Redcar and Cleveland Council scraps unpopular parking charges plan

Ms Lanigan said "unpalatable decisions" had to be made to balance the budget

Car parking charges which a group of politicians called "short-sighted" have been scrapped, a council has confirmed.

Redcar and Cleveland Council had planned to introduce charges in Loftus, Guisborough, Skelton and Marske, and at some museums and leisure centres.

In a letter to independent council leader Mary Lanigan, Conservative MPs Jacob Young and Simon Clarke, and six Tory councillors condemned the plans.

Ms Lanigan said the authority scrapped the plans after listening to feedback.

However, she said "unpalatable decisions" would still have to be made to balance the authority's budget.

She said it was "clear that people do not want these new fees, so we will take them out of our budget proposals", but there had been a "huge increase" in the number of children and older people needing care, which the authority "couldn't ignore".

"Since 2010, we have had to find savings of around £100m and, as a result, we have around 1,000 fewer staff, but the demand for our services continues to grow," she said.

'Astronomic increases'

The proposals had prompted an open letter to Ms Lanigan, signed by the MPs and councillors, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The letter said the plans were "short-sighted" and an "appalling idea" at a time when the increasing cost of living was affecting people's ability to make ends meet.

Opposition Labour councillors and residents also condemned the plans.

All new parking charges have now been dropped, along with a proposal for increased charges for residents' parking permits, bulky waste disposals, replacement refuse bins and public toilets.

Updated proposals are expected ahead of a meeting to agree the 2023-2024 budget in February.

Saltburn independent councillor Philip Thomson said the original decision "reflected poorly" on the authority's financial governance.

He said he was "delighted that the administration has taken note of residents' concern about introducing astronomic increases in charges at a time of great hardship being experienced by so many".