Free Liverpool city centre parking to end despite opposition

The scrapping of free parking in Liverpool city centre after 6.00pm is expected to go-ahead despite an overwhelming majority opposing the move.

Almost two and a half years after it was first announced, Liverpool Council is to formally endorse plans to extend parking charges in the heart of town until 11.00pm later this week.

In November 2022, leaders said the changes will “standardise” parking across the city centre. This would include the period of charging for bays on-street being increased from 8.00am to 6.00pm to 7.00am to 11.00pm.

Now, members of the local authority’s highways and public spaces representations committee will be asked on Thursday to adopt the proposals despite almost 90% of respondents to public consultations saying they opposed the changes. In addition to the changes to how long you can leave your car on the street, it will also cost more.

Last month, charges rose after the city council’s cabinet confirmed in December it would hike up prices by as much as 60% in some places. 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 will go up from £1.20 to £2. An hour will now cost £4, up from £2.40.

According to Liverpool Council, since the adoption of a controlled parking zone (CPZ) the city centre has “changed substantially” with the creation of new pedestrianised areas and off-street car parks.

A document to go before councillors said: “This has resulted in an increase in parking demand across the city centre and placed significant pressure on highway capacity and available road space, particularly outside of the existing CPZ operational hours of 8am to 6pm.

“As the single yellow line restrictions are also limited to those times, outside of them vehicles are able to park on the lines but given the additional parking demand they often also park on footways, thereby creating obstruction and safety issues for both flowing traffic and other vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.” As a result, the plans are now expected to be recommended for approval despite considerable backlash.

An informal consultation resulted in 89% of respondents saying they were against the changes to charging times while in a formal engagement exercise in 2023, only 9% of those surveyed said they would support the idea. Changes to the two-hour maximum stay around Hope Street were backed however.

Liverpool Council said the move to four hours would “support the continuing growth of the night-time economy in the area, in consideration of the feedback from the initial informal consultation, particularly from businesses.”

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The local authority said changes to the on-street parking would seek to “achieve a balance between the various parking demands of users, including those of residents who often are unable to find places to park near to their home while also allowing parking opportunities for visitors.”

Officials hope it will help tackle the problems of pavement parking. The proposed extended hours will require additional enforcement, with revenues expected to bring in almost £240,000 until parking behaviours improved.

A phased recruitment exercise is underway to recruit additional Civil Enforcement Officers from 52 to 100. The cost of this 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.