Darlington Council scrapped a free parking scheme in the town centre just over a year ago. Olivia Howlett spoke to people to ask if it has affected their shopping habits.

Darlington Council has defended its decision to end a two-hour free parking offer, saying people are staying in the town centre for longer - despite concerns locals are going elsewhere.

The decision sparked controversy last year when the offer was scrapped, but the council says it is investing in the town centre, insists that people are parking for longer, and more people are using bus services.

People we spoke to in Darlington were unimpressed. High Row punters Brian and Jean Bowman, from Darlington, said they rarely bother coming into town anymore as “it’s just not worth it”. 

They now take the bus into town because “it works out cheaper than the car parking charges”.

The Bowmans said: “If you are to go into town for shopping, you have to pay for parking before you go shop and it’s impossible to know how long you will be there for. That means you’re either rushing your shopping to get back in time or having to pay for extra time you don’t use. 

“Retail parks are just so much easier everything’s in one place with decent shops and you get free parking there too. I don’t use car parks anymore but if I were to drive anywhere, I’d just drive there.”

Another Darlington local, John Davies, expressed his annoyance, adding: “You’d think they could offer at least one free hour.

"It’s small gestures like that which could help keep the town alive."

Another shopper, who did not want to be named, said: “They want to draw people into the town and instead are pushing them out of it with deterrents like that.

"I couldn’t think of one good place to park in the centre now and that just doesn’t work when you’re going shopping.

“For me I don’t have a bus stop that close to my home so for accessibility reasons I don’t feel comfortable getting the bus and carrying bags on my own, so I have driven in and had to spend extra money on parking”.

However, council leader Steve Harker said he "cannot justify" cutting other services to fund the scheme, adding that people are spending more time in the town than previously and using buses in higher numbers, despite fewer people parking.

Cllr Harker said:  “The free parking offer was originally funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority and was not sustainable in the long-term. In the current financial climate, this council cannot justify cutting up to £1.7m per year from other key services for it to continue.

“Since the parking charges were reintroduced, we have noticed a change in patterns of behaviour.

"People who travel to the town centre by car are spending more time here than they did previously.

"While footfall counters do show a decrease and the number of tickets issued at parking machines reduced, the average time people park for has increased. Bus patronage increased significantly after the charges were reintroduced, suggesting people changed the way they travel into the town centre.

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"People are making less frequent but longer visits, which also reflects the shift in how people now use town centres.

“The use of town centres across the country is changing and it is a challenging environment, but we are adapting and supporting businesses through these changes.

"We are investing over £25m in our towns programme, which has included breathing new life into our historic yards and supporting the developing pavement café culture on Coniscliffe Road. The Darlington Economic Campus will bring more activity into the town centre, and this will also bring more investment.”