Council withdraws plan for temporary car park in Berwick town centre
Plans for a temporary car park in Berwick town centre have been withdrawn.
An application was lodged last month for use of a derelict site on Walkergate next to chartered accountancy firm Greaves West & Ayre.
The plan was submitted by Northumberland County Council to offset the loss of parking capacity due to the closure of the Eastern Lane Car Park during the restoration and redevelopment of The Maltings.
The Walkergate scheme would have created approximately 28 parking spaces, including dedicated Blue Badge parking.
A planning document on the council’s behalf stated: ‘The proposal represents a simple and proportionate response to a temporary operational need. The design approach seeks to make use of an existing brownfield site with minimal physical intervention and without prejudicing future redevelopment opportunities.’
However, there were a number of objections from local residents.
Among them, Stephen Morrison commented: “This site has been allocated for housing and I have not seen any effort or advertising that this land is available for housing development. The use of this space as a car park would only further delay the development of this site.
“There are plenty of car parking spaces in the town and use could be made of the overflow space in Castlegate.
"This town is inundated with car parks and to concentrate more parking on the Walkergate/Coxons Lane intersection would, in essence, turn this area into one huge car park.
“The proposed car park and the ensuing further concentration of traffic in this small area would ruin the quality of life for pedestrians, cyclist and for those of us living nearby. This is a beautiful historic town and care needs to be taken that its beauty is preserved for those who live here and the visitors and tourists that contribute greatly to the local economy.”
Elaine Paterson added: “This application is not ‘necessary’, highly unlikely to be ‘temporary’ and it works against established planning policy at national and local level. Further unnecessary delay to developing the site for much needed housing is unacceptable.”
The council’s highways department said there was insufficient information to respond.
A single letter of support welcomed the proposed provision of Blue Badge bays.
The land has been unused since approximately 2018 and has been enclosed by hoardings and gates.
The council has been approached for comment.