Beach parking cost set to soar by 33%
PARKING charges at Southport and Ainsdale’s beaches are likely to go up 33% this year.
Sefton Council plans to increase single day rates at each beach to £8, a rise of £2 from last year, with a season ticket going up from £45 to £60.
Under proposals expected to be approved next Thursday, on-street parking fees will remain the same for 2020/21, but the beach prices will increase by one third as the council looks to increase revenue in face of yet more budget cuts from central government.
The council says it needs to save £9.1m to set a balanced budget for 2020/21 and at least a further £22.83m for the following two years.
The problem is compounded by uncertainty over the future amounts expected from the government.
Southport and Ainsdale beaches will reopen in April, six months after what has now become an annual winter closure
The decision to sharply increase parking fees at the beach was criticised water sports enthusiast Andy Taylor who said the council was driving participants water sports enthusiasts out of the town.
In recent years, he said, the high parking prices combined with the winter closure and reduced car parking area have led to more and more paddle boarders and kite surfers heading to areas such as Blackpool or Wirral instead.
Alan, who runs the SUP North paddle board coaching company, said: “I’ve been going there kite surfing since 2003 so I’ve seen the prices for a season pass go from about £20 to £60 now.
“If you’re a kite surfer, for safety you used to go right to the far end of the beach because there are so many members of the public there. You can’t do that any more because the parking area is about a third of the size that it used to be.
“It just seems like its take, take, take, with winter closure, the pricing, the area being smaller.”
He added: “The area being smaller is a real bugbear of mine, it’s definitely got me and a few others going less often.”
Alan, 45, said the price rises were all the more hard to swallow as a result of the winter closure, and because of Formby beach no longer being included since the National Trust took it over.
“If you go there with a kite, you’ve got to abandon your stuff or take your bag while you’re in the sea,” he said.
“In the past, others in cars or vans could watch your stuff but that’s not possible in the winter. It’s just become so much more difficult.
He also called into question the lack of investment in facilities at the beach when contrasted with the rising prices.
“The facilities are so shocking when you think about how much money they’ve brought in.
“The toilets were probably built 80 years ago, there are six bins on the whole beach and on a busy day they’re all overflowing.”
A spokesman for Sefton Council said: “No decision on these proposals have been made and plans are subject to approval from council.
“The safety and wellbeing of our residents is important to us and currently the income we gain from charges goes into maintaining and operating the parking network and improving facilities.
“This includes modifications to improve signage and control unauthorised beach access.”