£100,000 spent on Breckland Council’s ill-fated car park plan has ‘not been wasted’

A councillor has said the almost £100,000 his authority spent on an ill-fated car parking scheme has “not been wasted”.

New data recently revealed that Breckland Council spent roughly £40,000 more on proposals to introduce car parking charges than was first reported.

The council spent the huge sum on surveys, consultation and legal fees before hitting the brakes on the plans last month in light of local government reorganisation.

The proposals had been highly controversial among locals in towns such as Swaffham, Dereham, Watton and Thetford, sparking fears among business owners that they would be the nail in the coffin for high streets in the district.

But now, Paul Hewett, cabinet member for projects at Breckland Council, has said: “The total spend was allocated to essential workstreams that ensured we gathered robust evidence, conducted meaningful public consultation, and explored viable long-term options for our car parks.

“Decision-making on projects of this scale must be based on the latest evidence to ensure informed and effective outcomes, requiring investment in up-to-date usage surveys. These costs were budgeted for transparently.

“With the overarching aim of this project being that car parks would cover their own costs through charging, the costs would be recovered under any potential car parking regime.

“But now that the decision has been made to pause the introduction of parking charges, this expenditure has not been wasted.

“The insights gained from this work will continue to support decision-making – for Breckland Council, any future council that succeeds Breckland under new local government arrangements, and for any town councils that choose to take on car park management in the future.”