Council leader defends end of free evening parking

A council leader has defended the decision to end free evening parking in Liverpool City Centre, calling it a "necessary decision".

Councillor Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool Council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the move would not be "universally popular" but described the increase as "proportionate" for a city the size of Liverpool.

It was confirmed last week that despite almost 90% of people who responded to a survey saying they were against the amendment, the city council is pressing ahead with extending its parking restrictions to 11pm.

From next month, drivers will be charged from 07:00 to 23:00, rather than the current length of 08:00 to 18:00.

It will also cost drivers more as 30 minutes parking in the city centre rises from £1.20 to £2 and an hour will cost £4, up from £2.40.

The decision has angered opposition groups and businesses who are concerned how it will impact them.

The Liverpool BID Company, which represents hundreds of levy-paying firms in the city centre has called for a U-turn.

Mr Robinson said: "We always knew this wouldn't be a universally popular decision, I think if you asked most people they would wish we'd have free parking all day, every day.

"As we set out in the process, historically we've been charging at lower levels than most cities across the country and haven't changed these for a number of years so there's an element of catch-up with inflation.

"We believe what we will be implementing is proportionate for a big city of our nature with everything that's going on."

He added the council is also with Steve Rotheram (Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region) to freeze bus fares.

The decision to end free parking came almost three years after it was first proposed by city councillors.

The Liberal Democrats - the largest opposition group on the council - described the charging extension as a "hospitality tax".

Mr Robinson said: "We're only talking about 28% of the parking spaces within the city, yes that's a large amount, but the vast majority of spaces are controlled by private car parking companies and they charge a lot more and around the clock.

"We do believe it's necessary and proportionate. From our perspective we've looked at other cities and we realised to do something later is the right thing to do."

The council leader explained "the additional revenue this will raise that will go into enforcement".

He added: "The resources raised will go back into those frontline services people want us to invest in."

And he also said: "We have taken on board thoughts and that's why a review point has been built in."