Residents, parents and walkers have all raised concerns recently about motorbikes gaining access onto Chicken’s Green causing damage to the grassed area and presenting a risk to children playing on the field and in the play area nearby. In addition there have been complaints from residents about the wooden fence at the bottom of Corry Close which is frequently damaged, unsightly and costly to repair.
To look at ways of addressing residents’ concerns I attended a site meeting yesterday morning with officers from the community action team (CAT), the council’s clean and green team and the East Durham Area Action Partnership (AAP).
In advance of the visit community action team officers had carried out a survey of residents nearby to seek their views on separate proposals to address the concerns reported above. The overall intention of the proposed options is to prevent trespass by motorbikes while leaving access open to walkers.
As the residents responding to the survey were unanimously in favour of the option to remove the damaged fence at the bottom of Corry Close and replace it with boulders we have proposed to proceed with Option A which is to:
- remove the fencing and replace it with boulders leaving a gap sufficiently wide for walkers to gain access. An anti-bike gate will also be installed at this location
- In addition, we propose to install two gates and a post at the entrance points to Chicken’s Green from Dene Road and Corry Close to prevent bikes gaining access to the grassed and play areas
It has also been agreed to install an extra dog bin by the boulders at the corner of East Street and First Street and move the current dog bin further along East Street. We also looked at the ‘den’ area by the railway track and we have proposed to clear some of the trees to make the area safer and more visible to wardens and police. All trees removed will be replaced elsewhere.
I’ll update on developments with these schemes as soon as I receive notification that works are scheduled to begin.
