Saltburn promenade parking plan 'halted' if locals against it - leader

The plans for Saltburn's Marine Parade could see the pavement narrowed to make way for angled car-parking spaces

Controversial plans to scale back a promenade for more parking would be "halted" if residents were against it, a council leader has said.

More than 100 spaces could be created at Saltburn's Marine Parade.

Locals have called for a park-and-ride scheme instead, which they claim would help during the busy tourist months.

Redcar and Cleveland Council's Alec Brown said homes were sent a survey, and if it saw negative responses, he would have "no issue" with stopping it.

The plans, aimed to address congested and dangerous car parking, have already been put on hold after attracting mixed views.

The site pictured now...

...and how it could look if plans are approved

The leader's comments came after a meeting at Saltburn's Community Hall, organised by campaign group Saltburn Against Promenade Changes.

The meeting, said to be "packed to the rafters", also discussed a historic covenant on the upper promenade, which is said to protect it for recreation only with no financial gain.

A meeting was organised by campaigners against the plans

"The general feeling is that this is too great a price to be paid for reducing the size of the promenade forever more," a statement from the group said.

Mr Brown, a Labour councillor, said the survey's questions included a yes or no question about residents' support.

He said while it was not a referendum or a vote, if the balance of negative responses was higher than positive ones he would have "no issue" with halting the scheme, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Labour's Alec Brown is the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council

"We've gone to the trouble of making sure every adult in every household has the ability to feed back into the survey because it is such an emotive issue," he said.

The survey has also been extended to the end of the month.

He said a number of aspects were under consideration, such as double yellow lines and speed limits.

"If the bulk are coming back and are saying we would like to keep the prom as it is then - I'm a listening leader - and that's the way we'll go."

He added he did not know all the details of the covenant but believed it referred to building from the ground upwards, and he did not believe it to be relevant at this stage.

Saltburn independent councillor Craig Hannaway, who also attended the meeting, said a plan for Marine Parade was drawn up in 2018 by council officers and agreed by ward councillors in response to a "large number of complaints" from residents about parking difficulties.

The scheme is estimated to cost £450,000 and is due to be funded from a £1.2m investment by the Tees Valley Combined Authority.