Petition to Reconsider New Parking and Toll Changes in Liverpool

To: Liverpool City Council and Transport Authorities

We, the undersigned, urge Liverpool City Council to reconsider the upcoming changes to city centre parking and regional toll charges, which include:

Reducing free parking hours from 6:00 PM–8:00 AM to 11:00 PM–7:00 AM,

Imposing a four-hour maximum parking limit for non-residents,

Rising tolls for the Mersey Tunnels and Runcorn Bridges.

Increasing the number of enforcement officers to issue parking fines.

These measures risk discouraging visitors, harming local businesses, and placing additional strain on residents—especially during a time of rising living costs. Public transport remains unreliable, and alternative options like taxis are often unaffordable. The proposed environmental benefits are not true given that limited times for roadside parking will mean more traffic circulating.

In particular, this risks the nighttime economy, with Liverpool being a music city that offers many free musical events and performances in the evenings throughout the week. These events would be less attended if people could not afford to travel into the city because of parking costs. Likewise, there are many other cultural activities that take place throughout the city on every night of the week, especially via Liverpool's thriving dance community, which regularly puts on free and low-cost events and brings people into the city centre. Local pubs regularly screen popular sports events, which also boosts the local economy. The free events organised by Liverpool City Council itself would also be less well attended should these changes be made.

People who work nights in the city centre will also be affected as their transport options to get to work are limited.

The Council itself has also noted that these changes will put vulnerable people at risk, for example the elderly and anyone who is pregnant. These individuals may not necessarily be eligible for a blue badge but nonetheless find things more difficult without the option of free parking. There are also vulnerable groups who do not feel safe using public transport at night and so would prefer to travel by car but cannot afford a taxi. All of this leads to potential further discrimination against vulnerable groups.

The City Council undertakes an annual health report, and should consider the fact that these increased restrictions will likely lead to fewer people going out due to the financial harms involved. This will lead to people being less active as they will be unable to attend gyms, exercise and dance classes, and organised walks/runs in the city centre, without significant cost. 

The planned 4-hour limits will lead to more motorists seeking 24h parking, of which the provision is not sufficient in the city centre.

The proposed changes are being made in spite of an overwhelming majority of consultation respondents voting against the proposals.

We call for a fairer, more balanced approach that considers the needs of Liverpool residents, commuters, and the local economy. We request a new public consultation and a review of these policies with an emphasis on accessibility, economic impact, and social equity. 

This new consultation should cover possibilities such as a less severe change to the duration of free-of-charge parking, for example making roadside parking bays exempt of charge from 8pm until 8am, as is the case in other cities such as Manchester. This new consultation should also seek to find out how to ensure safe and efficient public transport for those who need to travel at night. The new consultation should take into consideration the views of the respondents rather than simply ignoring the results. 

Sincerely,

People of Liverpool