PLANS to introduce car parking charges in Blue Anchor have been sidelined after West Somerset District Council was lambasted for failing to carry out proper consultation into the proposals.

Carhampton and Withycombe member Cllr Peter Humber launched a scathing attack on Cllr Barbara Child, who led the group which came up with the proposal.

He said the extent of Cllr Child's consultation had been a hurried meeting in a café in Blue Anchor last week plus letters to a couple of businesses.

He also questioned the point of Cllr Child's promises to hold "further consultations" before charges were introduced as she was asking councillors to approve the principle of the charges at Monday's meeting of the cabinet.

He said she had failed to speak to parish councillors about the proposal and said he was appalled by the move.

"How could this have been put on the agenda without consultation? If councillors vote this through tonight they are accepting the principle of charges in Blue Anchor, so what is the point of consultation?" he said.

Cllr Child said she had carried out more consultation than Cllr Humber had suggested and claimed he did not understand the meaning of the word "prudent".

She said there was still "some way to go before implementing charges" but, when questioned by leader Cllr Steven Pugsley, admitted there was no reason why Blue Anchor could not be taken out of the equation until further consultation had been carried out.

The Blue Anchor proposals were contained within a strategy drawn up by a special group of councillors spearheaded by Cllr Child to look at all aspects of car parking in the district.

The strategy also contained controversial proposals to increase car parking charges and these were given to the meeting in detail for the summer period.

That period would start a month earlier, in March rather than April, and the table of charges included proposals to introduce eventually a 50p charge for two hours' parking in Blue Anchor and a £1 charge for parking all day.

There were also details of changes to the parking permit system with plans to replace the existing structure with just four permits, which would be valid in all car parks except Summerland, in Minehead, and Parsons Street, in Porlock.

Summerland, meanwhile, would be used as a short stay car park with a maximum stay of two hours.

Cllr Child stressed that no extra charge was being made for one hour parking and the two-hour charge had been reduced by 50p.

She added: "The traders who were consulted endorsed this move."

But while councillors went to some length to congratulate her for drawing up the strategy, she faced further criticism for the planned changes to the permit system.

Alcombe West member Cllr Simon Stokes suggested her group looked again at plans to have only four permits as the change would mean Quay Street residents faced a 2,000 per cent increase in their parking charges.

He said that, because there were only a handful of spaces for them, the 20 or so residents had been given a reduced permit rate of £2.50 as there was no guarantee they would be able to park outside their homes.

Under the proposals, that special permit would be scrapped with residents having to pay £50 for a full permit.

Cllr Stokes was supported by Minehead councillors Jenny David and Colin Hill, while others claimed the £50 charge should be acceptable as it only equated to less than £1 a week.

The meeting then degenerated as councillors fought among themselves over whether to have a complete re-think on the issue, whether to introduce a new residents-only permit or whether to stick with the strategy and levy the full £50.

After consultations with officers, the meeting was back on track with the compromise that a new residents-only permit was introduced for Quay Street at a charge of £25 a year.

Cllr Child was not happy and warned: "By doing this, you are going against the policy of the strategy group and causing problems for the future."

Finally, cabinet members voted to adopt the strategy as laid out by Cllr Child with the addition of a new Quay Street residents-only permit and on the proviso Blue Anchor was pulled out of the plans until further consultation had taken place.

l A statement issued by the district council two days after the meeting said councillors had appreciated the work done by Cllr Child and "welcomed the new simplified system".

Council spokesman Norman Staples said: "Monday's meeting saw the introduction of a long-awaited, simple to understand car park charging system for West Somerset.

"While overwhelmingly appreciated as it stood, there were, however, several amendments suggested by members."

He also quoted Cllr Child as saying that parking charges would not be introduced in Blue Anchor until repairs had been carried out to the sea wall and road lining work completed.