Two Newcastle city centre car parks will soon be opening overnight on weekends and will have new charges imposed during late hours.
Newcastle City Council has confirmed that it is poised to launch a six-month trial in which the Dean Street and Grainger Town multi-storey car parks (MSCPs) will remain open through from Friday morning until midnight on Sunday.
Both sites currently shut their gates at midnight, while other city centre car parks are closed at 10pm.
But the overnight opening experiment is being launched in a bid to provide more safe parking locations for workers on night shifts in city centre bars, restaurants and hotels.
In order to cover the energy and security staff costs of operating the car parks on a 24-hour basis, new parking charges of 50p per hour will be introduced at both locations between 7pm and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Currently, charges to use on-street bays and council-run multi-storey car parks in the city centre end at 7pm.
In July, a council official said that the local authority was “not averse” to the idea of extra evening parking fees. However, the civic centre’s political leadership later insisted it had “no plans to introduce parking charges in the city after 7pm”.
Council documents setting out the details of the Dean Street and Grainger Town trial now state that, if the six-month project is deemed a success, consideration “may also be given to extending to other nights of the week or other MSCPs”.
A public consultation on the plans will be carried out this month and the pilot could begin in October.
Cllr Juna Sathian
Image: Newcastle Council
Cllr Juna Sathian, the council’s Cabinet member for climate and transport, said: “[Business improvement district company] NE1 has asked us to support workers in the night-time economy with more safe, accessible parking.
“Offering more than 580 spaces, in secure, patrolled locations, on the busiest nights, would hopefully meet that strong demand from businesses, while also providing more options for visitors to our vibrant city, particularly during the busy Christmas period.”
Council documents state that MSCPs are currently shut overnight because of the risk of anti-social behaviour and damage, confirming that two security officers will be stationed at both Dean Street and Grainger Town during the overnight opening trial.
Stephen Patterson, chief executive of NE1 Ltd said: “This would be a great result for the city, providing secure, overnight car parking on the busiest days of the week and during the most important time of the year.
“Keeping two multi-storey car parks open 24 hours a day near key hospitality venues and hotels would be a crucial way to support businesses, especially the workers who are the backbone of the night-time economy. They are essential to keeping venues open and customers served.
“This proposal is a fantastic example of successful partnership working, listening to and responding to the needs of businesses.”
