I attended a meeting this morning, arranged jointly with the clerk of the parish council, to consider the implications of a proposed housing development on the former Breathless site in Blackhall Colliery (see posts dated 2 October 2012 and 6 March 2013 for further information).
We invited representatives from the police and officers from Durham County Council, including those from the planning, highways and estates sections, to take a closer look at the impact that a housing development of six properties might have on businesses in the area and also on parking in the streets nearby (see post dated 4 February 2013 for background information).
From previous posts it can be seen that the main issues around this proposal are associated primarily with the safety of children attending the nearby St Joseph's primary school and also the impact on local businesses of increased parking. Clearly it would be great to see the site developed because it is currently in a very poor condition but I have serious concerns about traffic and parking issues if six properties are constructed here as detailed in the planning application. However, planning and highways officers insist that, whilst they recognise these concerns, they are not sufficient grounds for the council to refuse consent.
This means that, if we want to see the site tidied up and developed, we need to find an alternative solution to any potential parking problems so after the meeting I took officers from the planning and estates sections to the area to see for themselves the problems as they currently stand.
What they saw there can leave them in no doubt about the urgent need to address traffic issues in this location. Cars were parked along the full length of the street, from the library to the primary school, a delivery lorry was off-loading goods into Chapman's butchers shop while a second delivery wagon tried to gain access from the RAFA club entrance to the street. All the while cars were trying to get from one side of the street to the other which led to absolute gridlock. And as most shoppers and drivers will know, this is a common occurrence in this part of Blackhall! Luckily the officers from the council had cameras on hand to record the scene.
I have asked that estates officers consider the release of unused land in the area to help alleviate this problem, which will obviously worsen if the housing development is granted. I will update on progress but in the meantime please let me know of your opinion regarding this planning application.
