THE chairman of a Wirral youth football club fears planned car-parking charges will drive people away from the sport.

Brian Norris, chair of JFC Greasby is among more than 15,000 people who have signed petitions objecting to council plans for charges in high-streets and country parks across the borough.

The ruling Labour group says it needs to raise extra cash to top-up threadbare budgets following Government cuts.

But Mr Norris believes that if scheme is approved, the cost of parking would decimate the sport, leading to a fall in numbers taking part.

The club - which plays on pitches at Arrowe Park - currently has 230 young players in 16 teams, staffed by 50 volunteers.

Parents drop their children off in the nearby public car park, which is earmarked for a charging scheme.

Mr Norris told the Globe today: "We pay out an awful lot to rent these pitches from the council each year.

"If plans to charge parents £4 to park per game go through, it is really going to hit parents, particularly those who are single.

"We have struggled hard since 2009 to get the club going.

"We started off with about 30 children and now have 230 in the club on a regular basis; most weekend’s this place is full, depending if you're home or away.

“If the £4 parking charges go through they will decimate the club. Some of the parents struggle to pay monthly subs of £10 membership, as it is.

"So, there's only one thing that will happen; it will pull the kids out of sport.

"If we play three games a week, for example, it will cost £12 a week to park.

"My message to the council is ‘forget about the plans, just see sense.

"There are going to hit the children that much, the council just doesn’t realise.

"It's not just our club, because we have away teams that come and play here, so the charges will affect them too."

Conservative ward councillor for Greasby, Frankby and Irby, Wendy Clements is among those campaigning for the scheme to be dropped.

Cllr Clements told the Globe: "It feels as if the council just haven't thought through who uses the park, why they use it or the implications these charges will have on them.

"I don't think it should go ahead.

"I'm absolutely opposed to it, because it's a tax on people’s leisure.

"The council has priorities around getting people to volunteer, having children and being active and older people getting active as part of its 2020 vision.

"These planned parking charges are just going to attack all of these priorities."

The council plans to raise extra cash by:

  • Increasing fees by 50p per hour in existing car parks
  • Charging for on-street parking in West Wirral
  • Introducing pay and display at Fort Perch Rock in New Brighton
  • Bringing in a new £4 a day parking charge for Wirral's country parks
  • Imposing charges at nine other locations across the borough

During a meeting of Wirral's business overview and scrutiny committee at Wallasey Town Hall on Tuesday, councillors backed a notice of motion from Bromborough ward Cllr Warren, who called for a detailed report on the full impact proposed parking charges could have on businesses and the public across Wirral.

Cllr Ward told the Globe after the meeting: "Wirral Borough Council has £132m worth of cuts to deliver as a direct result of central government cuts to our council.

"Councillors from right across the country are forced into positions like this.

"I have read the report in full and I am not satisfied that it contains enough details regarding the impact on businesses, traffic and the wider community."

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