Morpeth Riverside Parking: 100 Extra Spaces From 20 Nov

Morpeth should have about 100 extra parking spaces in time for Christmas shopping. The old Riverside sports centre has now been fully demolished. The council expects a temporary car park on the cleared site to open on Friday 20 November (Northumberland County Council, 27 October).

The council puts the gain at an estimated 100 unrestricted spaces. The opening date is “subject to final preparations”.

There is a catch on timing. When demolition started in September, the council said 108 extra spaces would come by mid-November. What opens on 20 November is a temporary stone surface. The finished car park comes later.

What happens between now and spring

The council’s timetable:

• now to 13 November: the site is backfilled with crushed stone, including the old swimming pool and other voids, then levelled. Drainage goes in, and hoarding goes up between the new area and the existing restricted bays on Newmarket West
• 20 November: the temporary parking area is expected to open
• next spring: the area is tarmacked, bays are marked out, and it becomes a formal extension of Newmarket West car park, with 108 spaces and 10 motorcycle bays

Large vehicles will be arriving at the site in the coming days to take away the demolition machinery. Advance Northumberland is managing the work for the council.

Why it is a car park

The council owns the building. It became redundant when Morpeth’s £21m leisure centre and community services hub opened. The council says “extensive work to market the site failed to attract the type of development that the authority had aspired for this area of the town”.

Deputy leader Richard Wearmouth said Morpeth’s popularity “brings increased pressure on parking, particularly during busy periods”. Ward councillor David Bawn thanked residents and businesses for their patience during the works.

What it means for you

• From 20 November, the new area should give about 100 more places to park at the Newmarket end of the town centre, through the Christmas shopping weeks.
• “Unrestricted” is the council’s word for the new temporary area, as opposed to the restricted bays on the rest of Newmarket West. The rest of Newmarket West is a parking disc car park: a £1 disc is needed in the three-hour bays, and not displaying one risks a £50 penalty. Our parking in Northumberland page explains how the disc works.
• Until 13 November, expect lorries in and out of the site as the machinery leaves.
• In spring there will be a second round of work to surface and mark the bays. The council has not yet given dates.

Other road and car park works across the county are on our Northumberland roadworks and travel page.

Sources

• Northumberland County Council: more parking spaces on the way as Riverside clearance nears completion (27 October 2026), for the completed demolition, the 13 November completion, the 20 November opening, the 100 estimated unrestricted spaces, the spring work, the 108 spaces and 10 motorcycle bays, the backfill and drainage, the £21m leisure centre, the failed marketing and both quotes. The photograph is from the same release.
• Northumberland County Council: work starts on Riverside building clearance to create more parking (7 September 2026), for the original mid-November completion.
• Northumberland County Council: Morpeth car parks, for the parking disc rules at Newmarket West.