People can have their say on seafront parking in Seaton Carew

Neighbourhood service bosses at Hartlepool Borough Council have announced another consultation event to encourage more feedback on parking controls at Seaton Carew.

The authority says the charges were introduced in May in the wake of further Government cuts and as part of a wider plan to help tackle a range of issues, including parking on pavements and on the chevrons which was causing an impact on businesses and compromising safety.

The controls run until the end of October and include charges of £1 for up to two hours, £1.50 for up to four hours and £2 for all day in the Newburn Bridge, Rocket House and Coach Park car parks, on-street pay and display parking, resident-only and business parking permit schemes and free disc parking on the Front and Seaton Park.

Three consultation events held so far, with a further event now arranged for Wednesday, November 8, from 2pm and 6pm, at Seaton Carew Social Club and Institute on Station Lane.

Councillor Dave Hunter, chairman of the council’s Neighbourhood Services Committee, said: “Although we have held three consultation events over the summer months, the last one could and should have been promoted more widely, so we really need to give everyone a further opportunity to air their views after the end of the experimental scheme.

“We value the feedback from local people and indeed introduced a number of changes to the parking plan following the first consultation meeting in May.

“I hope people take the opportunity to attend the meeting in November and following that the council will undertake a full review of the parking plan for Seaton Carew.”

Changes implemented after the first consultation meeting included all pay and display charges to apply from 9am to 6pm instead of 8am to 8pm.

They also took into account areas on the residential side of The Front/The Cliff that were joint residents’ permit and pay and display bays became residents’ parking only.

The area on the east side of the road adjacent to the clock tower/bus station became additional permit parking for business only.

The scheme also includes the extension of the on-street disc scheme on The Front to allow free parking for an hour instead of 30 minutes and the disc scheme in Seaton Park was extended to allow free parking for two hours instead of one.