MOTORISTS should be spared fare increases in most of Haslemere's pay- and- display car parks next year, though the charges for Chestnut Avenue are likely to be an exception. A higher scale of fees approved by Waverley's executive on Tuesday, and which will be put to the full council next Tuesday, were said to be in recognition of the improved vitality of the town as the result of the various initiatives carried out. "It is no longer considered appropriate for the anomaly of special charges to continue at Chestnut Avenue," officers told councillors. The new scale shows charges for Chestnut Avenue remaining at 40p for up to 45 minutes, 70p for up to two hours and £1 for three hours. But after three hours it will cost 50p an hour to remain - an increase from the current 30p - and the charge for parking all day will go up from £2.50 to £3 in line with Tanners Lane and Weydown Road car parks. Residents' parking permits across the borough (permitting overnight parking from 4-30 pm to 9-30 am and all day Saturdays) will rise from £175 to £250. John Robini, portfolio holder for car parks, said it was anticipated that the charges would come into effect from April 1, 2007. "While we have managed to minimise an increase in car parking charges, this slight revision to parking fees will improve the operation and management of Waverley's car parks," he said. Despite the ongoing free-for-all in on-street parking after Waverley's traffic wardens were made redundant, income from almost all the borough's car parks is around, or slightly above, projected levels. The council's estimated income from pay- and-display parking next year is £3,089,500.
