ENDING PARK AND RIDE - Council's vote of "no confidence" in Southport's town centre

Sefton's budget for next year will kill off Southport's last remaining Park and Ride scheme. 

According to opposition leader & Lib Dem Cllr John Pugh, it's a short-sighted decision that amounts to a vote of no confidence in the town's historic centre.

Southport once had three operational park and ride schemes and soon will have none. Two have already been allocated for housing (Fairway  & Foul Lane). The Esplanade site was til now the only survivor

" Sefton Council seems to have given up trying to revive Lord St and the town centre and are assuming that there will be no pressure anytime soon on car parking in Southport, " says Cllr Pugh.

"There is no strategy for the future other than the hope that a new events centre will solve all problems. Our final working park and ride has been allocated to the speculative Cove surfing project. However, good events that fill a town need parking as do existing events like the Flower Show. Sefton Council though continues year after year to reduce parking space."

This only makes sense if Sefton are giving up on our most precious asset, Lord St, and have abandoned all strategic thinking, encouraging out of town developments like the new Sainsburys and leaving dead stores like Debenhams to fester.

The Council needs to wake up and smell the coffee. We need at the very least an updated report on the retail health of the town centre -a genuine reality check ! "