Newcastle free parking could be cut to discourage car use

Newcastle City Council wants to discourage car use in the centre

Free evening parking in Newcastle city centre could be cut to discourage car use, a council has said.

Since the launch of the Alive After Five scheme in 2010, parking at seven sites has been free after 17:00 to boost evening trade.

But now the council says it is reviewing the plan as it aims to launch a Clean Air Zone (CAZ).

Council leader Nick Forbes said the authority needed to be "consistent" on discouraging car use.

Alive After Five runs in seven council-owned car parks - Eldon Square, Eldon Garden, Dean Street, Quayside Multi-Storey, Oxford Street, Manors, and Grainger Town Multi-Storey.

'Perverse incentives'

Introduced alongside later opening hours for city centre businesses, the scheme has been credited with boosting the area's economy by hundreds of millions of pounds since its inception, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But the city is also wanting to bring down emissions levels which are linked to more than 300 premature deaths on Tyneside each year.

Mr Forbes said poor air quality was caused largely by rush-hour rather than evening traffic, but added: "There is a wider issue about making sure we are consistent in encouraging people to use public transport wherever possible and that there are not perverse incentives for people to drive unnecessarily.

"We are reviewing Alive After Five as part of our normal budget processes and are looking long term at how we balance the different competing interests to make sure we support the economy but at the same time ensure that public transport and walking and cycling is prioritised above car usage wherever possible."

Stephen Patterson, chief executive of city centre business improvement district company NE1 Ltd, said he understood the changes would only apply to those council-run multi-storeys within the new CAZ, which is due to launch in 2022 with daily fees for some high-polluting vehicles, though not private cars, coming into the city centre.

The city council refused to confirm any details of which car parks would be affected or when the change might happen, but a spokesman said any changes would be "subject to consultation".