Labour's charges for parking at the park!

Liberal Democrats have criticized Labour plans to introduce charges for parking around Sefton Park.

The Labour Cabinet is expected to rubber stamp the suggestion that there should be charges at its meeting next week (17^th June).

Says Lib Dem regeneration spokesperson Malcolm Kelly:

“Introducing charges could deter people from visiting the park, which after all belongs to the citizens themselves.  We could also see more traffic displaced onto other roads causing more problems”

“What’s more, is this the thin end of the wedge for residents and our green spaces.  Will we see charges to park near our other fantastic parks rolled out across the city?”

‘Our city’s parks are green oases which should be enjoyed by everyone. The last thing we should be doing as a council is deterring people from taking healthy exercise by forcing people to pay to walk outdoors.’

The Cabinet report talks about occasions when there are parking problems caused by big events.  Liberal Democrats however believe the Council should be talking to the organizers of the events, some of which are commercial, to explore measures to deal with this.