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Pay (less) & display
LIVERPOOL motorists could
soon be in-pocket, under new plans to cut the cost of city centre
parking. Proposals are being put forward by the city council
to reduce the cost of parking at city centre pay-and-display bays by
almost 10%, with an even bigger reduction at Mount Pleasant car
park. Consultation is also beginning over increasing the
maximum time vehicles can park at pay and display bays in the city
centre from 2 hours to 4.
If given the go-ahead, the city council will bring the proposed
changes into effect in November of this year. The reductions would
bring the cost of parking at city centre pay-and-display bays
in-line with where it stood in 2008. Under the proposals, the
cost for parking for 30 minutes at a city centre pay-and-display bay
will fall from £1.10 to £1; up to 1 hour will be cut from £2.20 to
£2; up to 1 hour and 30 minutes will be reduced from £3.30 to £3;
and up to 2 hours will fall from £4.40 to £4. There will be a capped
cost of £5 for parking for between 2 and 4 hours.
Costs will fall even more sharply at Mount Pleasant car park.
Parking for up to 1 hour will cost £1, down from £1.30; up to 2
hours will be £2, down from £2.60; up to 3 hours will fall to £3
from £3.90; and over 3 hours will be reduced to £4 from £5.20.
The maximum motorists would pay at Mount Pleasant is £4, meaning
that motorists would be able to park all day in the city centre, at
one of Mount Pleasant’s 1,850 spaces, for just £4, set against the
current all-day cost of £7.
People parking in car parks in the London Road area would also
benefit from a reduction of almost 10% in charges (£1 for up to 1
hour, reduced from £1.10) with the maximum they will pay capped at
£3.50 (for over 3 hours), a reduction from the current maximum of
£5.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said:- “These proposed changes
will bring real benefits for city centre motorists as well as giving
a boost to businesses.
The plans aim to attract more people into the city centre by
achieving two things; making parking less punishing on people’s
pockets, and giving them more time to shop, eat, do business and
visit attractions; without worrying about getting a parking
ticket.”
The proposed changes aim to promote the use of the city centre’s
parking bays by making them more affordable and convenient for
shoppers and visitors. It forms part of a major, city-wide review
into the city’s parking policy, with further proposed changes to be
announced shortly.
Liverpool City council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Climate
Change, Councillor Tim Moore, said:- “We think motorists will
really welcome these proposals, which will see the cost of parking
at city centre pay-and-display bays reduced for the first time in
many years. And I’m sure increasing maximum parking times will also
prove popular with visitors, shoppers and businesses.
This is an important part of our wider review into how parking
operates in this city, and we’ll be consulting on a range of further
changes in the coming months which will help us deliver a system
which is fairer, better run and more efficient.”
People can visit
www.liverpool.gov.uk/parkingconsultation
to find out more about the proposals and see which city
pay-and-display bays are affected by the proposed changes. They can
then leave feedback specifically about the plans to increase maximum
parking times at pay-and-display bays by e-mailing
parking.services@liverpool.gov.uk;
calling Liverpool Direct on:- 0151 233 3011; or writing to:- Liverpool
City Council Parking Services, c/o PO Box 981, Municipal Buildings,
Dale Street L69 1JB.
The consultation period over the proposals ends on 21 September
2012. It’s
crunch time for bingo marathon runners
MECCA team members have
been pounding the streets of Southport for the past 6 months in
preparation for this year’s Great North Run. Brian Hennigan and John
Brown members from the club on Garrick Parade on Lord Street will be
taking part in the annual event in Gateshead this Sunday, 16
September 2012, in a bid to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care,
Mecca’s chosen charity. The club is one of 57 Mecca clubs across the
UK which has entered runners into the 13.1 mile road race and
between them, they hope to raise a minimum of £50,000 for the
charity. The money will help to support Marie Curie Cancer Care
provide free home nursing care and support for terminally ill people
and their families. Brian Hennigan, manager of Mecca Southport,
said:- “We’ve been training hard ahead of Sunday’s gruelling
13 mile race and hopefully all of our hard work will have paid off.
We’re committed to raising as much as possible for Marie Curie
Cancer Care and it’s been great for us all to work together on our
training regime. The legs will be sore on Monday but it will be such
an achievement for us to be able to say we’ve done it and for such a
worthy cause too.” Marie Curie Community Fundraiser, Sarah
Fletcher, added:- “Mecca team members have done a fantastic
job already in raising money for our charity. Since the start of the
partnership in 2010 all the clubs have raised more than £500,000.
Every £20 raised will help to provide an hour of Marie Curie nursing
care so we’re extremely grateful to the Mecca teams.“
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ROGUE BREEDERS
AND ONLINE PUPPY SCAMS FOOL PEOPLE
NEW research by the Kennel
Club shows that a quarter of dog owners in the North West may have
bought a puppy farmed dog, many of which end up with health and
behavioural issues due to the terrible conditions in which they are
raised.
Through its still Puppy Awareness Week (PAW), from 8 September to 15 September
2012,
the Kennel Club is helping people to find a puppy from a responsible
breeder or rescue home and has worked with dogsclub.tv to produce 3
online films to guide people through the process.
Puppy farming is a poorly regulated and often cruel industry where
puppies are bred in dirty, cramped conditions, from overused
breeding bitches, without any regard for the health or wellbeing of
the puppy or mother.
Research conducted by the Kennel Club shows
that 25% of people in the North West have bought a puppy either from
the internet, a pet shop or a newspaper advert, all outlets that can
be used to sell puppy-farmed puppies. This compares to 20%
nationally and makes the North West the third most likely region in
the UK to buy a puppy from a potential puppy farm outlet, after
London and the East Midlands.
Delivering puppies direct to people’s doors or selling them from
motorway service stations or friend’s houses, is a trick used by
puppy farmers, so that the conditions that the pups and breeding
bitches are kept in are never revealed. 14% of people in the North
West claim that their mail order puppy was delivered straight to
their door, without them seeing the breeding environment. A shocking
39% of puppy buyers in the North West say they picked their pup up
from a neutral location such as motorway service station.
Responsible breeders will always show a pup with its mum and in its
breeding environment, so that people can see how it is likely to
turn out, and the conditions in which the pup was raised.
However, almost half of puppy buyers in the North West claim not to
have seen their puppy with its mum. 41% say that they didn’t see the
puppy in its breeding environment. Across the UK it is those buying
from pet shops and online that are the least likely to have seen the
puppy with its mother in its home environment.
As the number of people buying puppies on online sites, such as
Gumtree, and in pet shops rises so too does the number of scams
involving the sale of puppies that don’t actually exist. Of those
who have bought a puppy online or in a pet shop 6% in the North West
say that they paid money for a puppy they never received, which is
in line with the national average. Across the whole of the UK, 25%
of people who bought from pet shops and online say that they were
scammed.
Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said:- “A shocking
number of people treat buying a puppy the way they would if they
were buying a car or a fridge;– and have no idea what to ask to
ensure they get a healthy, happy puppy; whether pedigree or cross
breed. As a result puppy farmers are able trade on selling
‘fashionable’ cross breeds or pedigree pups with no questions asked.
Buying a puppy online means that buyers have no idea of the often
appalling conditions the puppies were born into. Sadly, these
puppies often grow up with health and behavioural problems, which
can cost thousands of pounds to treat or which lead to heartbreak if
the problems cannot be overcome.”
Marc Abraham, celebrity vet and organiser of the puppy farming
awareness event Pup Aid, which takes place in Primrose Hill on 8th
September, said:- “There are very few laws governing breeders
and the sale of pups in this country. Selling pups on the internet
or in pet shops and delivering them direct to your door is not
illegal, but it rarely leads to a happy outcome because people are
often scammed or end up with a poorly pup from a puppy farm. Only
breeders who are part of the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme
follow a code of practice – so it makes sense to approach an Assured
Breeder or recognised rescue home. The golden rule to remember is:
see the puppy with its mum, in its home environment.”
The fashion for designer cross breeds, such as the Labradoodle, has
fuelled the rogue puppy trade, as owners of mixed and cross breeds
across the UK are the most likely to have bought online and from pet
shops and newspaper ads (20%) and least likely to have seen the
puppy with its mum in its home environment. The research showed that
31% of people in the North West are now buying designer cross breeds
and mixed breed dogs.
Caroline Kisko added:- “Designer cross breeds are all the rage
and too many people want one instantly, with minimum hassle or
questions asked. Puppy farmers and scam artists cash in on this. We
urge potential puppy buyers to steer well clear of any breeder or
outlet that does not assess your suitability as a dog owner, and
doesn’t give you every opportunity to vet their suitability as a
breeder.”
The Kennel Club warns that people should:-
► Always see the puppy with its mother, in its home environment.
► Always buy from a Kennel Club
Assured Breeder or rescue home.
► Ask to see relevant health test
certificates for the puppy’s parents.
► Beware the bargain. This
probably means corners were cut elsewhere!
For further information, please log on to:-
thekennelclub.org.uk. |
