Somerset Council has approved plans to spend £1,500 per car park to conduct a comprehensive review of parking charges across its estate of council-owned car parks. The review is intended to assess whether current charges remain appropriate and competitive, and to identify opportunities to update the council's parking tariff structure.
The decision has drawn scrutiny from local residents and businesses who are concerned that the review process itself represents a significant use of public funds, particularly at a time when Somerset Council has faced ongoing financial pressures following its formation as a unitary authority in 2023.
Somerset Council, which was created by merging the former county council and four district councils, has been working to standardise services and charges across the newly unified authority. Parking charges have varied historically between the former districts, making a review a practical necessity as the council seeks consistency.
Critics have questioned whether the per-site cost of the review represents value for money, while the council maintains that a thorough, evidence-based approach to setting parking charges is necessary to ensure fairness and to support the financial sustainability of its parking operations. The outcome of the review is expected to inform future decisions on parking tariffs across Somerset.
