MORE than 2,300 people have signed a petition urging Warrington Borough Council to reconsider proposals to remove free parking at Lymm and Stockton Heath.
Lymm resident, business owner and local councillor, Sally Sharma has set up a petition asking Warrington Borough Council Leader Cllr Hans Mundry to reconsider the removal of the free car parking hour in the council’s Lymm car parks and similar changes planned for Stockton Heath’s The Forge car park.
Sally commented: “Lymm is a thriving community, but at the heart of the villages are a number of shops that provide the daily necessities of life, be it a stamp, or a sandwich. Residents walk in to the village, but a large number of the people who spend money and keep these shops open are passing trade. Imposing a 70p ‘tax’ on these micro-transactions will damage our local economy. We understand the financial pressures the council is under, and we are asking them to engage with the local councillors before putting forward proposals for public review.”
On her petition Sally added: “Local businesses are the backbone of our community. They create jobs, boost our local economy, and preserve our neighbourhood character. By removing free car parking periods, we risk losing these cornerstone establishments to the detriment of our town.
“Other areas of the town with council car parks have free parking, and we must ask why we have the only carparks that will be changed?
0-15 minutes: Free
Birchwood Station car park
4 hours free parking
Cobden Street
Grammar School Road car park
Jackson Avenue, Culcheth
Common Lane, Culcheth
Marsh Street car park – Orford
Unlimited free parking
Sharp Street, Orford
Free on Sundays
Times Square
Free parking before 8am and after 6pm, Monday to Sunday.
Warrington Town Hall.
In 2016 a similar petition gathered 3,000 signatures, and led to the council revising the parking charges proposed at that time. The petition can be signed at www.change.org/StopKillingLocalShops