Councillors refused to pass the plans for charges at Sumner Road car park last night

Formby councillors have launched a final bid to try and stop the car parking charges coming into force at Sumner Road car park. The Central Sefton Area Committee meeting was held last night and there were 100 objections submitted against the proposed parking charges at Sumner Road.

The charges were to be brought in as part of a £55m package of savings due to government cuts.

They were originally set at 20p for up to half an hour and 90p for up to two hours, but these were increased to 30p and £1 respectively when Sefton’s ruling Labour Group set this year’s budget at Bootle Town Hall last Thursday (March 3).

The charges would bring in £90,000 per year for Sefton Council.

Formby Parish Council has led the campaign against charges at Sumner Road, generating 100 objections, with six objections to charges at Burbo Bank and Crosby Lakeside.

Councillors refused to pass the plans. They referred the decision back to the Cabinet Member for Transportation and asked him to look again for alternatives.

Ravenmeols Ward Labour councillor Catie page said: “We have listened to local businesses and residents. It is clear these car park charges are not wanted and we fear the impact this will have on the village. We want a thriving village.

“Parking charges have been proposed pretty much every year since the cuts to the council’s budget began in 2010 and we have successfully fought them up to now.

“But with more and more cuts from the government, it becomes harder and harder for the council to make ends meet.

“The council has been forced by the government to make £55m of cuts over the past two years and £170m since 2010, simply because the Conservatives have taken that much money away from local councils. We hope that an alternative to these parking charges can be found but it is clear the blame lies squarely with the government.

'Drivers have to pay far more to park in Southport - and it's unfair' “No-one wants to bring parking charges in but the car park is not ‘free’ - there is a cost to maintaining it and to the traffic wardens enforcing it. We believe it should be paid for out of the pubic purse but with the cuts that the Conservatives are forcing on local government it is clear that they want local communities to pay their own way. We don’t agree.”

Formby councillor Nina Killen said: “At the meeting last night we made a commitment to the traders that if charges are brought in we would look at it again after 12 months to see what impact it has had because it would be daft to have a car park making £30,000 a year but costing more than that in loss of business rates. We want the local economy to thrive.”