Double yellow lines have been painted on Talbot Street this morning. The pay and display parking is no more despite the machines still being there.

This all to do with the Councils plan to have cycle lanes through the town centre despite opposition from businesses and the town's MP.

Damien Moore said: “There has not been any consultation about this. This has not been properly thought out.

“We don’t know how it is going to affect travel into Southport town centre, people just have not been asked for their views.

“Where is the business case that this would even work? Where is the business case over how much this would impact businesses in Southport town centre?

“I would much rather see money spent on other routes which will make cycling and walking easier while also helping to grow trade, not damage it.”

Mr. Moore is concerned that with planned traffic restrictions on routes such as Queens Road and Talbot Street, some local residents and visitors may be put off venturing into town at a time when shops, restaurants and other ventures are trying hard to win back trade.

He said: “The priority has to be for people to be able to get in and out of Southport town centre and park once they get there as easily as possible.

“I think these plans are absolutely ridiculous. What we need to be doing in Southport town centre is to see people come back into our town, fill their cars up with whatever goods they buy from our local shops and head back home happily."

The new north/south cycling friendly route in Southport town centre will involve the following roads:

Chapel Street, Tulketh Street and Wesley Street – Cyclists to be allowed under a new ‘Share with Care Space’.

Queens Road – through traffic will be restricted.

Hoghton Street – Segregated cycle lanes on both sides of the street, which will remove parking along both sides.

Talbot Street – (Eastbank Street to Portland Street) –’Quiet Street’, on street pay and display removed. A quiet street is one where people will not be able to use the road as a through route by car.

Talbot Street / Eastbank Street junction – Temporary traffic management trial to prohibit the exit from Talbot street onto Eastbank Street.

Talbot Street – (Portland Street to Duke Street) – Quiet Street with on street parking possibly to be made limited waiting for a period during the day.

Talbot Street – (Duke Street to Belmont Street) – Quiet street with on street parking possibly to be made limited waiting to discourage all day parking.

Damien Moore has already campaigned for Sefton Council to provide temporary free parking in Southport to help traders recover from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Sefton Council suspended car parking charges in March at all of its car parks and on-street parking spaces as the outbreak struck the UK. But the local authority brought back parking charges on Monday, May 18.

Mr. Moore said: “Temporary free parking, even free parking up to two hours, would give a huge boost to our local businesses.

“What we all want to see is a thriving, busy Southport town centre.

“Those are the types of measures we want to see in Southport, which will help shoppers, and help businesses.

“This new project in Southport is also calling for the removal of dozens of parking places along Hoghton Street and Talbot Street.

“It is not acceptable in an already challenged area for traffic that the ability for shoppers to park their cars is made even more difficult.

“There has been no thought for the traders, for local businesses or for jobs in Southport being considered as part of this scheme.

“I support the idea of seeing more people cycling. During this pandemic, millions of people have discovered cycling - whether for exercise or as a means of safe, socially-distanced transport.

“I hope it is a trend that continues. But these schemes have to be put in the right places, they have to be done through asking local people what they think, and they have to ensure that they don’t do anything to damage local businesses.

“This has been done with no consultation. It is a typical policy that has been imposed on people in Southport without any due process.”

Ooh can’t wait to go Christmas shopping in the cold and damp winter rain on my bicycle, why not close all the roads altogether and cut and bend up the train tracks after Formby, people can cycle down the train tracks and I’ll open a shop selling tumbleweeds. .

Originally Posted by MICK/GILLY

Ooh can’t wait to go Christmas shopping in the cold and damp winter rain on my bicycle, why not close all the roads altogether and cut and bend up the train tracks after Formby, people can cycle down the train tracks and I’ll open a shop selling tumbleweeds. .

There'll be enough blowing through town before long, I just hope it gets wrapped around the front hub of the idiots bike and send him over the handlebars. What a complete and utter joke it always used to be the cream that rose to the top now it's the SH*T.
Selling baseball sorry cyclist bats may be a better idea.

Well that's me doing even more shopping online.

Allegedly C*******s is cancelled anyway this year ( I'm NOT mentioning that "C" word as it's too early ) as you can't have more than 6 people in a house..These new cycle lanes are going to make an absolute mockery of the town centre having so many,for so little amount of cyclists who will use those cycle lanes,and now any drivers will now have to walk,and carry any shopping they buy further to get it back to their vehicle.And how the hell are the elderly shoppers going to manage from now on ? As they will get confused as to which roads they can and can't use,so will not be able to get their shopping easily,finding a parking space close to where they would usually park is going to be difficult,and I can't see them using buses to go to and from the town,and then back to their homes,carrying heavy bags,or using a Taxi or a Private Hire vehicle,as that could add quite a lot to take from their state pension,if they used to normally go into town shopping,or even just meeting their friends in town every 2 or 3 days.

What they said. Lunacy.

With the exception of the forum’s two imbeciles, (the one with the bike and the one with the pointed ears), almost everyone that has made a comment on this debacle has been against it. This in turn will be music to the ears of the Labour Left in Bootle, whose sole aim, it seems, is to go against the wishes of the residents of Southport.
Like others have posted, this will do absolutely nothing for the retail businesses in the town, simply driving shoppers to out of town retail parks and the internet.
RIP Southport.

I have lived in Southport for 61 years and am truly sad to see the way the town has gone downhill under this Labour council, who really don't care about Southport.

Some friends of mine used to live in Maghull 20 years ago. They were really please when they moved to Formby because it meant they could go shopping in Southport on the train. In recent years, they don't go shopping in Southport any more and go the other way on the train to Liverpool One instead.

In their words, Southport "has nothing to offer any more".

Pedestrianisation has a lot to do with the demise of the town centre. A friend of mine had a shop in the pedestrianised zone before pedestrianisation.

On the day the work on the pedestrianisation started, his takings went down by 25% and NEVER RECOVERED!!

This latest farce with the "cycling friendly route", which will never be used by anyone, is just the latest part of the plan of the Bootle council to drive more shoppers to Liverpool.

If anyone has anything to say on how pedestrianisation and the reduction of parking in the town centre has helped the businesses in the town, I'd be interested to hear from them.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lie-empty.html

Originally Posted by justbecause

With the exception of the forum’s two imbeciles, (the one with the bike and the one with the pointed ears), almost everyone that has made a comment on this debacle has been against it. This in turn will be music to the ears of the Labour Left in Bootle, whose sole aim, it seems, is to go against the wishes of the residents of Southport.
Like others have posted, this will do absolutely nothing for the retail businesses in the town, simply driving shoppers to out of town retail parks and the internet.
RIP Southport.

Unless I’m very much mistaken, the pop up cycle lanes which you and your fellow village idiots have been whinging about for the past few months are funded by central government?

It's fantastic news absolutely right for the town and its population.

I hope the yellow lines have been done in a hard wearing paint it's going to be busy.

It's a triumph for democracy and public consultation.

The cycle ways are approaching a busy season and now will have the extra capacity to cope.

As a cyclist, I can’t see the point to using Talbot Street as a Pop up cycle lane, but at the same time I can’t get my head around all the wailing and gnashing of teeth on here suggesting that Armageddon is coming!

Can any of the Naysayers who’ve posted honestly say that painting these yellow lanes will make a difference to how they shop?

Originally Posted by Anon

This latest farce with the "cycling friendly route", which will never be used by anyone, is just the latest part of the plan of the Bootle council to drive more shoppers to Liverpool.

It’s not ‘Bootle’Council, it’s Sefton Council, Bootle and Southport are both in Sefton, but, (regardless of the rights and wrongs of who should be in Sefton), why would they want to drive shoppers to Liverpool? Any proceeds from rents/business rates etc would go to Liverpool’s coffers not to Sefton.

Originally Posted by Sap33

It’s not ‘Bootle’Council, it’s Sefton Council, Bootle and Southport are both in Sefton, but, (regardless of the rights and wrongs of who should be in Sefton), why would they want to drive shoppers to Liverpool? Any proceeds from rents/business rates etc would go to Liverpool’s coffers not to Sefton.

It might as well be Bootle Council, the Council also owns Bootle Strand, so would benefit if Southport’s shoppers went there.

Originally Posted by donkey22

Unless I’m very much mistaken, the pop up cycle lanes which you and your fellow village idiots have been whinging about for the past few months are funded by central government?

What’s that got to do with the argument. This lunacy has been foisted on Southport’s residents without any consultation whatsoever. With the exception of you and and the other clown, nobody wants this, especially the town’s retailers who are going to see their businesses go further and further down the drain. There again, a good Leftie like yourself won’t care about that.