JUST a fortnight after being strongly attacked for proposing big increases in parking charges, Waverley councillors are now considering even bigger price hikes.

Two weeks ago, The Herald reported how the new Liberal Democrat administration had proposed to increase pay-and-display charges by typically 5-10p and annual season tickets by up to £250 in order to plug a £470,000 hole in council reserves.

But this week the Lib Dems went even further, suggesting higher increases that would net the council an extra £260,000.

In the alternative set of proposed increases, being considered alongside the original proposed rises, the Lib Dems are targeting short-stay shoppers and hitting season ticket holders even harder.

Last month they tabled a proposal to increase the cost of an annual season ticket in the Dogflud Way and Wagon Yard car parks from £740 to £790. This week they proposed increasing it to £900 instead. And where no increases had been proposed for St James, Riverside 1 and Riverside 2 car parks, they are now proposing rises from £420 to £670, £670 and £560 respectively.

The same councillors are also proposing to double the cost of up to two hours' parking in the Lower Hart car park from 50 p to £1. The original proposal was an increase to 60p. Steeper short-stay rises are also proposed for people wishing to park up to 45 minutes in the Lower Hart car park (an increase from 35p to 50p, rather than the originally proposed 40p) and the same applies for motorists paying for a third hour's parking there. The alternative price rises also include a proposed charge of £2.50 for a stay of more than two hours in Riverside 2 car park - up from the originally proposed £2.

When the Lib Dems tabled their original car park price increases at a meeting of its executive committee two weeks ago, they were strongly attacked by their Conservative opponents who opposed the charges and the lack of public consultation.

They were also angry that the new prices had been tabled in an executive meeting, bypassing cross-party overview and scrutiny committees. The Lib Dems agreed to let the two overview and scrutiny committees discuss the plans. The first met on Monday night when a slim majority rejected calls for public consultation from Tory member Maurice Byham.

Councillors came up with a number of other ideas, including increasing the charge for three- hour stays to £10 to discourage commuter parking.

The charges will next be discussed by the corporate overview and scrutiny committee before going back to the executive on September 30. The full council will make the final decision, and if approved the new charges could be in place by November 1.