Plans lodged for 'crucial' extra parking at Hartlepool's High Tunstall College of Science

Proposals have been submitted to Hartlepool Borough Council planning department by staff at High Tunstall College of Science to remodel the school’s car park on Elwick Road.

It comes after the school opened a new £17million state-of-the art facility in November which replaced around three quarters of the existing High Tunstall school site on Elwick Road.

Now plans from headteacher Mark Tilling state they want to improve the layout of the car park and increase the number of car parking spaces from 130 to 255.

On top of this the plans also looked to create an additional 17 disability spaces.

A planning statement submitted on behalf of the school states a new car park layout is crucial for the site.

It said: “The car park is poorly laid out and does not provide enough car parking for both staff and visitors with minimal disabled parking bays.

“It does not meet the needs and requirements for the new College.

“The new car park is vital to the success of the College and will minimise the need for staff and visitors to park off site.

“The layout also gives drivers a much more conventional, uniform layout so will increase the efficiency of its use by minimising the time spent driving around looking for a parking space.”

It is also proposed to close the existing car park access on Elwick Road as part of the plans and to provide a new access road off the roundabout at Elwick Road/Dunston Road.

This comes as Hartlepool Borough Council is to increase the size of the roundabout as part of highway improvements needed to facilitate a new access road for the proposed Elwick bypass linking to the A19.

A design and access statement for the plans said: “The proposed car park will provide good quality parking for all and the proposed access off the roundabout will provide much better access.”

Plans also state the new car park will have street lighting, CCTV and a security fence/gate around the perimeter of the whole site.

Additional pedestrian access to the school will also be provided by a new gated footway link from Elwick Road to the North West and from the proposed new entrance.

The bulk of the car park construction is planned to take place during the summer break in 2020 to minimise disruption, according to the plans.

A decision is expected to be made on the plans by the council planning department later this month.

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