A DECISION by Waverley Borough Council to call a halt to free car parking in the run up to Christmas has been branded as "outrageous and undemocratic". The traditional Christmas present to shoppers to encourage them to shop in the borough's towns and villages - including Haslemere - has been abandoned following a decision taken at a secret meeting put the block on the annual festive car parking bonus. Last Christmas, shoppers enjoyed two half days of free car parking on the Saturdays leading up to Christmas - the busiest trading days of the year. However, the decision to scrap the free parking, which took many leading borough councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled council by surprise, was made under delegated powers. It followed a secret briefing with members of Waverley's decision-making executive committee and the director of environment and leisure, Peter Maudsley. The leader of the minority Conservative group on Waverley Borough Council, David Harmer, said he was "outraged by the undemocratic decision". "I was not aware that it has been discussed at a public meeting," declared Mr Harmer. "This is a new development; the council is not run on a democratic basis any more. "I recall the Lib Dem manifesto was for openness, what kind of openness is this? We will have to consider the constitutional position of the council." On the day after the Confederation of British Industry predicted that this year would be the worst Christmas for 10 years for business, Mr Harmer said: "I would say it is a bad decision for the economy and urban centres in particular. "It is bad for the economy of Waverley and bad for council tax payers as well." Mr Maudesley blamed the decision on Waverley's "huge budgetary deficit in excess of a million pounds" and "enormous funding difficulties". He told The Herald that the problems the council faced included the burden of taking on more responsibilities devolved from government, including licensing laws and ever- stricter recycling targets. The borough council is likely to benefit to the tune of thousands of pounds of revenue because of the decision. "Facing giving away Christmas parking is singularly unattractive," he said. "Who else gives anything away free in goods and services this time of the year?" Mr Maudsley also believed the half-day free car parking was confusing to shoppers and was often used instead by shopkeepers and their staff, who then left shoppers with nowhere to park. "It was done in my best judgement and I believe my judgement is right," added Mr Maudsley. The leader of the Lib Dems, Chris Slyfield, put the blame on previous Conservative policies which left a black hole of £7 million when they came to power last year. "They didn't raise council tax as they should and did the same for car parking charges, meaning we have lost money year on year," claimed Mr Slyfield. The president of the Haslemere and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Paul Gardner, told The Herald that he was "disappointed" to hear about the borough council's decision and feared its consequences. "For many years we have felt that Haslemere has been the 'poor relation' as far as parking charges in Waverley are concerned and while the decision affects the borough as a whole, it will further frustrate those of us who rely on customers coming into town and no doubt impact adversely on trade." Mr Gardner also said that the decision was counter- productive and went against the recent revitalisation of the town centre. "Haslemere really has turned the corner with lots of new shops opening and more to come," he said. "I only wish that Waverley could look at the revenue to be generated by such enterprise and take a more considered view. "I shall be taking Mr Slyfield off my Christmas card list."
