Stockport’s Liberal Democrats have condemned the recent announcement by the Labour administration that the current review of parking policy, which has halted the processing of all applications for residents’ parking schemes and which councillors believed was already well underway, will now not start until September and is not expected to be completed until next April.
In giving a report on her portfolio at the most recent meeting of the Full Council, the cabinet member announced that the current review of parking policy would not be completed this calendar year, but rather said it “should” be completed by the end of this financial year. She said that the first draft will “hopefully” be ready by the end of December, before going to Scrutiny and to public consultation next year.
Following a series of questions put to the cabinet member, Cllr Lisa Smart, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said: “We were all assured that the parking review was already well under way and that the outcome would be known in the autumn so that the backlog of residents’ parking schemes could start to be tackled. Instead, work isn’t even going to start until the autumn and it will be next spring before the policy is in place.
“Residents want the council to act to alleviate their parking difficulties, not spend months creating a policy while applications for schemes back up.”
Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, added: “This is just the latest example of Labour’s failure to follow through on their promises and deliver something in a timely fashion. They are frankly asleep at the wheel. If delivering a parking review after three years in power is too difficult, Labour should step aside and let the Lib Dems sort this out properly.”