We’re cut high and dry by Liverpool city centre parking changes

Scrapping free parking after 6pm will allow Liverpool Council to “deal with inconsiderate parking” across the city, it has been claimed. Almost two and a half years after it was first announced, the council has endorsed plans to extend parking charges in the heart of town until 11pm.

Despite almost 90% of respondents to public consultations saying they opposed the changes, the three-person highways and public spaces representation committee backed the plans in an hour-long meeting yesterday. As a result, the period of charging for bays on-street is to be increased from 8am to 6pm to 7am to 11pm.

In addition to the amendments to how long you can leave your car on the street, it will also cost more. In March, 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 while an hour will now cost £4, up from £2.40.

The local authority said the increase brought Liverpool’s fees into line with other similar sized cities, representing only the second rise in over a decade. Among core cities, Liverpool brought in £3.8m from parking in 2023/24, the lowest on record, compared to a group average of around £10m.

The local authority controls under a third of parking across the city and until March’s increase, charged 47% less than private sector car parks. Councillor 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.

He said: “Liverpool Council remains committed to ensuring the city centre is accessible, safe, and environmentally sustainable. We have seen an increasing amount of inconsiderate parking recently, and these changes will allow the council to deal with offenders and make our publicly shared spaces safer and more inviting for all.

“Investments in public transport, including the reinstatement of night buses and the introduction of a franchising model for buses, will complement these parking changes.” However the plans weren’t warmly welcomed elsewhere.

Cllr Carl Cashman, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, said: “Businesses are suffering due to national Labour tax rises. Now they have the added burden of scrapping free city centre parking from Liverpool Labour.”

Peter Fay is membership officer for the Liverpool group of Freemasons, which has met on Hope Street for more than 160 years. He said the dozens of lodges that meet in the Masonic Hall would face a significant impact as a result of the plans.

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He said: “Our meetings run for over four hours, we are unique in this position. People can choose to go elsewhere for a meal but we’ve met here since 1858 at the Masonic Hall.

“We’re cut high and dry by the parking bands. There’s nothing we can do about that, we’re not sitting in the bar having a good time.

“Faced with these variations, we may lose membership and if we do lose them, we’ve obviously got less disposable income to give to charity. We donated to the blood bike service last summer and that’s the sort of thing we do.”