A company which has been slated for the way it runs a car park in Liscard town centre has been accused of “outrageous hypocrisy”.
Smart Parking took over the operation of the Wirral town’s Cherry Tree Shopping Centre car park last summer, something which has generated huge controversy with dozens taking to social media to complain about fines they have been given. Last October, it emerged the operator does not have planning permission for the cameras and signs it is using to manage the Liscard car park, something the firm is seeking to address by applying for retrospective planning permission.
But Cllr Janette Williamson, leader of Wirral Council, launched an attack on the company, saying it is hypocritical for it to be breaking the rules while punishing others for not following the rules it has put in place to the letter. A petition set up by Cllr Williamson and her two Labour ward colleagues calling on the local authority to block the firm’s planning application has been signed by more than 400 people at the time of writing.
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A spokesperson for Smart Parking said it was brought in to manage the car park for one simple reason, to stop “endemic parking abuse”, and that the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) system has successfully stopped the parking abuse. Cllr Williamson said: “We have been noting with growing concern the complaints steadily racking up against this company.
“Despite assurances that efforts would be made to ensure there was adequate provision for customers with blue badges, we know that many have been receiving fines and persistent letters despite displaying their badges, and all because they have not followed to the letter the rules this firm has decided to put in place - yet not make anywhere near clear enough to the users of this car park.
“So to find a company that is so particular about rules should have flouted the law - by not having planning permission for its cameras and other installations - smacks of outrageous hypocrisy. It would no doubt argue that ignorance of its parking rules is no defence for customers, despite it being made so difficult for people to follow those rules.
“But we struggle to believe that an operator of this kind could be ignorant of the fact that it needed planning permission. So it really has no defence and no excuse.”
The Labour leader added: “This, along with all the concerns that have been raised, paints a very poor picture of this firm. And if its activities are allowed to paint a poor picture of our neighbourhood and shopping district, then action should be taken swiftly. The regeneration of Liscard Town Centre is being undermined by Smart Parking as many residents have chosen to shop elsewhere.
“This company needs to act responsibly and fairly, obey the rules, and make sure its actions do not leave it open to accusations that it is using this community, and particularly its disabled residents, as a cash cow. We will be opposing their application in the strongest terms.”
A spokesperson for Smart Parking said: "Smart Parking was brought in to manage the Cherry Tree Car Park in Liscard Town Centre for one simple reason, to stop the endemic parking abuse that had been taking place. This simply wasn’t a fair situation as it meant that some people were correctly paying for parking while others were not.
“To tackle this we installed a state of the art ANPR parking management system that monitors cars entering and exiting and prevents people parking for free, and this has successfully stopped the parking abuse. It is important to highlight that at the car park these terms and conditions are clearly defined across numerous signs which are fully compliant with British Parking Association (BPA) regulations.
“To support vulnerable motorists we have introduced a mechanism that facilitates free parking for Disabled Badge Holders, which is not a common feature at public parking areas located on private land. In addition Smart Parking operates a BPA audited appeals service and encourages motorists to contact us if they feel there are mitigating circumstances in their cases.
“Finally, throughout the process we have worked with the local council, including Cllr Williamson and haven’t received any indication from them that there were any concerns."
