Hartlepool’s MP has accused council chiefs of “bloody-minded bureaucracy” after plans to install income-generating parcel lockers at a town charity were dropped.

Labour’s Jonathan Brash appealed to Reform-led Hartlepool Borough Council to waive fees, estimated to be hundreds of pounds, for a planning application for the locker proposal at Hartlepool Men’s Shed, in Osborne Road.

The community workshop had been approached by national locker company InPost to install some lockers outside the Men’s Shed which would have earned around £1,000 a year.

The charity moved a boundary fence in readiness.

Hartlepool Men's Shed chair Stan Filipowicz by the relocated boundary fence.

placeholder image — Hartlepool Men's Shed chair Stan Filipowicz by the relocated boundary fence.

But they were advised they would probably need planning permission due to being in a conservation area after a near neighbour, who is also a Reform councillor, raised concerns.

InPost subsequently decided not to go ahead with the locker plan.

Mr Brash, who is a supporter of the Men’s Shed, hit out at the council for “a wall of bureaucracy” by failing to step in to help a charity that helps people with their mental health.

But the council stressed planning laws apply to everyone and that the decision to not proceed ultimately falls with the locker provider and Hartlepool Men's Shed.

Mr Brash said: “We have a small local charity doing brilliant work to support men’s mental health.

“They found a way of generating some much-needed income from lockers on their own land and what does the council do?

“It reaches for the planning rulebook and demands hundreds of pounds in fees.”

He added: “Instead of asking ‘how can we help?’, the council seems determined to ask ‘what hoops can we make them jump through?’”

“If this is how Reform intends to run Hartlepool Council, they need to think again.”

Hartlepool Men’s Shed has around 60 men and women members and improves wellbeing, reduces loneliness and combats social isolation.

Chair Stan Filipowicz said the income from the lockers would have helped with their running costs.

He said: “It’s daft really because it’s not a beautiful area. As far as we can see there would be no detriment to put the thing there.

“I’m sure people of the area would have appreciated it. We can’t afford the costs.”

A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesperson said: “The local planning authority has a statutory responsibility to administer and enforce planning legislation.

“Whether planning permission is required is determined by planning law, rather than the status of the organisation involved. Such planning legislation is set nationally and as such could only be influenced by Central Government from which our MP has the power to lobby.

“The local authority cannot conclude that planning permission is unnecessary solely because an organisation is a charity, this is not within our gift.”

The council also reviewed concerns by Mr Brash about Cllr Amanda Napper’s involvement in the issue.

Cllr Napper praised the work of the Men’s Shed but said there were security concerns around people climbing over properties’ walls.

She added: “I was concerned they were going to fall foul of planning laws and cost the charity money.”

The council said: “The council's monitoring officer considered the matter and reviewed the relevant evidence, concluding that there was no undue pressure or inappropriate behaviour by any elected member.”