It had been expected the significant change would come in from last month
Council pay and display machine(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Liverpool Council has offered an update on the long-delayed ending of free parking after 6pm in the city centre. It was confirmed in May that two and a half years after the idea was first proposed, the local authority would finally move forward with plans to extend parking charges until 11pm.
Despite almost 90% of people indicating they were against the move, councillors have pressed ahead with the change, arguing it would standardise parking across the city centre. It had been expected the amendments would go live at the start of June.
Now, a month on, the city council has given a fresh hint as to when changes might be coming into force. The move originates after a review of the controlled parking zone (CPZ) around the city centre back in 2018.
An initial informal public consultation was held in February 2022 after which proposals were revised and a statutory consultation undertaken between July and August 2023. Ahead of last week’s meeting, the strength of feeling towards the scheme was revealed.
Cllr Dan Barrington, cabinet member for transport and connectivity, said changes to the city’s parking offering would help deal with issues like the ongoing scourge of pavement parking.
It had initially been proposed that the fee to park would go up by 10p per half hour.
However, under a scheme adopted last year, 30 minutes parking in the city centre has gone up from £1.20 to £2 while an hour will now cost £4, up from £2.40.
In an update on changes to the parking scheme around Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium, the local authority said the new CPZ will “soon operate from 7am-11pm every day.
Liverpool Council held consultations into extending parking charges in the city centre past their current 6pm cut-off(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“The refreshed CPZ is set to go live in the next few weeks.” The ECHO understands the delay relates to ensuring pay and display machines are correctly updated alongside the new signage required across the city centre.
Further changes are also to come into force as part of the amendments. Other types of parking bays, such as loading and limited waiting bays will also be amended to become pay and display, residents or disabled bays, or single yellow lines in the evenings.
The existing two hour maximum stay limit for pay and display bays on roads within the Hope Street area, will be extended to four hours.
This will include Hope Street, Blackburne Place, Falkner Street between Hope Street and Catherine Street, Maryland Street between Hope Street and South Hunter Street and Caledonia Street.
The proposed extended hours will require additional enforcement, with revenues expected to bring in almost £240,000 until parking behaviours improved. The cost of enforcement will be met from within existing budgets and also from the potential additional revenue generated not only in the city centre but across the city.