Labour on Labour attack over parking charges

LABOUR-controlled Warrington Borough Council has come under an extraordinary attack over its controversial parking charges – from a local Labour Party official.
Patricia Cockayne, secretary of Lymm South and Lymm North and Thelwall Labour Party, says the new car park charges at Lymm and Stockton Heath are “ridiculous and damaging.”
In a letter to Cllr Hans Mundry, the borough’s transportation chief, she says: “I don’t want to attack a fellow Labour member, but this stupidity is already having an effect on the village (Lymm)
“I live close enough to the village to walk in, but if I am coming back from another place in my car I will no longer  ‘pop in’ to local shops. Am I the only one? If shoppers do come in they will only visit one shop and are edgy all the time in case they are met with a queue.”
Ms Cockayne the 15 minute free parking time just adds insult to injury and three hours for £1 is too long, unless the motorist is staying for a meal.
Drivers are parking on Brookfield Road and Danebank Road to avoid paying to park. Turning right from Crossfield Avenue onto Pepper Street has become “a leap in the dark” because of parked cars.
“At the moment there is no Labour councillor in Lymm. The MP dfor the area is a Tory. How do you, or anyone else, expect activists in the area to be able to convince the electorate to vote Labour, locally or nationally, when everyone knows that Lymm and Stockton Heath are being used as cash cows?”
Ms Cockayne says she  used to live in Hale where there was a similar situation. But Trafford Council listened to local shoppers and businesses and the village was saved.
“Lymm and Stockton Heath are NOT there to be milked . When shops become empty there will be no rates or taxes coming in at all to the council coffers. RIP Lymm.”
The borough council  introduced the new charges just before Christmas and has said it will review the situation in March.