A local authority has revealed plans to remove free parking measures across the region in a bid to close a massive funding gap.
Warrington Borough Council has proposed changes to parking charges in a selection of car parks to help close its budget gap of around £30million.
The changes come after the council admitted it was forced to make “difficult choices” with local residents having to help foot the bill.
Under the proposals, it includes ending free parking at the Forge car park in Stockton Heath and the Pepper Street, Davies Way and Henry Street car parks in Lymm.
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The council has launched a consultation into the parking changes
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In Lymm the changes would see the removal of the first hour’s free parking and instead introduce a fee of 70p for parking for up to one hour.
At Stockton Heath the council wants to remove the “free after 3pm” parking structure replacing it with standard parking charges which would be introduced up until 5pm.
There are also talks about introducing a new evening rate in Stockton Heath, Monday to Saturday, which would be in place between 5pm and 10pm.
The charges suggested by the council would be free for the first hour with no return for two hours and increase to £1.40 for over one hour.
Councillor Hans Mundry, said: “We know how important it is to residents, visitors and shoppers who use our car parks that charges remain competitive and affordable. We have kept this in mind throughout our review of our car parking charges.
“While we are proposing to remove free parking periods in Stockton Heath and Lymm – as part of our work to make savings across the board – we are committed to keeping the new charges to the absolute minimum.”
The council is planning to start a formal consultation on these proposals in the near future, with a view to the changes to be introduced in the spring of 2025.
Mundry added: “These proposals reflect the difficult choices necessary if we want to achieve the savings we need to protect frontline services. However, even with these changes, parking costs in Stockton Heath and Lymm would remain lower than many of our neighbouring local authorities.”
But the move has already been met with heavy criticism from drivers with people sharing its “totally the wrong thing to do”.
One person shared: “Charging in the evening will damage the nighttime sector which is vibrant. It will cause chaos to local people who struggle to park currently. Happy to review current rates.
“The council need to stop treating south Warrington as a cash cow. Many people are Labour supporters, we get little from the council, no sports hubs, part time library’s. This needs a major rethink.”
Another person added that the debts Warrington Council have caused themselves “is shameful”. “Raising car park charges damages local trade and is like peeing on a bonfire in terms of revenue. How do they get voted in is what beats me!” they stated.
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Parking changes would see free parking measures end in selected car parks
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Someone else warned the planned charges risk impacting shopping footfall in Lymm village while encouraging shoppers to drive further away.
The shared: “Maybe the difficult decisions the council has to make should include a rigorous review of all their spending.
“The national budget has already added a lot of costs to small businesses which cannot cope financially with fewer customers.”