A campaign against big increases to the cost of staff parking permits at Stepping Hill hospital has gathered more than 500 signatures in just a few days.
The campaign by Stockport Liberal Democrats began after information was received from a member of staff that the hospital were planning to triple staff parking fees. The hospital initially declined to comment, but later said that the proposal was to nearly double the cost of parking.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign so far,” said Mark Weldon, Lib Dem councillor for Stepping Hill. “Getting 500 signatures so quickly is amazing. Our next target is to get 1,000 and send a strong message to hospital management. We all know the Government is under-funding our NHS, but it should not be up to hospital staff to fund that gap by paying more for parking at work. Hospital management needs to think again.”
“Hospital staff who can’t afford the higher fees will end up parking on local residential roads, already crammed with cars,” added Jon Twigge, Lib Dem councillor for Hazel Grove. “That’s unfair on residents. We are calling for Stepping Hill hospital to scrap this proposal and instead work with us and the Council to find better alternatives. The Lib Dems will continue to campaign for fair NHS funding from the Government.”
The Liberal Democrat campaign has attracted 500 signatures in less than five days. People can sign the petition at https://goo.gl/nu6hL3
Update: Stepping Hill Area Committee have been briefed by Ann Barnes, Chief Exec of Stepping Hill, on the increase and the problems they face with parking: the increase in charges looks set to go ahead but they do have plans to provide a lot more on site parking in the longer term.
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