New Morpeth car park set to be ready in September

There will be 128 standard parking bays, eight disabled bays and six electric vehicle charging spaces on the site of the former first school in Goosehill when the project is complete – which the local authority said this week is set to be mid-September.

When excavations started, a number of issues were discovered that led to delays such as the need for a redesign of the proposed drainage system and electric cables found not buried to the right depth.

These issues have now been resolved, with the works to the existing culvert line complete.

Coun John Riddle, cabinet member for local services at the county council, said: “Converting this old school site has brought us some unexpected technical challenges, which the team has worked hard to resolve.

“Work is now continuing at pace with the finished car park, including EV charging points, set to be ready in the coming months – which will provide some much-needed extra town centre parking for Morpeth.”

A retaining wall will start to be constructed later this month. Once complete, the team will be moving to the final stages of construction, including surfacing the car park and the installation of electric vehicle charging points.

Morpeth Stobhill councillor John Beynon said: “It’s great news for the town to have 142 new and free car parking spaces coming soon, which will be a big benefit to businesses, traders and people who have to commute to work in the town, and it will also help relieve the parking problems in Middle Greens.”