Hundreds more parking spaces planned for Seaton Carew in Hartlepool after car 'chaos'

Hartlepool Borough Council last year backed an expansion of the Sea View Car Park in the area after parking ‘chaos’ over the May bank holiday weekend in 2018.

A planning application has now been submitted from Philip Hepburn at the council for 182 new car parking spaces to be created at the former fairground site next to the car park.

The land has been decommissioned for a significant period leaving the site vacant, with it most recently being used as a compound for nearby construction projects.

As well as the proposals for the expansion, the council also plans to remodel the existing layout of the Sea View Car Park to expand it from around 300 spaces, as it is currently, to around 420 spaces.

This would then provide one large car park at the site with more than 600 spaces in total.

A planning statement from the council states the expansion onto the former fairground site is needed and will benefit the area.

It said: “The proposed development will allow Seaton Carew to receive a greater number of visitors thus benefiting the local economy whilst also allowing people to utilise the adjacent Public Open Space, promenade and coastal frontage which offers public health benefits.”

The planning application states 160 new regular car parking spaces would be created, 17 new disability spaces and five new parking spaces for coaches, as well as ‘cycle pods’ and ‘improved pedestrian connectivity’.

CCTV camera units will also be fixed as part of the plans ‘to offer the best coverage of the development site and the surrounding area’.

At a Hartlepool Borough Council Full Council meeting in October last year it was said construction work has been estimated at £390,000, with further costs for CCTV, landscaping, border fencing and street lighting, potentially adding £150,000 to the cost.

It will be funded by prudential borrowing, and the area would be committed to a £37,000 annual repayment over a 25-year period.