Yarm High Street Public Engagement

Date consultations closed

Monday 12 January 2026

Description

Local people were invited to share their views on whether to progress with the proposed improvements to Yarm High Street - 'Yarm High Street - You Decide.'

The proposed regeneration scheme, as part of the £20m Levelling Up Fund (LUF) allocation for Yarm and Eaglescliffe, would create new public spaces for people to sit and enjoy their surroundings across six areas of the high street.

The plans aim to separate pedestrian areas from sections of car parking through seating, greenery and planting and improve accessibility to public transport. The scheme would also include new cycle parking, play on the way features for children and families and references to Yarm's history and heritage.

The proposals were developed with input from residents and businesses following two rounds of consultation in 2022 and this earlier feedback has helped shape the current design.

Following public feedback, the council paused work in October to ask whether there is local public support for the scheme and residents were invited to have their say between Wednesday 10 December 2025 and Monday 12 January 2026.

Results and outcomes

Yarm High Street - You Decide engagement ran from Wednesday 10 December 2025 to Monday 12 January 2026.

In-person engagement events were held in Yarm Library on three separate days as well an online form that was available on the Council's website. In total, 1,564 responses were received.

This summary presents the findings of this engagement.

Do you think the council should proceed with the proposed Yarm High Street improvement scheme?

Question 1 of the survey asked respondents, 'Based on the information provided, do you think the Council should proceed with the proposed Yarm High Street improvement scheme?'.

Respondents were asked to answer 'yes' or 'no' to this question:

14% said 'yes'
86% said 'no'

The results revealed that 225 (14%) respondents agreed that 'yes' - the council should proceed with the scheme as proposed whilst 1339 (86%) people expressed a view that 'no' - the council should not proceed with the scheme as proposed.

Free text responses

In Question 2, thematic analysis of the optional free text question - If you would like to explain your view, please use the space below was undertaken to identify common themes across the 1190 written responses that were received. Examples of comments made under the key themes are summarised.

Please note, that people often raised more than one issue so for this reason percentages won't sum to 100%.

Key Themes	Examples of comments
53% of responses made comments on the theme of parking and traffic congestion.	parking availability is already restricted removing parking spaces will increase congestion housing growth impacting on parking
51% of responses made comments on the theme of Yarm's historic character.	scheme is too modern and not in keeping with the historic Georgian high street frequent comparisons to looking like Teesside Park
26% of responses made comments on the theme of accessibility.	pavements and cobbles need to be better maintained as existing paving creates trip hazards high street is not very accessible for wheelchairs and public transport users
18% of responses made comments on the theme of antisocial behaviour.	new public spaces will encourage more anti social behaviour (ASB), littering, loitering and vermin
15% of responses made comments on the theme of traffic congestion.	traffic congestion and traffic flow will be problematic need to look at creating a bypass or other traffic solutions
13% of responses made comments on the theme of new planters and seating.	new planters and seating are deemed not necessary or of the wrong design style of benches and planters are too modern and feel inauthentic for Yarm concern that new public spaces won't be maintained by the council

In addition to the thematic analysis, respondents offered ideas for delivering high street improvements, which have been summarised:

focus on the maintenance of existing infrastructure such as re-lining parking bays and repairing paving slabs, road potholes and existing seating
improve parking arrangements on the high street including providing additional disabled parking bays and designated parent and child spaces
improve and increase public toilet provision
more investment in the riverside walkways including improving access to pontoons and more seating
construct a ring road or bypass around Yarm High Street and a footbridge or subway to ease congestion, reduce vehicle emissions, and improve air quality
improve signage to long-stay and short-stay car parks
introduce a park and ride scheme
alleviate the financial pressures faced by the local authority including a reduction in Council Tax burden on households
allocate funding to improvements at North Tees Hospital or in places like Thornaby or Billingham

Profile of responses

This section summarises the demographic profile of people that responded to the engagement.

Connection to the area

Respondents to the engagement found that respondents typically live in the area, shop in Yarm or visit for a night out. A smaller number of responses were received from people that work in the area, with this figure standing at 12%. With regards to the response from business owners, this figure stood at 47 responses, making up 3% of the total responses.

69% said 'I live here'
12% said 'I work here'
30% said 'I visit for a night out'
52% said 'I shop here'
3% said 'I am a business owner'
12% said 'Other'
2% said 'Prefer not to say'

Visit frequency

Most people who responded to the engagement were people that have visited Yarm recently, with 89% of respondents visiting within the last week.

89.26% said 'Within the last week'
6.84% said 'Within the last month'
2.11% said 'Within the last year'
0.64% said 'Over a year ago'
1.15% said 'Prefer not to say'

Modes of travel

When travelling to and from Yarm, the most used mode was to travel by car (82%). The second most popular mode was that of walking, with the figure being 62%. Of the other transport modes, bus was slightly more popular than taxi (17% versus 9%) followed by cycle at 6%, train at 1% and 'other' at 1%.

62.34% walked
82.10% travelled by car
17.01% travelled by bus
9.08% travelled by taxi
1.28% travelled by train
5.69% cycled
1.09% said 'Other'

Age

The majority of respondents (49%) were aged between 41 to 65 years old, with the second highest age category being over 65 (27%).

16.8% of respondents were aged 26 to 40 years old and only 48 people aged 25 or under responded to the engagement.

0.19% under 16
2.88% 17 to 25 years
16.82% 26 to 40 years
49.23% 41 to 65 years
27.24% over 65 years
3.07% said 'Prefer not to say'
0.58% did not answer

Next steps

This report has presented a summary of the results from engagement on Yarm High Street - You Decide that was held from Wednesday 10 December 2025 to Monday 12 January 2026. In total 1564 responses were received. Overall, responses to this engagement were from local people that either live in Yarm or visit for shopping or leisure. Most of the respondents are people that have recently visited Yarm and have travelled by car or on foot. This round of engagement received low levels of engagement from young people and people that work or own a business in Yarm.

The purpose of the survey was to understand public views on whether the council should proceed with the proposed scheme. Feedback will be used to inform a future decision, which will be presented to a Cabinet meeting in due course.

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