Row over seafront parking restriction plans

A council has been criticised for cancelling plans to ban motorhomes from parking overnight in parts of a popular seaside town.

The proposal was included in traffic management schemes drawn up for Saltburn's Marine Parade, but dropped by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's current administration.

Independent councillors have accused the authority of letting down the town's residents and failing to adequately address the "many historic road traffic problems along Marine Parade".

Labour council leader Alec Brown said he had listened to the views of hundreds of residents on the issue, adding that residents were "two to one against" the parking ban.

The trio of independents, councillors Stuart Smith, Philip Thomson and Craig Hannaway, were involved in drawing up plans aiming to improve the busy sea-facing thoroughfare.

Most elements of the plans were dropped by the Labour-led administration, which came to power last year.

If progressed, they would have seen more than 100 additional parking bays created and motorhomes banned from parking between 20:00 and 08:00.

The plans were opposed by campaigners, who launched a petition attracting more than 1,800 signatories.

However, most respondents were from outside of Saltburn, with more than two dozen countries represented.

Mr Brown said: "It is really heartwarming to know that people from Nigeria, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, like to come and visit Redcar and Cleveland in their motorhomes.

"Why discourage them from coming and spending money locally? It is more proof really that that ban probably isn’t the best for Saltburn."

Mr Smith said the campaigners did not represent "the wishes and desires of a majority of Saltburn residents" but appeared to "have a hotline" to the area's Labour party, which he accused of failing to consult adequately on the issue.

The comments came during an exchange at a recent council meeting, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Brown said the protest group had no hold over the administration and that he had acted in response to residents' views.

He said allegations that the council had not consulted properly were "completely untrue", adding that standard processes had been followed.

Mr Hannaway said nobody who lived in the vicinity of Marine Parade voted to "spend summer months in a free campervan park with no facilities, late night noise, litter and chemical waste".

Follow BBC Tees on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].