Stockton Council has announced plans for 80 new long-stay parking spaces near Yarm High Street
Yarm High Street (672)
Two car parks are set to be created in Yarm after a long-running battle over parking charges.
Stockton Council has announced plans for 80 new long-stay parking spaces near Yarm high street.
It has submitted planning applications for two car parks, each with around 40 spaces.
One will be based off Silver Street, behind Barclays Bank and another behind the Blue Bell pub on the Egglescliffe side of Yarm Bridge.
They will run alongside the short-stay pay and display parking arrangements that are due to be introduced on Yarm high street after Easter.
The proposals have been welcomed by councillors and an MP who have campaigned over controversial parking plans in the town for the last two years.
Conservative MP for Stockton South James Wharton said: “It would still be better if no parking charges were planned at all, but this just shows how important our local campaign has been.
“These long stay sites will provide 80 additional parking spaces and a proper long stay option for visitors to the high street.
“Residents will be able to comment on the plans when planning applications are submitted but I hope it will at least mean some benefit can be secured from Stockton Council’s cash-grabbing parking charges plans.”
The move, to introduce parking charges to Yarm’s historic high street was agreed by Stockton Council’s cabinet in December 2011.
The authority said “pay and display” charges would give more flexibility to motorists and “alleviate the enforcement burden” for the current disc zone.
But it angered businesses and councillors in Yarm, who warn it could hit the town’s economy.
A legal challenge launched by Yarm Town Council against the plans was thrown out by the High Court last year, but managed to delay the implementation of the contentious scheme.
Councillor Mark Chatburn ward councillor for Yarm and Kirklevington also welcomed yesterday’s announcement, but said it remained to be seen if the car parks would mitigate the displacement of traffic from the pay and display scheme.
He added that they will monitor the impact on businesses and residents, but said that it was “a decades overdue step in the right direction”.
Councillor Andrew Sherris said the proposals were a “vote of confidence” in the high street and that officers had “delivered on their intentions that were voiced some years ago”.
He added: “This half-million pound investment is most welcome and will see a project brought to fruition that has been requested for many years.”
“Despite our differences at times, some bridge–building is necessary to move forward and recover from the damage and set backs of recent years.”
Councillor Mike Smith, Stockton Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and transport, said the council was “making good” on its promise to provide long-stay parking options for Yarm. He added that the council aimed to provide a “range of parking options” to reflect the town’s different parking needs.
He said: “We have been working hard to provide additional long-stay car parking spaces in close proximity to Yarm high street and are delighted that we have progressed to a position where we can bring these plans forward.”
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