Parking charges in Southport are higher than in many other areas of Sefton, with parking in Bootle being significantly cheaper. The residents of Southport and local businesses need to be treated fairly on the issue of car parking charges.

In order to support our town centre we need to see urgent action from Sefton Council on the issue of town centre car parking which is making it harder for businesses in Southport to compete with out of town shopping centres and nearby big cities such as Liverpool and Manchester. 

Therefore, we are calling on Sefton Council to temporarily suspend car parking charges, with appropriate supervision, in Southport town centre for a period of 12 months to support our local businesses, help residents and encourage more visitors to our town. This could include a midweek suspension of parking charges between 10-4 for example to prevent abuse of the system or offering 2-3 hours of free parking.

Following on from this, we are also calling on Sefton Council to conduct a review of parking charges in Southport to ensure that our town can compete with other retail centres and give our local businesses the best possible chance to thrive in difficult economic circumstances.