THE cost of a consultant’s survey to help Somerset Council decide whether to introduce stinging new car parking charges across the county has been calculated at an average of £1,500 for each of its car parks.

A £272,824 survey to show how busy each car park is, was commissioned in March after councillors backed away from slapping communities with Sunday parking charges following huge public opposition.

Somerset councillors said they wanted more information before deciding whether to bring in new charges, including on Sundays for the first time in many areas.

A report is expected to be put before councillors in the autumn, ahead of next May when all of their seats will be up for election.

However, they have already drawn up a tiered pricing structure which would see £12,50 per day charged in the most popular car parks, and £5.20 for some smaller communities but with a free first hour to encourage shoppers.

The council is also looking at bringing in metered parking on some town streets and scrapping cash payments wherever it can.

Conservative opposition group leader Cllr Diogo Rodrigues questioned if the survey expense could be justified, given the financially-stricken council’s other payments to consultants.

Cllr Rodrigues said: “We know the council is spending up to £20 million on consultants to advise on how to save money, and more than £200,000 on consultants to advise on how much to charge residents to park their cars.”

Council executive director Chris Hall said: “The evidence base goes beyond how much to charge, it identifies current usage in car parks and the surrounding areas, as well as considering the implications of charging and how those might be mitigated.”

Mr Hall said the tiered pricing system was intended to ‘encourage turnover and sustainable travel into Somerset’s towns’, being based on location and occupancy levels.