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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Liam Thorp

Africa Oyé organisers say tackling parking issues is of 'high importance'


The organisers of the Africa Oyé festival have said tackling illegal parking around Sefton Park is of "high importance" to them.

This weekend the hugely popular celebration of African music and culture returned to Sefton Park and welcomed record crowds. The free event is one of Liverpool's annual cultural highlights.

But amongst the fun, the music and the celebrations this weekend, there was frustration at the behaviour of some motorists.

There were countless reports of drivers leaving their cars in dangerous spots around the park, parking on double yellow lines and in some extreme cases driving directly onto the park and leaving their vehicles on the grass.

Council cabinet member Harry Doyle was one of those to raise concerns about parking at the event. He took to Twitter to share an image of a car parked fully across a pavement area next to the park. In the foreground of the shot was a young girl in a wheelchair who had no route past.

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Cllr Doyle said: "Fabulous event, but if you’re a wheelchair user or have a pram, your experience doesn’t matter to inconsiderate car users parking around Sefton Park."

It was far from the only image shared of bad parking around the park this weekend.

Twitter user Paul shared pictures from a dash cam taken on Aigburth Drive during the festival. Countless vehicles can be seen lined up, parked on double yellow lines or in some cases fully on the pavement.

This was not the worst of it. Some drivers who couldn't find a spot on the roads surrounding the park opted to simply drive onto the grass and park there.

Cars were seen parked on grass at Sefton Park during the Africa Oye festival this weekend (Liverpool Echo)

A Twitter user shared multiple images of vehicles left in the middle of the grass. She said: "What is going on in Sefton Park? So many cars parked on all the fields. Think the park needs to stop hosting events if this is how it gets treated."

Now the organisers of the festival have vowed to consider the parking issues as a matter of 'high importance' when reflecting on this year's event and trying to improve things for next year.

A spokesperson for the organisers told the ECHO: "It was another great year for Oyé! Record crowds this year brought new challenges to the festival - one of which was the increase in illegal parking around the perimeter of the festival site.

"Each year we strive to improve the festival - both for festival goers and to lessen disruption for local residents .

"We always encourage people to walk or take public transport to the festival, but of course we know this isn’t always possible. Parking will be discussed as high importance in our event de-brief and we will be working closely with partners to address these concerns."

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READ MORE:    Africa Oye Liverpool 2023: full line up and stage timings on Saturday and Sunday
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