Free parking has been extended as a council hopes to attract more visitors and turn its town centre into a shopping hotspot. 

Two-hours free parking offers have been in place to support Darlington town centre since June 2018 and were helped by funding support from the Tees Valley Combined Authority for the last two years.

That funding has now ended but Darlington Council’s cabinet has agreed to continue the free parking offer in November until March.

Now, the authority has announced plans to further extend the bargain scheme until the end of June. There are currently no plans to extend the free parking beyond that date.

A further £387,000 from the authority’s budget will be spent on maintaining the discount for shoppers on top of the £475,000 allocated last year, meaning a total of £862,000 is being spent on the scheme.

Councillor Andy Keir, local services lead, said: “This is all about supporting the town centre, and making sure people are in the town centre and making it sustainable and supporting businesses.”

However, Labour leader Stephen Harker asked why the extension until July wasn’t made at the November meeting.

Council leader Jonathan Dulston said the authority had always intended to extend car parking for six months but split it in two parts to gauge the public’s response and to allow for feasibility studies to be carried out.

The council says cost-of-living challenges will continue throughout the winter and beyond, and hopes the scheme will continue to attract shoppers despite it being a tough period for both residents and business.

The Northern Echo: Russell Street car park, Darlington Russell Street car park, Darlington (Image: The Northern Echo)

Yet funding the parking temporarily prioritises the town centre’s recovery over other policy objectives, specifically the promotion of sustainable transport and climate change impacts.

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It is hoped the free parking will continue to be a catalyst for shoppers to improve the Darlington high street.

Cllr Dulston added: “We want to firmly send a message out to the region that Darlington is open for business. We are competing with free car parking at Teesside Park, at Northallerton, and we know that both those destinations are regularly used by residents in Darlington, so I’m really proud of being allowed to do this.”