OPPOSITION Tory councillors have accused Waverley’s ‘rainbow coalition’ of stifling a debate on the reintroduction of charges in the borough’s car parks.

As reported in last week’s Herald, parking tariffs are to be reinstated in all council-run car parks in the borough from Wednesday, July 1 – bringing to an end a near-three month suspension of fees.

However, opposition members are upset at the way the Farnham Residents, Lib Dem, Green Party and Labour-led council announced the news – without warning, and the morning after a gruelling three-hour annual meeting.

Conservative opposition leader Cllr Julia Potts said: “This beggars belief and I find the manner in which this has just been announced extremely disappointing. Indeed, just a day before the announcement I was at the first part of the executive briefing and it was not mentioned that a final decision had been made. Furthermore, we all attended a lengthy meeting the night before and there was no mention of this.

“It would appear the executive clearly planned the timing of the charging announcement to come out straight away after councillors had any opportunity to talk about it.

“I fully understand the need to start to earn revenue again – the council’s finances are severely damaged by the Covid-19 issues, and I was party to an initial discussion in early May.

“However, I find the communication process here very disappointing indeed.

“The new administration continually tell us how open and transparent they are, but residents can now judge for themselves how they operate.”

Announcing the reintroduction of charges last week, Labour Cllr Nick Palmer, Waverley’s portfolio holder for operational and enforcement services, said the council had allowed an additional two weeks of free parking to support shops reopening.

He added: “Car parks are a key asset that generates a significant proportion of the council’s revenue, which we use to pay for vital services.

“Although we have received some additional funding from government, this is expected to cover less than a quarter of our projected shortfall.

“It’s likely we will need to increase charges once the situation has stabilised.”

Holders of a Surrey NHS and care worker permit can continue to park in Waverley’s car parks for free.