Police confirm traffic survey for Blackhall Rocks

After residents of Broad Road expressed their concerns last week about speeding vehicles coming into and leaving Blackhall Rocks we contacted the Traffic Management Officer at Durham Constabulary to request a traffic survey for the area.

The usual route when residents express their concerns about traffic in their community is through the PACT (Police and Communities Together) process following which a Community Speed Watch survey can be carried out by residents with the help of the police.

However, due to certain circumstances at this particular location we asked the police if they would carry out a full traffic survey and we were pleased to receive confirmation this morning that the police and county council had agreed to our request.

A survey will be carried out soon with findings published shortly afterwards. 

Second progress report on Blackhall PACT issues

Following our previous update report on progress made since the last PACT meeting held in Blackhall last week (see posts dated Thursday 23 January 2020 for our PACT meeting report and Saturday 25 January 2020 for our initial update report) we have received further correspondence from senior officers at both Durham Police and Durham County Council’s community safety team.

The following is a summary of progress made since our last update report at the weekend:

• We have secured a meeting with the police Inspector with responsibility for neighbourhood policing. This meeting is scheduled for next week and will include senior officers from the council’s community safety team and the council’s neighbourhood wardens. We welcome this as an early commitment from senior police officers to ensure there’s a strong working relationship between the police and the community
• We have an assurance that the police are to lead regular multi-agency drop-in sessions in the village. These are intended to focus on issues in the community and will include representatives from the neighbourhood wardens, the community safety team, the anti-social behaviour team and officers from the council’s private sector housing team
• In addition we have asked that the police consider reverting PACT meetings to their original monthly format, at least for the time being
• The team leader for the neighbourhood wardens has confirmed that wardens will establish targeted patrols in areas where they are most needed. These priority areas will be decided on the basis of calls and/or reports from members of the public

This is an early indication of progress made since the PACT meeting held last week. We expect everyone involved in tackling crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour to build on this after our meeting next week with the police and community safety officers.

We will update on further progress in due course, but in the meantime we would urge anyone with concerns about crime, anti-social behaviour or other community safety issues to heed police advice and report their issues directly to the police on 101 (999 in an emergency).

Grassed areas at Kenber Hill and Bluebell Close reseeded following cable works

Last year we reported that a utility company would be carrying out cable works along the length of the pavement between Kenber Hill and Bluebell Close.

Unfortunately when the company had completed the works they left the grassed area on either side of the path in quite a poor condition, largely as a result of their vehicles driving across the grass and leaving the area rutted and untidy.

We contacted the company straight away and asked them to bring the area back to its original condition. They willingly acceded to this request and we’re pleased to see this morning that the damaged areas have been reseeded as requested.

Blackhall Colliery PACT update

Following the Blackhall PACT meeting last week we wrote to senior officers at Durham police, along with representatives from other community safety organisations, to tell them about the growing concerns expressed by ourselves and residents about crime and anti-social behaviour in our village (please see post dated Thursday 23 January 2020 for details). 

Although we have yet to receive a response from the office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner for Durham we have had a positive initial reply from both Chief Inspector Blakelock and Acting Inspector Watson at Peterlee police. 

At this early stage we can confirm that we’ve had an assurance from the police that in addition to scheduled PACT meetings they intend to establish regular drop-in sessions in the village led by the police sergeant for the Blackhall neighbourhood. We are also asking for the PACT meetings to be returned to a monthly format to allow for regular and improved communications between the police and the residents and businesses of our community.

As soon as we’ve received responses from all the agencies we contacted last week we’ll update on progress. In the meantime please take the advice given by the police at last week’s PACT and report every incident of crime and anti-social behaviour directly to the police and neighbourhood wardens.

Scheduled highways works in Blackhall Colliery

Please note below advance notification of highways works scheduled from next week in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery:

Road No.	Location	Description	Traffic Management	Start Date	End Date	Responsibility
A1086	Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery	Install telecom ducts	2 way lights (8:00am - 5:00pm, Sundays only)	26 January	9 February	Virgin Media

Notes from the Blackhall PACT meeting - January 2020

The Blackhall PACT meeting held last night at the Resource Centre was characterised largely by anger and frustration, understandably so given the incidents over the weekend in which there were a number of burglaries in the village carried out with impunity by people who evidently consider themselves above the law.

The main concerns associated with those events relate to a perceived inability of the police to respond to calls for assistance and an apparent breakdown in communication between the police and the community.

It was generally acknowledged that many factors contribute to the local problems we face, not least of those being the drastic reduction in the numbers of police posts (23,000 officers have lost their jobs in recent years) coupled with devastating central government cuts to local authority, probation service and criminal justice system budgets. All have had a severely detrimental impact on how the authorities are able to deliver local services in the way we’re entitled to expect. However residents feel that the police could do more by working with our communities to provide more effective policing and reassurance to our residents and businesses.

Given the direct impact of the factors mentioned above on community safety I suggested that we write to the police inspector with responsibility for our area, and also to the office of the Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner for Durham to set out our concerns and invite them to a meeting of the Blackhall PACT to listen to our ideas and work together towards a workable solution.

The letter is reproduced below in full:

Good morning Inspector Kay and Chief Inspector Blakelock,

I write to you following a number of serious crime and anti-social behaviour incidents in Blackhall Colliery and a subsequent meeting of the Blackhall PACT held yesterday evening.

The PACT meeting held last night in the Blackhall Resource Centre was very well attended by residents and business owners increasingly frustrated by the seemingly endless incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour in the village, culminating in a series of burglaries and break-ins at a number of business addresses last Friday evening (17 January).

The main concerns expressed by residents last night were focused on the perceived failure of the police to respond to calls for assistance during the burglary spree on Friday evening despite initial phone calls to the police office from around 9pm and continuing until the first reported response at 1am the next day. Frustrations were exacerbated by a failure of the police to communicate effectively with the community afterwards.

Residents fully understand the impact of the separate factors that combine and contribute to the problems we face as a community, not least the drastic reduction in police numbers coupled with deep cuts to local authority, probation service and criminal justice system budgets during the past ten years of government austerity. However we feel that there are measures that the police could consider to improve crime reduction initiatives and community safety in our neighbourhoods. These include a sharper focus on local priorities, an increased and visible police presence on the streets and improved communication between the police and the community.

While PACT meetings tend to be used as a lighting rod for residents to air their frustrations most invariably come away without any real sense of achievement or reassurance from the police that things will improve. There is no intended criticism of the PCs and PCSOs who attend the PACT meetings and deal with residents’ concerns to the best of their abilities, often under tense conditions. We also acknowledge that the frustrations of the public are shared by the police officers themselves who are limited in their ability to influence operational policing matters in our communities.

In order to address these concerns I would be grateful if you would agree to attend the next scheduled PACT meeting to discuss first-hand with residents and businesses the methods the police might adopt to tackle rising crime, provide reassurance to our residents and effect real change in our communities.

I have copied into this email the office of the Durham Police Crime and Victims Commissioner and the Safe Durham Partnership (as the Community Safety Partnership for Durham) for information and comment. The invitation to attend the Blackhall PACT meeting as requested above is extended to both organisations.

I look forward to your response.

Regards,

Rob.

Cllr Rob Crute

Blackhall Division

Durham County Council

Housing Issues: Selective Licensing Scheme Progress

Following the meticulous and time-consuming process of collating all the required data and building up a strong evidence base Durham County Council's cabinet agreed on Wednesday to progress the council's Selective Licensing Scheme to the public consultation stage with the intention of establishing the scheme in full later this year, subject to approval by the Secretary of State. 

This is the housing initiative I called for at a PACT meeting in Blackhall Colliery some time ago following a number of anti-social behaviour issues in the village, many of which were linked to properties in the private-rented housing sector.

For the background to this scheme, and details of how it is expected to have a positive impact on private sector housing related issues in Blackhall and other areas, please see posts dated Thursday 11 October 2018, Thursday 21 March 2019, Friday 17 May 2019 and Wednesday 25 September 2019 elsewhere on this site.

A summary of the Selective Licensing Scheme can be found in a DCC press release in the link below:

awb://www.durham.gov.uk/article/22560/Improving-the-private-rented-sector-for-the-benefit-of-all

The full cabinet report and associated appendices can be found in the links below:

Selective Licensing Scheme - Report of Corporate Director of Regeneration and Local Services [Key Decision: REAL/05/19] 

4 Selective Licensing Evidence 2 Report
, item 4.
4 Selective Licensing Evidence 3 Appendix A - The data
, item 4.
4 Selective Licensing Evidence 4 Appendix B - Schedule 4
, item 4.
4 Selective Licensing 5 EIA

We will continue to update on progress with this scheme at each stage until its full implementation later this year. In the meantime please let the council know what you think about it by taking part in the statutory public consultation exercise which is scheduled to begin later this month.
, item 4.

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Solar Farm Planning Application Submitted

Following a public consultation event held last month at Hesleden WMC a planning application by Lightsource BP for a solar farm at Hulam has now been submitted to Durham County Council (please see post dated Sunday 24 November 2019 for background details).

The full planning application, including associated documents and details of how to make your representations, can be found in the link below:

Installation of ground mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generation system (Solar Farm), associated infrastructure and the creation of an electricity substation (132kV) - Hulam Farm Hutton Henry Hartlepool TS27 4SA

Parking issues in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery

A number of comments and complaints have been made to us recently about dangerous and inconsiderate parking outside the shops in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery.

As most of you will already be aware we have raised this issue with the police and traffic officers at the council many times over the years (posts dated Monday 9 April 2018, Friday 19 February 2016 and Wednesday 18 January 2012 are the most relevant to this particular topic).

In addition we invited traffic officers to the village just over a year ago to see for themselves at the problems faced daily by pedestrians in Middle Street. We also asked for a number of options to be considered which might at least mitigate the risks posed by careless motorists parking in places that they know present a danger to people using facilities in Middle Street. 

This is the response we received at the time from the highways engineer:

Following the site meeting to Middle Street and previous draft scheme for bollards at the shops, I can provide the following information.

The issue being considered was one of vehicles pulling up outside the Post Office and either mounting the footway or the front of the vehicle turning across the footway and, in the process, making pedestrians feel vulnerable or, having difficulty getting past the parked vehicles (due to them being parked partly on the footway thus narrowing it).

There was an initial request for a scheme to provide bollards which was drafted to enable further consideration to be made in relation to the impact on the businesses and pedestrians, along with consideration of available funding.  Following discussions it was necessary to examine this draft scheme and other options on-site.  There are a number of issues/options/suggestions arising from this meeting which are discussed below:

1               Bollards: When installing bollards it is standard practice to set them back from the kerb line – the typical set-back is 0.5m between the kerb and the bollard with the bollards being about 150mm in diameter.  This is to account for the overhang of vehicles as they turn and pull-up next to the kerb.  Not doing this results in regular damage to the bollards and footway around the bollard which can also create a hazard for pedestrians when the bollard is initially knocked or it being displaced. Due to the bollards being set-back this has the effect of narrowing the footway, albeit over short distances, but this can create an issue for those who use wheelchairs, pushchairs or motorised buggies.  As there would be a line of bollards, the footway would effectively be reduced to about 1.2metres (or 4 feet).  In addition, during busy periods of pedestrian usage, the footway can become difficult for pedestrians to negotiate and they are forced to move onto the road, which as the Coast Road is a busy road, is a less than desirable situation. Additionally, moving vehicles further out into the road at a location where there is a bus stop on the opposite side of the road will lead to the road effectively being blocked while a bus is stopped.

2               Raising the Kerb: Raising the kerb would provide a deterrent for motorists to mount the footway.  This is a feasible option however, it would require the footway to be re-profiled such that it is lifted to the new height of the kerb.  As the rear of the footway is at a fixed level due to the shop fronts and the damp proof layers in the buildings, the re-profiling would introduce a back-fall slope towards the properties.  (At present the footway falls from the properties to the road channel and therefore water is shed towards the road).  The introduction of a back-fall towards the properties would require the introduction of new drainage channels and gullies along the property line and additional damp-proof layers between the footway and properties.  This would also introduce a maintenance issue with regard to cleaning of the channels and gullies.  This would be an extremely costly option and significantly beyond the funding which could be made available.

3               Raising the Kerb: Raising the kerb but not re-profiling the footway.  Such an arrangement would require a back-to-back kerb to ensure that there is sufficient strength in the kerb to resist impact from vehicle wheels, especially as some of these vehicles will be HGVs servicing the businesses.  There are a number of issues with this suggestion which would rule it out. First, this option would still require the provision of drainage channels and gullies just behind the kerb line to take the water shed onto the footway. Secondly, the raised kerb would create a trip hazard for pedestrians wishing to cross the road, which is not typically expected or found on footways.  The trip hazard could potentially make a pedestrian fall into the live carriageway. Thirdly, it creates a barrier for those who use wheelchairs, pushchairs and motorised scooters as they will be unable to cross along the length of raised kerb. Fourthly, if a vehicle (car) were to turn in to the location and drive over the kerb, it could become stranded by the double kerb (one wheel on the road, one on the path) and have difficulty getting back over the kerb.  Some vehicles may ground out over the kerb and become stuck.

4               Warning Signs: Consideration was given to the provision of signs advising motorists of the issues caused by their actions when parking in this area.  There are a number of considerations regarding this suggestion. First, a motorist would not be able to read the warning sign before mounting the footway or turning across it.  However, it is acknowledged that the driver may read the sign and perhaps not repeat offend. Secondly, the signs would be purely advisory and have no legal stature or enforceability. Thirdly, there is already signage in place in the form of “double yellow lines” and “hatched white lines” to advise and restrict motorists from parking in this location.  These marking are enforceable and contravention of the restriction comes with a fine. Fourthly, motorists are ignoring the existing signage (enforceable road markings) and therefore additional signage is likely to be completely ignored.

5               Enforcement: Whilst requests for enforcement action have previously been requested and carried out, due to the lack of realistic alternative, further requests for enforcement will be made. I hope the above covers our discussions and the issues raised.

Following the comments we've received recently we have asked for an increased presence of traffic enforcement officers at this location in the hope of preventing further dangers posed by inconsiderate motorists.

Finally, if you are visiting Blackhall please note that there is sufficient off-street parking in the village, along with dedicated parking facilities behind the pit wheel on Middle Street and also at Blackhall Community Centre car park just a short walk away on Hesleden Road.

**UPDATE: WEDNESDAY 8 JANUARY**

In response to my request for an increased presence of traffic enforcement officers I have now received confirmation from the Parking Services team that officers will target the area over the next few weeks with the intention of deterring motorists from parking in restricted areas, particularly in the main shopping area.

Naturally no one wants to see motorists fined, but the safety of people shopping and using other facilities in our village is paramount so let's hope this incentive has its intended impact.