Following concerns expressed recently on social media we also wanted to seek assurances from council officers on a number of maintenance and environmental issues relating to Crimdon Dene.
Last month we were contacted by residents and visitors concerned about access to the dene, along with a number of other issues relating to the condition and maintenance of the walkway through the dene and onto the beach. We are told that some of those issues relate to a legal agreement drawn up many years ago between a local business and the former district council. The complaints we received from residents recently were mainly about the generally poor condition of certain parts of the dene area and officers from the coastal team have assured us they are considering all options available in clarifying responsibilities for the general maintenance of those locations. At the same time we’ve asked them to look at a more effective way of maintaining the pathway and also improving the general appearance of some parts of the dene area.
To this end arrangements are now being made to bring together the council’s clean and green team, the countryside rangers and the coastal wardens to set out an action plan to tidy up and maintain these areas, and to begin this process we have been assured that sweepers will be deployed to tidy up the pathways through the dene area. We have also asked the council to consider installing replacement litter bins along the front, and in other key sites throughout Crimdon, to rectify the problem of a “vortex effect” in which the high winds draw litter up from the bins and scatter it all over the place. Officers are also seeking ways to improve the pedestrian entrances to Crimdon, both at the Seagull end and also further down the Coast Road at the entrance to Crimdon Dene from the A1086 opposite Evergreen Park.
In addition to the environmental schemes outlined above we are keen to see progress on the construction of the visitor centre, which will include toilets and a cafeteria, to be located at the top of the current row of parking bays along the front at Crimdon. We heard from the heritage coast manager that there had been a number of issues over the past year relating to a site investigation which identified a subterranean problem meaning that the visitor centre would now need different foundations to those in the original design. This meant that the original plans had to be modified to allow for lighter materials (for example the building will now consist of a timber frame) and a slightly reduced footprint relocated closer to the sea front. The findings from the site investigation also inflated the total cost of the scheme beyond the £1.35m that had already been secured.
However, those problems have now been overcome. The additional funding has been secured, the design has been amended and the plans for the building are almost ready to be submitted to the council’s planning office for consideration. The planning process will trigger a statutory period of public consultation during the summer, and all being well we have been told that works ought to begin on site in August this year.
Although fairly small in scale at this stage the building is constructed in a way which enables extensions to be added if necessary, and once in place we are hopeful that this coastal hub will become an anchor for further development in the near future. For example the council is working with other local authorities along the coast in a four-year project currently known as Seascape which will stretch from South Shields in the north to Teesside in the south. The Seascape project is intended to promote the culture and heritage of the North East coastal strip and will form the basis of an improved tourist attraction. We hope to have more details on this project as it develops.
In the meantime we are delighted to see things moving ahead at Crimdon, especially with the imminent construction of the visitor centre in the near future. We’re sure you’ll share our enthusiasm with this development and the prospect it holds for an increase in visitor numbers to our part of the coastal strip. We’ll continue to meet regularly with officers from the Durham Heritage Coast Partnership and we’ll keep you up to date with progress as and when we receive further information on these projects.
