Redcar and Cleveland Council has been urged to reconsider plans to charge visitors to Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park.
A proposed measure to introduce a £1 all day parking fee was included in various increases to charges for council services in 2025/26 signed off late last year by the council’s cabinet. A report said a new parking model would increase charges by a greater amount in tourist areas, decrease charges in less well used car parks and increase charges on other car parks by a 10% uplift rate.
The park allows access to countryside south of Normanby and also includes a visitor centre with parking currently being free. Eston ward councillor David Taylor said it was a “cherished community asset, widely used by local families, schoolchildren, walkers, and dog owners for recreation, mental well-being, and leisure”.
He said: “The recent proposal to introduce parking charges at this site has raised significant concern among TS6 residents.”
Cllr Taylor said the area already had fewer recreational spaces compared to other areas and a charge could lead to increased illegal and dangerous parking on Flatts Lane. At a full council meeting he asked that the local authority pause in order to reconsider the decision.
Deputy leader Carrie Richardson said Councillor Carl Quartermain, the cabinet member for highways and transport, would meet with Cllr Taylor to discuss any concerns he had. She said: “The income generated is needed to support the delivery of services across the borough.
“We have only proposed £1 for Flatts Lane which will allow people to park all day, which is much lower than other car parks across the borough and should not deter users of the country park.”
Cllr Taylor claimed the move would generate at most £30,000 to £35,000 a year, based on optimistic predictions, and set out a list of costs that would accompany car park charging, including yellow line markings and an electrical supply. He suggested it “might not be the best outcome for this council at this moment in time”.
There is precedent which has seen the local authority row back on previous planned car parking charges with councils frequently caught in the tricky position of attempting to plug financial gaps while at the same being cognisant of the fact some charging measures prove unpopular with the public and politicians.
In 2021 previous proposals to charge motorists at Flatts Lane Country Park were shelved after opposition from former Normanby ward councillors Billy Ayre and Chris Foley-McCormack, and members of the public.
Two years later the then independent/Liberal Democrat controlled council rowed back on new charges at a number of car parking locations including Guisborough, Marske, Loftus, Newton under Roseberry, Saltburn and Skelton after a backlash from Conservative and Labour members, along with local MPs, which saw them branded “outrageous”.
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