MP steps into parking charges row

WARRINGTON South MP David Mowat has stepped into the ongoing row over plans to end free parking on council-owned car parks at Lymm and Stockton Heath.
Mr Mowat (pictured) says he has been contacted by more than 100 people – shoppers and shopkeepers – from the two villages.
Shopkeepers are concerned about the likely impact on trade and shoppers are threatening to stop shopping in the villages.
Warrington Borough Council has announced it is to introduce a 30p charge for up to two hours on the Forge car park at Stockton Heath and on all car parks at Lymm.
The present system of one hour free and 50p for the next hour is to be scrapped
Mr Mowat said: “Over 100 residents and shopkeepers in both Stockton Heath and Lymm have contacted me because they are concerned about this issue – many say they will no longer shop in there in future.
“The council needs to do an immediate and comprehensive impact analysis in both villages to understand whether trading is suffering, because if it is, the charges will need to be removed immediately before they do any further damage.
“After all, there will be no car park revenue if there are no shops for people to go to.”
Meanwhile, one angry Lymm resident has sent Warrington-Worldwide a photograph he took of a parking services van not only parked on double yellow lines but also half on the footpath in Pepper Street, Lymm.
When he remonstrated with the two parking wardens in the van they maintained they were entitled to park on double yellow lines and on the footpath while working.
As reported by Warrington-Worldwide last week, Cllr Ian Marks, chairman of Lymm Parish Council and leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the borough council, believes it may be illegal for the council to charge for parking at Lymm and Stockton Heath when they are not charging to park in other district car parks.
He points out that the High Court has ruled against Barnet Council, who adopted a similar approach to parking fees.
Barnet has appealed against the court’s decision, but Cllr Marks believes Warrington should at least await the outcome of the appeal before pressing ahead with their own scheme.
Cllr Linda Dirir, the borough’s executive member for transportation, says the council’s lawyers have examined the Barnet case in great detail and do not believe it has any relevance to the situation in Warrington.
She said the BBC had published a survey on parking which revealed that some were generating huge cash surpluses from parking charges. Out of 359 councils, Warrington was 12th from the bottom.
Cllr Dirir said: “This national survey shows how completely unfair it is to claim that Warrington is making money from car parking.
“A key aim of the council’s adopted parking strategy is to bring parking services to a breakeven position – hence one of the reasons why the council introduced the charges.
“The bottom line here is that the charge for up to two hours has actually been reduced to just 30p, and the new charge for an hour is only 30p. We think this is a very fair and reasonable compromise. Who could really object to paying 30p for up to two hours’ off-street parking in this day and age? That works out at 15p an hour for two hours’ parking.
“In this difficult financial climate free parking on a managed car park is no longer sustainable.”
More than 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for the restoration of a two-hour free parking period in Stockton Heath and Lymm – the system which had operated successfully for several years.