It has emerged today that Sefton Council are planning to extend Southport’s town centre pay and display zone outwards to encompass the whole of the PR8 and PR9 postcode areas. We have also learned that the front drive of every house that has has one will become a pay and display zone.
According to our sources, the move has been made in order to raise much needed cash for a regeneration program for Bootle town centre. Funds are also needed for a new roof and frontage for Bootle Town Hall, at an estimated cost of £2.2 million.
Sefton councillor, Dick Withers, told us that the new pay and display zones would be rolled out with, “The utmost sensitivity to the needs of the people of Southport.”
Apparently, ticket prices are being capped at 50p per hour in all of the new on-street pay and display zones. For front drives, 12 hour tickets can be purchased for only £1 each.
“We have done our best to make the new system as easy as possible.” Withers explained. “If you are purchasing a £1 ticket for your front drive, they will last a full 12 hours. They will expire automatically at noon and midnight, however. So we will be advising residents to buy their tickets as near to these times as possible.”
As part of the extended pay and display initiative, jobs are also being created for 34 new wardens, which is great news for Southport. Each square mile of the town is guaranteed to have at least two wardens operating within it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
“We understand that Southport residents may have some concerns about paying to park outside their own home.” Withers conceded, “Which is why we will be taking a ‘light-touch’ approach to enforcement. Wardens have been instructed to use their common sense and give longer grace periods. For example, if your ticket were to expire at midnight, we would wait until one o’clock in the morning before coming up your drive to give you a £60 fine. We believe that people will agree that this both fair and convenient for everyone.”
