BUSINESS leader Ian Newman has described Wiltshire Council’s parking consultation as “a disingenuous sham”.

The City Centre Management chairman said his organisation’s protests, first submitted four months before the new charges were approved, were “totally ignored”.

And he dismissed as “utter nonsense”

Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott’s claim that to revise the charges now would be require further consultation costing £50,000.

“If the council wanted to, they could simply hold an extraordinary council meeting and agree the changes,” he told members in his latest newsletter.

Mr Newman detailed objections that CCM made to the “fundamentally flawed” parking strategy early in the process.

“We suggested the council should have a policy to encourage short stay and shopper visits at no more than £1 per hour,” he said.

“These comments are on public record.”

Yet he was told that because no one from Salisbury went to Trowbridge for the meeting where the charges were ratified, councillors assumed people were happy with them.

“The impression gained is that councillors only listen to people who turn up at meetings at which the press are present,” he said.

MrNewmanquestioned whethersomecouncillors even saw CCM’s comments or whether they were quietly shelved.

Now, he said, Wiltshire councillors should acknowledge that they got it wrong, cut the charges immediately to last year’s level, and have a proper consultation about what to do next.