New car park in Northumberland town to be free for first hour
Original plans for the Turner Street car park had initially included a parking charge in order to compensate for the nearly £2m price tag for the development.
However, in February, Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson announced that the authority would not impose charges in their town centre car parks.
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Hide AdHe said: “We understand why Amble is so keen and that is why we have done it [car park].
"In terms of tariffs, we want local people to be able to pop into town without having to pay for car parking." .
Calls for a new car park have grown in recent years as Amble’s tourism industry has expanded, with more visitors visiting the seaside town every year.
He added: “We know the visitor economy is very important to Northumberland, and it’s important that people can get their cars parked at a reasonable price.
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Hide Ad"We think this will help the Amble tourism offer significantly by having a car park. And we hope that businesses thrive from it.”
Jeff Watson, councillor for Amble West and Walkworth, has been a keen proponent of the development, citing the benefits of the new car park.
He said: “We just think that the residents of Amble deserve a bit of consideration and that is why we wanted to give them that first hour free.
"I can’t see anything else but benefit for local businesses, the town, on a good summer’s day, gets really busy and people sort of go off and drive elsewhere.”
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