CAR parking prices will rise across one Somerset district – despite warnings it could lead to more people parking on the road or avoiding Taunton town centre.

Somerset West and Taunton Council voted to increase parking charges by up to ten per cent as part of its ongoing work to tackle climate change.

The council’s executive believes the increase will raise an additional £500,000, which will go towards supporting the Taunton park and ride and improving one of the town’s busiest road junctions.

But local ward members have warned the move will hurt businesses and lead to more parking on residential streets.

The issue was hotly debated by the full council when it convened in Taunton on Wednesday evening (February 19).

Councillor Mike Rigby, portfolio holder for planning and transportation, said the money raised from additional charges would be spent on improving public transport and changing driver habits.

He said: “There are a range of things we want to do, but all tightly focused on transport issues. We are not raising money to put into a pot – we want to change driver behaviour.”

Of the £500,000 which the increased charges are expected to raise for the council, £160,000 covers inflationary pressures.

A further £200,000 will be spent on improving the park and ride, with the remaining £140,000 going towards the county council’s £8M upgrade of the Creech Castle junction, where the A358 Toneway meets the A38 Bridgwater Road.

Mr Rigby added: “We need to make sure that whatever we do, on-street and off-street, supports the park and ride.”

Numerous councillors raised concerns that putting up the price of parking would do more harm than good.

Councillor Nick Thwaites (Conservative, Dulverton and District) said: “In places outside of Taunton, you will increase carbon emissions by people driving around looking for somewhere to park.

“You see that at the moment in Minehead – the car parks aren’t used, people park on the road.”

Councillor John Hunt (Independent, Comeytrowe and Bishop’s Hull) said the rise would hurt Taunton businesses and went against the Liberal Democrats’ election pledge to trial free car parking in the town centre.

He said: “Clearly we need to get people out of their cars, and the only way to do that is to provide realistic alternatives: safe cycle paths and footpaths, affordable buses and the park and ride.

“This rise will penalise those it is trying to help.”

Councillor Brenda Weston (Labour, Priorswood) said increasing charges would lead to more residential streets being clogged up with parked cars.

She said: “We know older residents who have people from other parts of the district who park in Taunton’s streets – so they [the residents] can’t park themselves or get picked up by taxis.”

Councillor Roger Habgood (Conservative, Monument) said any increase should be suspended until a full car parking strategy was in place for the entire district.

He said: “Any rise has to be reasonable and proportionate. We haven’t got a level playing field, and my concern here is: why a blanket ten per cent? It doesn’t make sense.

“This should be done in line with a car parking strategy – and not to do so is a bit lazy, to be blunt.”

Mr Rigby said the existing Taunton Deane parking strategy “isn’t much use”, since it did not take account of the park and ride’s precarious nature or the redevelopment of the Firepool site.

He added: “The parking strategy will take about 12 months – but we don’t have 12 months. We need to fund the park and ride now.

“I think it’s a little rich for some of the councillors who landed us with the failed transformation – with £10M wasted – to criticise us for doing this now. Think what we could have done with that – we could have had free parking for two years.”

The increase in parking charges was eventually approved by 26 votes to 11, with 11 abstentions.

Here are some examples of how much it could cost to park if the proposed ten per cent rises are put in place:

It currently costs £2.20 to park in the Canon Street car park near Somerset County Cricket Club in Taunton. Under the new policy, this could rise to £2.42

To use the Longforth Road car park near the Wellington branch of Asda for two hours, it will currently cost £1 – but this could rise to £1.10

To park at the Quay West car park in Minehead all day during the summer will currently set you back £6. Under the agreed policy, this could rise to £6.60