A man realised his dream of owning a motorhome after being rushed to hospital for life-saving surgery.
Andy Simpson suffered from a heart attack outside his home in Wallasey back in 2020 and has since been diagnosed with heart disease and ventricular tachycardia - a fast, abnormal heart rhythm. Since his health scare, Andy has changed his lifestyle and now enjoys travelling around in his motorhome, which he converted from scratch.
Andy, 58, told the ECHO: "I live about a mile from the Dips but my new hobby has been brought on because of my health issues. I had a massive heart attack in 2020.
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"Everyone has got their own story. I bought a partly converted [motorhome], which was a dump, and rebuilt it from scratch. It's now one of the best ones you've ever seen.
"My plan now, under the advice of my cardiologist, is to take things easier and take a different course in life because I've got heart disease. It did affect my mental health. I had a breakdown because of it."
As a regular visitor to New Brighton, Andy is among the motorhome owners who are opposed to the recent overnight parking charges that have been put in place on Coastal Drive, adjacent to the Dips. The new charges mean drivers must now pay £20 per night to park on Coastal Drive, which Andy described as "sinister."
Andy said: "£20 a night is, to me, it's sinister. The fact they put charges in there it's targeted at motorhomes. It's discriminative against people in campervans and motorhomes."
Wirral Council said the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) is in place for a period of 18 months, will be kept under regular review and can be amended if necessary. The ECHO understands that the intention of the new charges is to better control where larger vehicles and motorhomes can park in order to remove obstruction on the public road, which is a statutory duty for local authorities.
It is also understood that the new ETRO is expected to improve waste management in the area and help the authorities enforce the public space protection order in place at the New Brighton Dips.
The new parking charges have sparked outrage among local residents and motorhome owners since they came into force on July 8, with many people complaining the price to park is too high and is driving money out of the local area. However, others have argued that there were too many motorhomes parking near the dips, with some staying for long period of time, blocking the road and the seaview.
Andy said: "The people who go down there with their vans, we pay insurance, we pay road tax, we're bringing money into the economy and so on and so forth. We also pay council tax, we're residents here.
"Everyone is clean, environmentally conscious, and like I said everyone has a story. There's people that go down there with mental health issues. There's a community of people that meet up, there's friendships that come out of it."
Andy said he was unaware of the public consultation that was held by Wirral Council about the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order last year, and if he had been aware he would have raised his objections at the time. Andy said: "We're in the process of putting a committee together and we're going to start a petition together against this decision."
Wirral Council said the council will continue to investigate the viability of providing a dedicated, serviced site in the area for touring vehicles. During a meeting of the council's Tourism, Communities Culture and Leisure Committee in January last year, it was agreed that the Director of Neighbourhoods will continue developing proposals for the leisure vehicle provision at four potential sites including: Leasowe Lighthouse Car Park, Woodside Ferry Car Park, Price Street Car Park and Perch Rock Car Park.
Andy believes the best place for motorhome allocated parking in New Brighton would be near to the lifeguard station on the seafront, where he would like to see toilet and shower facilities installed along with a pumping station.
A spokesperson for Wirral Council said: “This is an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO), in place for a period of 18 months. As such it will be kept under regular review and can be amended if necessary. As with any new ETRO, people can express their views about it to the council within the first six months of its implementation.
“They can do this online at www.wirral.gov.uk/highways, or in writing to Simon Fox, Interim Director Highways & Streetscene, PO Box 290, Brighton Street, Wallasey, Wirral CH27 9FQ. Quote the scheme reference number TO/22/07."
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