HIKES in Waverley's car parking charges were met with criticism this week, with opposition councillors claiming that the rise could be damaging to businesses. The price of using Waverley's car parks went up on Tuesday in a bid to raise an extra £285,000 for the Liberal Democrat-led borough council. As previously reported, Waverley Borough Council has increased the price of a two-hour ticket from 60 pence to 70 pence across the borough, to raise an extra £70,000 a year. But in Farnham, the Lower Hart car park sees the biggest hike with its previous charge - 40 pence for 45 minutes, 60 pence for two hours, £1 for three hours and 50 pence per hour thereafter - replaced by a charge of 60p per hour. The leader of the Conservative group, David Harmer, told The Herald: "This is the second time that the Liberal Democrats have made a significant increase in the car park charges. They have done it to reduce the council tax," he said. "However, there has to be a balance between the effects on the business community and the charges." Mr Harmer said that in Farnham the Tories' biggest concern was the large increase from 60 pence for two hours to £1-20, which he feared would encourage shoppers to go elsewhere. "When we were in control from 1999 to 2003 we kept the two-hour charge low that that very reason," he explained. "It is all about looking after the business community." The Herald spoke to Liberal Democrat councillor John Robini, who said: "The proposals for relatively modest general increases in car-parking charges from February have generated little concern or complaint from the public or the business community. "Compared to other nearby areas such as Guildford, Waverley is still much cheaper. One-off changes have been introduced where circumstances have altered, such as a supermarket being built next to a car park previously receiving low usage. The charges proposed attempt to guarantee parking availability. "For some time now, we have suffered the consequences of failure to raise car parking charges regularly over the years of the previous Conservative administration. "Perhaps a million has been lost in our base budgets because of this. The Liberal Democrat administration has taken decisive action in a necessary area to generate the money we need to deliver key public services. "Even the district auditor has upbraided the previous Conservative administration for failure to generate a reasonable return from the assets it owned in terms of its car parks."
