What a Liberty! It's not fine for fans

25 January 2006 - Western Mail

YOU pay your £15 entry fee, £3 for a programme ... and after the match hand over £30 for your parking fine.

That is the kind of match day more than 500 Swansea City and Ospreys fans have been "treated to" so far this season at the club's 20,000-seater new Liberty Stadium. That's a total £15,000 in fines so far. Plus several fans' illegally-parked cars have been towed away leading to sums of around £100 being paid to recover them from pounds.

Many have criticised the stadium's limited available parking but operators Stadco pointed out it has organised park and ride services so fans can access the stadium. But there are still many who have parked in residential streets in nearby places like Hafod or Morriston, leading to rich pickings for police and parking wardens.

At the club's last home game against Hartlepool last Saturday, police said one car was towed away and 28 drivers received fixed penalty notices. A quick calculation makes that almost £1,000.

The action came after police received a surge in complaints from residents about the number of illegally-parked cars on match days over the last few months. Police said the car towed away last Saturday was causing a considerable obstruction.

Some fans say they try to use the council's park and ride but add that on Saturdays buses are reserved for shoppers and head for the city centre, not Liberty Stadium.

Swans supporter Nigel Davies, editor of the fanzine A Touch Far Vetched, criticised the parking situation yesterday, saying some enterprising people living near the ground offered £5 for "watched car parking" on their private property.

He said, "It was inevitable this would happen and parking fines have become a cash cow for the police. A long-term solution must be the building of a multi-storey car park which would also provide money for the council. Or possibly a rail link directly to the ground which was part of the original transport plan but which has now been forgotten about.

"Some fans have complained about break-ins when they park in legal spots around the ground, so security is an issue too. For the elderly supporters, how can they park a few miles away and walk? It's been badly thought out."

But South Wales Police say last weekend's fixed penalty figures were lower than those of earlier matches showing "some drivers had listened to the message". They totalled 47 in the previous game - raising around £1,400.

Chief Inspector Keith Bowman said, "The Liberty Stadium operators and other partners have been working very hard to provide extra parking spaces during match days and with an extra 450 parking spaces provided last Saturday, there is no excuse for parking in areas other than legal spaces.

"The towing was one of our last resorts and we don't implement this policy unless absolutely necessary. We will keep the towing scheme as an option for any future games. However, the most important message we would like to send to match visitors is that they should use designated parking areas provided by the stadium and local authority."