A NEW scheme to change the way Taunton residents park their cars could see drivers paying around 10 per cent more. 

Taunton Deane Borough Council is set to discuss the matters at its meeting on Thursday (February 22). 

The basis of the scheme would see the car parks sorted into 'long stay' and 'short stay' locations, as opposed to the confusing current system of 'shopper 1' and 'shopper 2'. 

The changes come as the council plan to install digital signs as well as pay-as-you-leave machines in some of the car parks. 

The aim is to increase awareness of the car parks that are available.

A spokesman said: "The Taunton Car Parking Strategy 2017 highlights the creation of dedicated short stay and long stay tariff car parks as desirable to ensure ‘that spaces are available and used for short stay visits and to give certainty to customers.

"In parallel a small number of car parks should be dedicated to long stay users.’

"As part of the Pay On Foot (POF) and Variable Message Signing (VMS) project it is desirable to also simplify the designations of the car parks for the benefit of visitors to the town and achieve the maximum benefit of VMS.

"The current designations do not mean a great deal to the public and were we to continue with these on the VMS signs they wouldn’t support customer choice in selecting the most appropriate car park for their needs.

"The universal language of Short Stay and Long Stay is much more descriptive and better recognised.

"It is therefore proposed that all car parks are re-designated with this language, including those not within the POF and VMS project.

"This would mean that signage in the VMS scheme and fixed finger post signs would be updated to reflect this."

The proposed 'long stay' locations are: 

Canon Street

High Street

Orchard

Belvedere Road

Castle Street

Wood Street

Enfield 

Firepool

Kilkenny

Tangier

Victoria Gate

Charges are set to increase by at least 10p/hour in all of the above locations, except for Canon Street and High Street, which would be reduced by 10p. 

The Orchard car park would be priced at £1.10 an hour, instead of the lower half of the site being £1.20, and the upper half £1. 

The proposed 'short stay' locations are: 

Coal Orchard

Crescent 

Ash Meadows

Duke Street

Elms Parade

Whirligig

Fons George 

Ash Meadows, Duke Street and Elms Parade would all increase, while Coal Orchard, Fons George and The Crescent stay at its current prices. 

Whirligig Lane would be reduced by 40p, from £1.60 to £1.20. 

All car parks in Wellington would stay at the same price. 

Cllr Roger Habgood, Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transportation, said: “The changes to payment and car park designation are necessary to complement the Pay on Exit and Variable Message Signage investments that will benefit Taunton.

"The payment changes are financially cost neutral and have been carefully costed.  The changes to the designations of the car parks give users a clear understanding of where parking is available and for how long you can stay there.

"There are small increases for some car parks.

"Other car parks will remain static in their charging for short stays. For longer stays in the majority of car parks, it will be cheaper for most people.

"The changes outlined will help with clearer pricing and clearer designation of our car parks.”