I've been contacted recently by a resident reporting concerns about the impact off-road bikes and quads are having on the countryside and on our open public spaces, and specifically at Crimdon Dene and the nearby beach.
Regular followers of the these pages will know that this is an issue affecting many areas across the county - including a few on our patch - and whilst it proves difficult for the authorities to address some of those incidents on a larger scale we have been successful in restricting access in some locations through the use of target-hardening measures which physically prevent vehicles from trespassing onto open spaces. Please see article dated Thursday 28 January 2021 for details of one example at Chicken’s Green in Blackhall Colliery: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/01/first-phase-of-safety-measures-at.html
I have forwarded details of the latest reported concerns to the police and officers at the Durham Heritage Coast who are currently working to address similar issues along the East Durham coastline - including at Crimdon. I received the following response by return:
Good morning Cllr Crute
Thank you for sharing your report and your question
on possible measures.
This is a long running issue across the country as well
as the county. For the Heritage Coast we have drawn together a Task Group of
land owners and managers, the police and the appropriate County Council
services as a means of sharing experience, expertise and coordinating and
collaborating on measures to address environmental crime including illegal
bikes and quads. This group has spent over £30,000 in the current year on target
hardening along the coast. The group has fed into the county wide Safer Durham
Partnership plan on illegal bikes and took part in the recent Public
Accountability meeting held by Durham's
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). The PCC's office produced a useful and
informative recording of the event that is available through this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aifEgm_3uOY.
Addressing the issues at Crimdon, I am aware of the ease
of access to the dene for quads and bikes; this has to be balanced with the
needs of young families and disabled users. Access is also available along the
shore from the north and south. We have a site meeting arranged between the
various council services for later in the month to look at a number of
improvements around the site and will specifically look at target hardening and
the use of A-frame anti-bike gates at both entrances to the dene. I will report
back on the actions agreed. It is also worth noting that the Crimdon
Dunes facility also has comprehensive CCTV coverage that will assist in
identifying riders once it is operational.
Reporting incidents through 101 is the best route for
logging incidents and building the intelligence picture for the police. 999 can
also be used if there is danger to people or property happening. For
information there is also a long running Durham Constabulary initiative called
Operation Endurance that specifically addresses vehicle crime in Durham and
Darlington. I have sent on details of [this latest incident] to Operation
Endurance, a further incident on New Years Day in the dunes has also been
reported.
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in the Know is another way of keeping up to date with what is happening
locally and further afield.
