Wirral Council wants to press ahead with the implementation of car parking fees at additional locations within Wirral including South Parade, West Kirby and on North Parade, Hoylake and Meols Parade, Meols.
The map above shows that the whole length of North and Meols Parade, from King’s Gap to Bennets Lane will be liable for parking charges at all times. Double yellow lines will be introduced on those sections sections facing Hoylake that don’t already have double yellows apart from a section between Dovepoint Road and Bennets Lane. A 15min wait outside the toilets on Meols Parade
The proposed fees are £2/day and £20 for an overnight stay between the hours of 10pm to 8am. Unless a parking scheme is introduced, residents who park on the prom will be facing a charge of £140/week. Blue (disabled) badge holders would be exempt from the requirement to pay for parking as long as a valid badge is clearly displayed.
Wirral Council says “Charging would allow the Council to provide a fair and sustainable parking policy and continue to provide public car parks and access areas into the future in a fair and sustainable manner. Charges are already in place in many other Council-provided car parks in other communities”.
The Council also says “this traffic regulation order is to introduce waiting restrictions to maintain access along the promenade and improve visibility and manoeuvring space at junctions and slipway areas”.
Over the last few months Wirral Council has implemented parking fees at various public parks including Royden Park and Thurstaston. Do you think it’s fair that motorists should pay for parking at coastal areas such as Hoylake prom? Are these proposed parking charges unfair? How will they affect you as a visitor to Hoylake, as a resident and as a local business owner?
Feel free to have your say in the comments below.
Wouldn’t residents be entitled to a parking permit as they are living there? It may be an attempt to remove people parking overnight for weeks in caravans on the prom? If you park for 2 hours or less the parking should be free?
I can see that something should be done about the parking on the prom but I feel very strongly that a 2hour stay should be free, as many dog walkers and cyclists and runners us the proms for regular short time excerise, which we should be encouraging in an attempt to reduce costs in other services
If you want to deter visitors then introduce parking charges
what a waste of time & effort.
parking charges!
Drive the motorists up other roads
I would love to know who is going to enforce this and how much that will cost
I’m afraid the side roads will be so congested when this happens. It is difficult to park in the vicinity of home now on occasions. It is going to be nigh-on impossible soon. I agree it should be free for a short period initially, maybe 2 hours and under, as was said above. I am assuming there will be parking meters. As Dale above says that is going to cost too.
Pay for what? a neglected promenade that’s been in decay for the last 50+ years, awaiting spartina to finally win the battle. No baths, no boats, no gardens to speak of, all gone and they want to charge for that! so I can now pay for the privilege of visiting my brother on Meols Parade, really? Get a grip council, it will probably deter the existing visitors to my dying hometown
I agree. It’s a disgrace
The Council should tell us how much the charging at Royden etc has cost to set up, is costing to manage and how much money is being generated. Also how much they were expecting to make. Then we can see if the Council’s claims have any basis in reality. Then need to see the costs for destroying WK and Hoylake (i.e. putting in the parking meters).
Cannot trust this Council still wasting £00000’s on its fantasy Golf Resort!
I cant quite remember the exact quote something along the lines of we get the politicians we deserve.
I guess we must all be Bozos
Dale
Are we going to actually get together and do anything about this? Does anyone know if there is at the very least a petition to sign? It seems to me that the local residents of Hoylake are doing nothing to fight this disgraceful proposal/decision.
Terry
A meeting has been arranged by the Hoylake Ward Councillors in Melrose Hall on Saturday 16th June at 11am for Residents to come and have their views heard etc etc.
Petitions nad actions I believe will be discussed.
Sadly a petition will do nothing. There were 16000 signature against charging in the parks and they were ignored. What the council are proposing in revenue generation is unlawful against the Road Traffic Act. The only way to stop this council is to raise the money to make a High Court challenge and to evidence to the council that this money is in place. Read what Nick Lester says below…
Petitions mean nothing but toilet paper to the local authority. Legally, the local authority needs to demonstrate that there is an issue with congestion it is trying to solve, and that the revenue generated must be used only to fund the parking scheme. I sent a FOI request to the council to ask what evidence they had to show there is a congestion problem to solve. In a nutshell, their response:
— Starts
Wirral Council can advise that there is no recorded information in regards to vehicle parking numbers from these sites. However, at the recent Council meeting on 5th March 2018 (see the following link for more information) http://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=123&MId=5992; a number of projects were approved to help generate income and contribute to addressing the significant challenge of a £61M gap in our funding for the coming year 2018/19.
— Ends
It is certainly clear what the actual purpose of the parking charges is.
We are lucky to have such vibrant community groups in Hoylake and Meols who rely on the promenade to park – I frequently see the volunteers from Hoylake and Meols in Bloom gardening on the promenade, the boating and bowling clubs, the sailing club and probably many more. These groups rely on being able to park for many valid reasons.
We have recently had a few days of glorious weather over the bank holiday weekend – and it was still possible to find a parking space on Hoylake promenade. Most days of the year the promenade is empty Do we need to impose an additional tax on wirral residents who want to simply enjoy a few hours by the sea? Who would blame visitors for parking on the side streets to avoid the charge? If you care about the impact of the scheme you need to make your voice heard.
* Understand the council are being dishonest
* Write to your local councillor
* Write to Margaret Greenwood, your local MP
* Attend the meeting at Melrose Hall
* Respond to the council’s consultation
I thought we locals paid for parking and the prom in our Community charge, if so then these charges should just be for visitors – you know those that come and spend money in Hoykake,
The West Kirby Lake was built by our forward thinking HUDC led by the much admired Chairman ‘Sandlea’ Jones – as a FREE amenity for everybody’s enjoyment! How times change?
What is happening West Kirby?
Surely its about time for a Council with a greater vision for the area . People in this area want to see money generated in this area spent on this area. Surely that is there responsibility?
If there is a £60 mill plus shortfall why are they wasting money on a golf course no one wants or needs?
I’m assuming that the council want to charge people who want to use the beach at Hoylake. However the last time I looked there was no beach but a budding swamp with added flying bugs. If the council want to raise money then perhaps they could introduce an ‘Indiana Jones’ experience where visitors hack their way through the jungle. If the pirate boat can be resurrected then this could be an additional ‘African Queen’ experience.
There used to be regular Beach Volleyball sessions at Hoylake. The parking charges and missing beach will now eliminate this. We recently held our last annual Beach tournament at Hoylake,.and it was clear that despite the enthusiasm of all participants, future events would not be possible.
Well done to local traders and institutions who try to boost Hoylake (and West Kirby) despite the council efforts.
Destroying the Beach,
No fireworks or bonfires
Now parking Fees
Idiots ,what next ?
Vote them out
Dale
Just found the below following a freedom of information request placed on Devon County Council. There will likely be more than one meter installed and fail to see this will add anything significant to Wirral Councils coffers in the short to medium term so makes me wonder why they are bothering at all. What do others make of this this? I live just off Bennett’s Lane, there simply won’t be enough cars/revenue to make any difference to WBC accounts.
Devon County Council
How much does it cost to install a parking meter
Each machine costs approximately £3,100 to purchase and £400 to install.
The running cost of a parking meter
The running costs are approximately £400 per annum for maintenance and £18 per month for networking and software. The recent £1 coin upgrades cost £198 per machine.
The average life of a parking meter
The average life of a parking meter is 10 years depending on location and whether there is any vandalism. Meters in seaside locations suffer from additional corrosion and need to be replaced more frequently
I have been visiting family in Meols for a few years. It is a wonderfully friendly place to visit. I have never seen congestion on the sea front, even on a bank holiday. I do not believe parking charges would raise money, rather it would be a costly exercise of yellow lining and expensive metering. I wonder if it is the head of the yellow lining and signage department or a finance department accounted who is, at best, narrow minded who is pushing the scheme.
To install parking meters along Hoylake/ Meols prom is a ludicrous idea. Charging people to sit and admire the view and take in fresh air, walk their dogs, take a stroll, jog or take children on the beach which many people do on a daily basis for their health, both physical and mental should not be charged for. The cost of installing and maintaining meters is wasting council money. Side roads will be congested with people parking there to avoid the cost of parking on the prom. What about residents who live on the prom? They should not be paying to park a car near their house.. the scheme is a total outrage and a waste of money.
The “cunning scheme” of parking meters / tax was proposed some years ago and dropped..
One has to ask why, perhaps raising money through a parking tax is illegal?
No analysis of the impact on deterring visitors, how many shops may close?
I think this is another great idea of the Climate Emergency Committee.. none of whom are local Councillors…..so they can impose but not be held accountable.
Not sure how much money would be raised since another CEC idea is to let the invasive greenery destroy Hoylake beach, so who will come to visit anyway.