Town councillors have questioned why they and local business owners were not consulted about plans to put up car parking charges by Warwick District Council (WDC).

Kenilworth Town Council last week backed a request to the leader of the district council to speak explain why locals were not spoken to, and what more can be done to improve communication between the councils.

Plans to put up car parking charges, and other fees, across the district have already been questioned as WDC starts its budget setting for 2025-26.

If approved, proposals could see 10p added to most charges across the board at council-run car parks.

But speaking at last week's town council meeting Cllr Richard Dickson questioned why there was no local input into the possible price hikes.

"There was no equality impact assessment formally done to assess the impact of those on different groups of people in Kenilworth," he said. 

"And there was no formal consultation taken either with the town council or with stakeholders whether that be businesses, community groups or faith groups that are affected particularly by the parking charges. 

"It seems to me that this is an opportunity for us to ask the district council to come and talk to us. 

"We know the district council is under a lot of financial pressure, but also it rightly talks about working in partnership together."

Councillors unanimously backed a request to WDC's Cllr Ian Davison to talk members through how the strategy will impact Kenilworth.

Cllr Andrew Milton added: "Anyone who knows anything about the car parks in Kenilworth knows that Abbey End tends to get very full, Square West is actually largely empty for large parts of the day, and actually the price differential is about 10p per hour. 

"So that doesn't really make sense and I think there are some things the council could do with its charging strategy. 

"But that necessitates talking to people actually on the ground. 

"It is not just about officers, but about talking to local businesses and people using the car parks so we get a more rounded view and therefore a better strategy."