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LIVERPOOL Council’s U-turn on plans to axe 25 lollipop men and women was last night hailed as a victory for people power.
The plans were dropped after a massive public outcry when it emerged the authority had proposed to cut school crossing patrols to save £200,000 from the council’s budget.
It comes as pressure from businesses is mounting on the council to reverse its decision to extend car parking charges to 8pm in the city centre.
Council leader Warren Bradley said the authority would find the £200,000 from its Highway’s budget.
He said the Liberal-Democrat administration had to consider all options put forward by officials, but the idea was scrapped after they were unable to satisfy him it would not affect the safety of young people.
“The impact of implementing this decision could well have catastrophic outcomes, and it is something the Liberal Democrats will not support,” he said. The Labour opposition last night hailed the decision as a victory for people power, and said the Lib-Dems should not have attempted to blame officials for the proposal.
Labour leader Cllr Joe Anderson said: “This is a great result for people power, my post bag and email inbox has been inundated on this topic.
“This is a massive and embarrassing U-turn for the Liberal Democrats which is very welcome. It’s an absolute disgrace for them to try to blame this on the officers, when they had put it in their budget themselves.”
The plan to replace 25 lollipop men and women with puffin and pelican crossings was hotly debated at Wednesday’s full council meeting when the budget was discussed.
On Thursday, Cllr Bradley met with officials to review the details of proposals around school crossing patrols. He said: “It was clear the information provided did not deal with the fundamental issues of traffic density, numbers affected and most importantly the safety of the young people.”
He accused Labour of trying to score political points over the budget, instead of coming up with an alternative realistic budget. The budget will not be ratified until early March.
Lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business (DLIB) has launched a campaign demanding the council abandon plans to extend car parking charges to 8pm in the centre.
Frank McKenna, chairman of DLIB, said: “What possessed the council to choose now, in the midst of a recession, to impose these extra charges? They will simply drive visitors away and put added pressure on struggling businesses.”
