opposition at the council said: "Somerset Council has failed to get a grip of its finances since its inception, declaring a financial emergency at the end of 2023. It has been slow to deliver any of the benefits that a unitary structure should have yielded and now seeks to make Somerset residents pay. The introduction of this parking policy is one in a number of plans it has to increase its income, including the continued fire sale of millions of pounds of commercial properties without repaying related borrowing, cost shunts moving some service delivery to town and parish councils seeing many increase their taxes by up to 39%, and an unprecedented 7.5% council tax rise – requested and granted by special permission from the Labour Government (Somerset being the only top level authority allowed this inflation busting tax increase)."
Local residents are encouraged to contact their Somerset Councillor with their concerns. Cllr Dingwall also added, “we have launched this petition to help those who wish to speak out against this damaging policy. I would encourage people to sign and share it with others who might be affected and it will clearly demonstrate just how wrong this policy is for the people and businesses of Somerset”.
Sign our petition against these changes
The budget will be decided at the Full Council meeting on 5th March.
