Plans to open drug and alcohol treatment centre in Hartlepool car park are scrapped

Hartlepool Borough Council had previously submitted proposals to house a substance treatment service in a portable building in the 76-space Roker Street car park.

It was intended to replace an existing treatment facility in Whitby Street which is deemed to be “no longer fit for purpose”.

Yet the application was met with hundreds of objections with nearby businesses raising concerns over the potential loss of valuable car parking and the impact the development would have on their staff and customers.

Now Council chiefs have confirmed, after considering the responses, that they will instead look for another site.

This has been welcomed by businesses in the area, with Debbie Conway, who has Kraft Work Yarns, in The Arches, stating if the original proposals had progressed she would have had to look to relocate.

She said: “I’m really, really relieved, it’s a whole load off my mind, it means I can go ahead and start planning again because everything was on hold.

“Customers are going to be able to relax a bit, because they know they can still park opposite.”

Councillor Tom Feeney, manager of the Arches, said there had been a lot of “worry and fears from the small independent businesses in the area” and that they were “very pleased” with the decision.

He added: “It’s a much needed service, and we could do with a new building, but to have that smack bang in the middle of town is just unacceptable.”

Phillipa Lambert Shaheen, of Mary Lambert bakery, said they were “thrilled” the council had listened to residents and reconsidered.

Karen Liddle, of the Karen Liddle School of Dance and The Dancing Cup cafe, in York Road, said it was a great relief to them.

She added: “We’re over the moon with the decision, mainly for the security of the children when they’re getting dropped off, and the parents.”

Councillor Mike Young, Hartlepool Borough Council leader, said: “After much discussion our political group have made the decision alongside officers to find a different location for the drug and alcohol centre.

“That information will come forward as and when it is made available.”