Anger over parking at Safeway, Teesdale Mercury

Anger over parking at Safeway

Aug 22, 2002

A REDUCTION in car parking spaces while the new Safeway development takes place, is causing anger among residents and businesses in Barnard Castle.





Over 20 spaces in the Galgate car park have been sectioned off to allow workmen access to the building site and to provide space for portable cabins and plant machinery.

However, the reduction in spaces has created havoc for shoppers in the town centre. David Tate, the proprietor of Tates’ plant and gift centre on Galgate, said people were driving round in circles looking for somewhere to park.

“They can’t get parked so they just go on elsewhere,” said Mr Tate. “It doesn’t matter if the council are getting paid for the spaces or not. At the end of the day those spaces are for shoppers and it’s the traders in the town who are suffering.”

Barnard Castle town and district councillor, John Watson, also noticed the problems created by the construction work on Wednesday.

Walking through the car park on his way to the market, Coun Watson said he was struck by the amount of traffic in the car park.

“The place was full,” he said. “There were coaches manoeuvring and cars were parked everywhere and pedestrians were walking about. It just struck me that it was a very significant road safety hazard.”

Coun Watson said Safeway hoped to attract another 500 shoppers per day with the new store. “We haven’t got the parking area to accommodate that influx,” he said. Parking spaces originally taken into account when planning permission was given have now had houses built on them, he said.

“It’s a done deal,” added Coun Watson. “The only immediate consolation we got out of them was to fund a permanent surface in the Hole-in-the-Wall car park.”

Coun Watson said the Market Towns Initiative was looking at ways to try and sort out the parking problem in Barnard Castle.

“This has not been thought out properly,” he said. “I’m angry on behalf of Barnard Castle residents.”