FUMING local residents claim they have been fined for parking in their own driveways and say their area is “murdered” on match days because of football fans.
Disgruntled residents living in the shadow of the Co-op Live arena and Etihad Stadium in Manchester have expressed their frustrations at the “chaos”.
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The 23,500-capacity Co-op Live opened its doors for the first time on Saturday and the £365m venue is the UK’s biggest indoor arena.
But the new concert arena has resulted in dozens of local residents “wrongly” receiving parking tickets.
A new parking scheme for residents has replaced an existing scheme for match days and events at the Etihad Stadium.
Open seven days a week, from noon to 11pm.
The new scheme was implemented to stop concert-goers and football fans causing traffic chaos for local residents by parking on residential roads.
But 159 parking fines were issued during Co-op Live’s opening weekend by traffic police officers, leading to a “week-long” backlog of appeals.
Residents in the Beswick area of the town say that, far from solving traffic problems, the new scheme has simply caused more parking problems.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Brian Fisher said: “It’s going to be murder with the new arena.
“Parking is bad enough with football.
“We get people parking everywhere.”
The 70-year-old said the previous parking scheme was simpler and many people did not understand how the new scheme worked.
Many concert-goers wouldn’t mind risking parking tickets, he added.
Locals say there is confusion over opening hours and how to book visitor parking passes, meaning friends and family are being given tickets.
A councilor was contacted by a resident who was fined for parking in his own garage.
Stephen Bailey, 52, said residents were now reluctant to leave their spots at weekends.
He said: “You can’t move your car because if you go to the shops or somewhere and come back, your parking space is gone and there’s nowhere else to park.
“There aren’t many parking spaces here.”
He said he witnessed weekend visitors “throwing away” parking tickets they received.
‘HORRENDOUS’
Deborah Keating, 62, said parking on event and match days was “absolutely horrible”.
“You have to plan your life around game days and now that’s open as well.”
“Then it’s only going to get worse.”
She doubted that more fines would solve the parking problems and the situation was so bad that her family decided to move.
Deborah added: “Enough is enough, it’s so shocking.
“Before it was a Cool area, but the place just went down.
“And with this opening it will be 100 times worse.”
Councilor Alan Good said it was important to remember the new parking scheme was designed to protect residents.
Residents must come first and I will always fight for that
Counselor Alan Good
He said: “I am very disappointed by the number of problems that have arisen with the introduction of the scheme and the fact that residents have been left in the dark whilst they challenged incorrectly issued tickets.
“We asked questions about how parking guards were trained and asked city managers for a plan on how they will control the situation.
“Residents must come first and I will always fight for that.”
City of Manchester The Council said any resident with an incorrectly issued parking ticket can cancel it immediately.
They added that, if an appeal is filed, “the clock stops” on the 14-day advance payment at half price for those who have the ticket correctly issued.
A spokesperson said: “Through the Eastlands RPZ, the council has been working to ensure that residents living in close proximity to the Co-op Live Arena and the Etihad can park close to their homes, whilst preventing drivers from outside the area create congestion in the area during event nights.”
They added that residents have been provided with information on how to apply for free permits and how to apply for passes for visitors and carers.
Co-op Live was built by City Football Group, owned by UAE royal billionaire and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour, along with Oakview Music Group, co-founded by US music mogul Irving Azoff.
Harry Styles is an investor and advised on elements of the arena’s design.
After Saturday’s test show – with Rick Astley – the venue was forced to postpone comedian Peter Kay’s shows this week because it wasn’t ready.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
