ALTON’S car parking charges will increase by up to 66 per cent from June 5.

The news has come like a bolt out of the blue after East Hampshire District Council’s (EHDC) cabinet agreed at a meeting last Thursday to increase car parking charges in the district to “bring them in line with nearby areas”.

The decision comes after a three-year freeze and is said to follow a detailed review of parking. It will affect EHDC-owned car parks in Alton and Petersfield.

According to the figures, it will see a hike in the cost of a one-hour ticket in both towns from 60p to £1. This is said to compare with a fee for the same time of £1.20 in a car park in Chichester and £1.30 in Eastleigh – both much larger towns with more significant retail and tourist offerings.

In Alton, charges for two hours and three hours will increase from £1.20 and £1.60 respectively to £1.40 and £1.90, while all-day charges will increase from £6.50 to £7 for the first two years and to £7.50 in the third year. Charges for four, five and nine hours will differ slightly, depending on location.

Sunday parking charges in Alton, where a flat rate currently applies, will be increased from 60p to £1. The Church Street, Rogers Court, Victoria Road and Vicarage Hill car parks will remain free on Sundays.

Season tickets and permit charges, last reviewed in 2012, will be increased for town centre car parks but reduced for those further afield. A three-month permit will also be introduced to help users spread the cost.

Unaware that the item was up for decision until the day before the meeting, Alton Town Council was able to submit a hurried representation, drawn up by town clerk Leah Coney and delivered from the floor by Robert Saunders (not a member of the cabinet) “strongly urging EHDC to reconsider the proposed 66 per cent increase on hourly charges” and 13 per cent hikes on other tariffs.

In pointing out that parking charges had been a primary concern for both residents and businesses during the town council’s last two public open forums, the report pointed out that Alton’s recently-appointed business development manager, Julie McLatch, had been “working extremely hard, together with the town council, in building business relationships, promoting Alton as a destination and increasing footfall in the High Street”.

“Indeed there is an ongoing conversation with a national high street chain in respect of a retailer refund scheme because of the continued concern over the detrimental impact of parking charges in Alton,” the report continued.

It went on: “There is no doubt that this proposal, if agreed, will have a profoundly adverse impact on all we are striving to achieve and will undermine the economic development project which is becoming established and gaining support among the business community.”

The Alton Town Council report drew attention also to the impact on residential roads near the town centre and the industrial estate that already suffer from drivers who prefer to have free parking and walk into town.

And it requested that, if cabinet members were minded to agree the hike in charges, which they did unanimously, consideration be given to the introduction of free half-hour parking. The loss to EHDC through such a measure, calculated at £108,000 per year across Alton and Petersfield would, the town council suggested, be “more than mitigated by the increased £413,000 per annum indicated through the increased charges, resulting in a net additional pay-and-display income overall of £305,000 per annum”.

But this suggestion was not taken up by cabinet.

In other parts of the district, such as Grayshott, Whitehill and Bordon, and Selborne‚ car parking will continue to be free. While car parks in Liphook and Liss, which don’t currently charge, are to undergo further consultation.