West Lancashire Borough Council has tonight opted to reintroduce parking charges in Ormskirk from Monday 5 October.

The move to make parking free across the town was taken by the Labour administration in March in response to Covid-19 and the resulting lockdown.

With Ormskirk Town centre car parks back at full capacity charges will be reintroduced to support town centre business, the market and traders, encouraging a steady flow of customers throughout the day.
The charges reintroduced remain at just £1 for 3 hours.

Planning Portfolio Holder Cllr Dave Evans said: "Following ongoing review of the effect of free parking on Ormskirk town centre, it is clear charges must be reintroduced to encourage more shopping custom and eliminate those who have been using the car parks for all day free parking.

"It has been found that some residents have parked up for the day getting the train to Liverpool, which is no benefit to Ormskirk or West Lancashire whatsoever.

"Even a small minority of market traders were parking up for the day depriving their fellow traders and even themselves of much needed custom as residents return to shopping.

"Town centre business and many market traders have raised these concerns with me calling for the reintroduction of charges to draw more customers in.

"With the return of Edge Hill University students in the coming weeks, this is certainly the correct decision to ensure that the town centre car parks are not abused by all day parkers and we can support our local businesses, economy and jobs.”

It was further agreed that all pay machine key pads would be wiped down hourly as a minimum by council staff, with drivers also advised to sanitise both before and after use.