The Esplanade ‘Park and Ride’ car park next to Victoria Park in Southport will reopen this Easter Sunday (31st March 2024) as a ‘long stay’ car park.
It follows the end of the last of Southport’s three Park and Ride services, which comes to an end this weekend.
It will cost drivers £5.50 to park all day at the Esplanade car park from this Sunday.
They will be able to pay through new pay and display meters at the site, which is operated by Sefton Council.
The long stay flat rate is being introduced because Sefton does not believe it is viable to have shorter stay fees, given that the car park is not in the town centre, where there is plenty of short stay car parking provision.
Southport Eco Centre will remain on the site and is not affected by the changes.
Southport’s final Park and Ride operation is due to end this weekend after Sefton Council reviewed the viability of the service as it set its annual Budget.
After a significant reduction in demand, a decision was taken as part of the 2024/25 Budget setting process to cease operations.
It follows the previous cessation of the Kew and Fairways park and ride services in previous years.
The ‘parking’ element of the service at Esplanade will remain and over 1,000 cars will still be able to use the site on a pay and display parking basis while they go about their business in the town and on the seafront.
However the ‘ride’ component of the service, which offered a £2 bus service running every 10 minutes to and from Southport town centre, will no longer be in operation after its last journey this Saturday, 30th March 2024.
Cllr John Fairclough, Sefton’s Cabinet Member for Locality Services, said:
“Ultimately this is something that no longer provides good value for money for our taxpayers and we had to take a long hard look at the viability of the service compared to ever reducing resources.
“Our hard working officers often have to make decisions like this to ensure council taxpayers know their contributions are being used wisely and, while this decision may be disappointing to those relatively small numbers who still used the Park and Ride service, I know this is the right thing to do.”
The Southport Eco Centre Education Service will continue to operate as normal for pre-booked schools and other educational purposes however there will no longer be any public use facilities available. More information about booking a visit can be found at www.southportecocentre.com.
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