Tory lies over Fairfax Road parking charges
I was shocked to read of proposals for parking charges for the Fairfax Road car park in Prestwich, which are to be introduced by the Conservatives running Bury Council.
These proposals will damage Prestwich businesses, and come on top of Bury Tory threats to close the Longfield Suite. Their neglect of Prestwich seems to be turning into an active campaign to ruin it, and this is simply not acceptable to me either as a Prestwich resident or a local Lib Dem Councillor.
The Conservative Leader of the Council, Cllr Bob Bibby, has claimed that the parking charges are in response to my call to introduce free parking after 3pm in Bury. This is political spin of the worst kind, an egregious manipulation of the spirit of my campaign, and something which portrays clearly the levels of deceit with which the Bury Conservatives are running Bury.
I called for free parking after 3pm in those car parks where day-long charges already exist. This has worked in other places as a way of boosting local trade in the afternoons. The Conservatives rejected my idea and instead they have decided to introduce charges until 3pm on this car park despite it being free until now. This is the precise opposite of what I called for, and the Tories know it. Cllr Bibby’s sneering, self-satisfied buck-passing is a disgrace. His contempt for Prestwich is worse.
These charges will have a devastating effect on local trade and are something I and other local Liberal Democrats utterly oppose.
The Bury Conservatives should be thoroughly ashamed of what they are doing to Prestwich.
Rick
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