Minutes:
The Chairman welcomed Councillor Laing to the meeting to discuss issues around parking in and around Peterlee Community Hospital.
Councillor Laing informed the Committee that she had arranged several meetings and had set up an online and paper petition with regards to people parking around the streets near to the community hospital in Peterlee. She said that this situation was not unique to Peterlee but emphasised that the car park was an adequate size for people to use rather than park on the nearby streets causing frustration to the residents and for people trying to pass on the roads. She asked if the Committee could do anything to support her.
The Chairman said that he had visited the site and had found that there was only one car in the car park but that people were parked in streets around the site.
Peter Butler, Head of Portering and Security, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust advised the Committee that car parking charges were introduced in February 2016 and people were observed parking in the car park and walking into the Town Centre. Following discussions with Councillor Laing the charges were dropped from £3 per day to £1 per hour. The car park had been created so that it was fit for the hospital and its patients. He added that discussions had taken place to extend the double yellow lines outside of the hospital site.
Councillor Laing confirmed that talks were ongoing about the double yellow lines but felt that people would just park further down the road. She also advised that parking surveys would be taking place. She would like to see free parking on a trial basis.
Councillor Grant asked if those people who were patients or visitors at the hospital could receive a ticket to show that they had used the facility.
Councillor Laing pointed out that Peterlee was high on the deprivation list and a lot of people were on benefits so either missed appointments or could not afford to pay for the parking.
The Trust advised that the decision about car parking charges was made by their board and was taken to bring in line with other NHS sites. They also confirmed that they have spoken to staff about not parking outside of the site but that they were not responsible for the nursing home and other staff.
The Committee agreed that it would write to the Chief Executive of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to ask them to consider undertaking improvements to the car parking facilities at Peterlee Hospital.
Joseph Chandy said that as a partner in a GP practice in Easington and as a managing director in Peterlee, he has used the community centre car park and found the machine very difficult to operate. He said that that people using the Peterlee Health Centre had no problems with parking as additional spaces had been purchased. He reminded the Committee that this was a deprived population and people would probably chose to park for free rather than pay in the hospital car park. He advised that from the town centre to the community hospital car park was an uphill walk. He strongly supported Councillor Laing and the Committee.