COUNCILLORS have supported plans by Somerset Council to introduce Sunday parking fees at car parks in Wellington.

Somerset Council has been carrying out a consultation with a view to bringing all car parks in the authority’s ownership into line as some around the county are free to park in and some people have to pay on a Sunday.

A consultation documents shows that Somerset Council wants to introduce Sunday charges to its Wellington car parks at Longforth Road, North Street and South Street.

Wellington Town Council was asked for its submissions on the proposals and councillors voted in favour to support when they met on Monday (October 6).

Cllr Keith Wheatley said: “We’ve got to remember that this town council swims in a bigger pond and is part of Somerset Council and we all know about the financial difficulties the unitary authority is facing.

“Their streams of income to fight their way out of this situation are pretty limited and so perhaps we are being unrealistic to say to Somerset Council we don’t want Sunday car parking fees.

“They (Somerset Council) haven’t got many levers to pull to bring in revenue to pay for big services like adult social care and children care services.

“We’d be sticking our heads in the sand if we thought Sunday car parking fees would be too awful to contemplate.”

Cllr Sean Pringle-Kosikowsky said: “Compared to other places it is cheap to park in Wellington. We are part of a larger council which is trying to repair itself.”

And Cllr Steve Mercer said: “This is just a fact that we have moved to a seven-day working week – so why should car parks be different on a Sunday? Sunday is now just another trading day so why should it be treated any differently?”

But Cllr John Thorne was not in favour of the plans and described it as a “grubby money-making exercise” by Somerset Council.

“I think we should object to this – it’s a non-starter,” he said. “Somerset Council say they want to make it fair across the county.

“They say that people have to pay for car parking in places such as Minehead, Glastonbury and Cheddar and that they are subsidising towns like Wellington where it is free to park on a Sunday.

“But places like Minehead and Cheddar have a lot of tourists and visitors on a Sunday and effectively the car parking charges are a tax on those people.

“I think this is a grubby money-making exercise by Somerset Council which is facing bankruptcy.”

The mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, said: “I don’t see how my £1.30 on a Sunday to go shopping in Asda is going to help plug the budget gap at Somerset Council.”

Councillors voted in favour of supporting the Sunday car parking fees, but on the condition that money raised was earmarked for improving the car parks in Wellington.

Cllr Mike McGuffie said that charging on Sunday would make no money as the car parks would need to pay for them to be monitored by wardens.