A NEW pay-on-exit parking scheme due to be trialled in Surrey later this year will not lead to higher charges, Waverley Borough Council has pledged to town traders.

Surrey County Council’s Secondary Town Centres Fund has submitted a bid for a trial of the system which will see the motorist not have to pay for a ticket when they are estimating how long they may need to go shopping – paying for the full amount of time used instead when the leave.

The new method will be piloted in Cranleigh and, if successful, will be rolled out to the other towns, representatives of the four chambers of commerce in Waverley met borough council officials last week.

Haslemere chamber president Craig McGowan said Waverley had given assurances the new scheme would not increase parking charges, and that a range of payment options would always be available.

Resurfacing and other improvements to Haslemere High Street car park will be done in three or four stages in the coming financial year, so part of it will always be open. Work is expected to take up to “four weeks”.

Waverley Borough Council’s car park pay-by-phone service, withdrawn because of contractual issues, is expected to be relaunched with a new service provider by the end of this month.

Members were also told the council is to look at providing a pre-Christmas parking concession with more public appeal and business benefit this year.