BROMBOROUGH Village Community Association would like to register our total dismay that Wirral Borough Council should consider introducing parking charges within the village.

BVCA was formed by volunteers to fill the gap left by the council's lack of funding and introduced popular summer and Christmas fairs both to raise funds and bring new shoppers and seasonal vitality into the village.

The village is the beating heart of Bromborough and it must be nurtured to help keep a healthy and vibrant community.

It has been an uphill struggle and the primary cause has been the birth and development of Croft Retail Park - the biggest retail park in Wirral - and that all-important 'free' parking.

We cannot stress how important this asset is to us.

As we talk to traders the overall feelings are of disbelief and despair.

Without this parity of parking, Bromborough village will suffer markedly and damage the myriad of businesses that rely on the village being an attractive and convenient place for people to shop and visit.

The existence of the CRP is not the only obstacle to our aspirations.

Over the past couple of years bus routes have been introduced or altered in order to take shoppers directly to the centre of CRP, making it easy for potential shoppers to bypass Bromborough completely.

The council has just informed us that they are considering a planning application for a new Lidl store near the CRP which will have parking for 1,200 vehicles.

We can assume the parking will be free.

Local community groups have recently formed a 'Friends of Bromborough Library' to organise activities in the library.

And the council's gift? Proposed parking fees for the car park.

The council has to consider the assets it has in our villages - history, architecture, attractiveness, accessibility and not to forget the teams of volunteers who fight to maintain those values.

Littering the streets with 'pay here' machines flies in the face of all of these values and, in our particular village, seriously risks killing our village altogether.

Please think again, or face having to find money for the regeneration not only of New Ferry, but also of Bomborough.

Do not turn Bromborough into a 'ghost town'.

Otherwise these words may come back and haunt you.

Bromborough Village Community Association

Sign our petition, below ...

www.change.org/p/tracey-pilgrim-keep-bromborough-alive-no-parking-fees?