Police response to traffic incident on B1281

I was contacted last night by a resident reporting an accident on the B1281 at its junction with Belchford.

At the first opportunity this morning I raised the resident's concerns with the traffic section at the local authority and also with the traffic management office at Durham constabulary. Specifically I requested details of any accident at this location yesterday and also asked for comments on what the authorities believe would be effective in mitigating the risk of further accidents.

I've received a response today from the police and I'll update on progress as soon as I have further details from the local authority:

Hi Rob,

We did not receive a report of any collision from the driver or member of the public but one of our officers came across the scene and it was logged as an incident at 20:57 on 28/06/23 (DHM-28062023-0478) as a single vehicle damage only collision. It appears a public footpath sign was damaged and this was reported by us to DCC. The vehicle was well off the road so recovery is being arranged for today. We have no more details as this is a damage only and will not be recorded on the collision records.

I have reviewed our recorded collision records on the CRASH system from 01/01/19 to present from a point just west of Hardwicke Hall to a point just east of Belchford and have provided an overview below of the 6 collisions recorded: 

Wednesday 07/12/22 – 09:15 hrs – Slight Injury

B1281 just west of junction with Belchford

Vehicle 1 (Car) has been travelling eastbound on B1281 from Castle Eden toward Blackhall Colliery and has performed an overtake on 2 vehicles travelling in same direction. On attempting to complete the overtake Vehicle 1 has performed a sudden movement to complete the overtake to prevent going head on with Vehicle 2 (transit van) travelling in opposite direction and has lost control of vehicle hitting roadside furniture before the front offside of Vehicle 2 and coming to a stop.

At the time of the collision the weather was fine, roads were wet/damp and it was daylight.

Main causation factors cited on part of driver of Vehicle 1 as – exceeding speed limit/ aggressive driving/ careless, reckless, in a hurry/ slippery road due to weather.

Tuesday 07/12/21 – 16:45 hrs – Damage Only

B1281 just east of junction with Belchford

Vehicle 1 (Car) has been travelling on B1281 when dog ran out of wooded area straight into front of Vehicle 1. Vehicle 1 hit the dog on the passengers side. Vehicle 1 stopped and the dog got up and ran off.

At the time of the collision the weather was fine and roads were dry.

Wednesday 16/06/21 – 08:25 hrs – Serious Injury

B1281 just east of junction with Belchford

Vehicle 1 (Moped) travelling west on B1281 and collides with a deer. Rider thrown from moped and injured.

At the time of the collision the weather was fine, roads were dry and it was daylight.

Main causation factors cited as – animal in carriageway.

Tuesday 29/12/20 – 08:00 hrs – Damage Only

B1281 just west of Hardwicke Hall junction

Unknown Vehicle 1 (Car) has overtaken Vehicle 2 (car) at speed and collided with Vehicle 2 in the process – Vehicle 1 failed to stop.

At the time of the collision the weather was fine and roads were covered in snow.

Saturday 05/10/19 – 21:45 hrs – Slight Injury

B1281 just east of junction with Belchford

Pedestrian walking eastbound on the north side of carriageway near to grass verge with back to traffic and wearing dark clothing. No street lights present. Vehicle 1 (van) travelling east. Driver V1 states initially had main beam activated, but there has been an unknown oncoming vehicle and because of this has changed to dipped beam. Vehicle 1 then saw at the very last second something blue in carriageway to nearside and heard a bang. Vehicle 1 come to stop further along road where it is illuminated. The nearside door mirror had collided with shoulder of pedestrian knocking him into grass verge.

At the time of the collision the weather was fine, roads were dry and it was dark.

Main causation factors cited as – pedestrian impaired by alcohol, wearing dark clothing at night, failed to judge vehicles path-speed – driver road layout, too close to pedestrian.

Wednesday 03/04/19 – 21:02 hrs – Serious Injury

B1281 just west of Hardwicke Hall junction

Vehicle 1 (car) travelling west on B1281 when vehicle lost control and left carriageway to nearside and collided with a tree causing injury to all occupants.

At the time of the collision the weather was raining, roads were wet/damp and it was dark.

Main causation factors cited as – slippery road due to weather/ tyres illegal, defective or under-inflated/ travelling too fast for conditions/ loss of control/ stolen vehicle.

In addition to the reviewing the recorded collision records I have also taken a look at our incident logs for the period 01/01/22 to present day to ascertain if there is anything in addition to that recorded on our CRASH system and the incident on 28/06/23 and would advise we have 2 other incidents reported as:

26/02/23 – 00:18 – Damage Only (DHM-26022023-0010)

Single vehicle – Car v Tree – vehicle off road

No further details of note.

05/02/23 – 23:39 – Damage Only (DHM-05022023-0480)

Single vehicle loss of control vehicle on side.

No further details of note.

While we of course wish for no collisions to occur at all looking at the causations there is not really anything we can do about the type of collisions involving animals.

So of the 6 recorded on our CRASH system this reduces to 4 for consideration.

Then I would suggest there is little that can be done engineering wise in relation to the one involving a defective and stolen vehicle and the one involving pedestrian under the influence walking in the carriageway in dark clothing where there was a footpath on the other side of the road that could have been used.

Of the remaining 2 involving overtaking at speed while a request to DCC for an assessment of if solid continuous white lines could be implemented through the bends to discourage overtaking manoeuvres could be made, there is no guarantee that this will positively impact on those who choose to deliberately drive in an anti-social manner?

Perhaps DCC could be requested to review the centre hazard marking, edge of carriageway marking, SLOW markings, yellow backed bend warning signs, horse warning signs, Chevron signs and hazard marker posts through the area to ensure they are still clearly visible and fit for purpose as they can get covered by foliage from the hedges at this location and this time of year and the signs can suffer from turning green due to the tree canopy?

Happy to participate in and discussions on this.

Regards

In addition to the correspondence above I have also written to the authorities setting out my own concerns about the dangerous condition of this particular stretch of highway:

Good afternoon,

I was contacted last night by a resident reporting another accident yesterday evening on the B1281 on the edge of Blackhall Colliery.

I've received an initial response from the traffic management office at Durham constabulary which suggests that overgrowth (trees and bushes), lack of line markings in the road and damaged road signage may have been contributory factors.

It was also noted in the police response that several accidents have happened recently at this location during the hours of darkness. It is noted that the stretch of road in question is in complete darkness despite several requests over the years for streetlighting to be installed (please see location plan attached).

I have also attached an image of the severely damaged footpath at this location. I would be grateful if you could record these issues for the attention of the relevant departments at DCC.

Regards,

Highway repairs at Park Avenue

Back in April I requested highway repairs to be carried out in Park Avenue in Blackhall Colliery. This followed complaints by a resident that the road surface was in a poor state of disrepair, with several potholes in the street.

Two months and five follow-up queries later I’ve just received an explanation this afternoon for the delays:

Good afternoon Cllr Crute

After investigating I can only apologize as the operational staff have carried repairs in the wrong street to your request. We have been to site and checked this to which your works are still outstanding but have been issued for repair and will be complete within 48 hrs.

I appreciate this is not what would have wanted but we will rectify the situation urgently.

Apologies again,

***

Although mistakes can happen I’m astounded that repairs can be carried out in the wrong street, even though the exact street was identified in my initial report to the council. To make matters worse it’s taken the highways department two whole months to find out what had gone wrong! 

Clearly things aren’t working as they should be under the control of the coalition running the council these days.

However, we are where we are. Repairs are scheduled to be carried out later this week and I’ll be following this up with a formal request that internal communications within the authority are tightened up in future. It’s not acceptable that residents have had to wait so long for simple repairs to be carried out.

Request for safety measures at Castle Eden/Wellfield accident black spot

Following an accident on the Castle Eden/Wellfield A19 interchange last month I wrote to the police traffic management office at Durham Constabulary to ask for their comments. I did likewise with the highways and traffic control team at county hall.

Full background details can be found in the article and additional links I published on this site immediately after the accident: 

https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/a181a19-wellfield-interchange-at-castle.html

Although I’ve yet to get a response from the county council’s highways team I have received comments and a full explanation of the accident from the police. I’ve reproduced the police comments below in full:

Hi Rob,

Apologies for the delayed response to your e-mail requesting information.

I would confirm that an injury collision occurred at 16:32 hours on Monday 22^nd May, 2023 on the A181 at its juncture with B1281 (near A19(T) southbound off slip).

It appears Vehicle 1 (Car) has exited the A19 southbound off slip filtering left toward Castle Eden and then performed a u-turn to go to Wingate. Vehicle 1 has failed to see Vehicle 2(car) travelling on A81 toward Castle Eden and collided with the nearside of Vehicle 2 causing damage and injury.

At the time of the collision the road surface was dry, the light conditions were daylights and the weather was fine.

The causation factors recorded were disobeying double white lines, failure to look properly and careless, reckless, in a hurry.

For information the road markings at this location are in a poor condition so a request has been made to DCC for them to be re-covered to ensure they are highly visible to drivers.

Regards

It’s clear from the comments I’ve received that the police have identified yet another case of careless, dangerous and/or reckless driving as the cause of the accident last month. This will come as no surprise of course to residents who have reported near-misses here and at other locations in the Blackhall ward. These are incidents caused in almost every case by wilfully dangerous driving practices or by drivers failing to take account of prevailing conditions.

As regular readers will be aware from previous articles on these pages I believe it’s simply common sense to install safety measures to eliminate or at least reduce the risk of accidents - especially when the authorities have received warnings of a potential risk to public safety. So in response to the comments received from the police, and in light of an additional incident since then, I’ve asked again if they would support a scheme to install safety measures to physically prevent drivers from crossing over the lines into the adjacent lane. I’ve also put the same suggestion to the council’s traffic and highways teams.

I’ll update on progress as soon as I have a response from the council’s highways team and the police traffic management office. In the meantime I’ve reproduced my comments and suggested solutions below, alongside an image of the safety measures I’ve asked to be installed on the A19 interchange at Wellfield:

Good morning ******,

Thanks for your comments on the accident at Castle Eden/Wellfield last month. You may be aware there have been reports locally of additional incidents and near misses at this location since then, caused largely by the careless actions of drivers as you've described.

I'm still waiting for an acknowledgement and response from the highways team at DCC. However I've raised these matters at Director level and would expect to receive their comments soon.

In the meantime could you let me know please if the police would support the measures installed elsewhere in the county to physically prevent vehicles crossing road markings. I note they've been installed with good effect at the Sheraton interchange further down the A19, and are apparently effective in separating vehicles from bicycle lanes in Framwellgate Moor and Pity Me (please see image attached). 

I'm sure they would be equally effective in preventing further accidents at the Castle Eden/Wellfield interchange but your comments, and those of the highways team at DCC, would be welcome.

Regards,

Cllr Rob Crute (Blackhall Division)

Deputy Leader of the Labour Group

Durham County Council 

 UPDATE (Thursday 29 June):

I’ve received a response from the traffic management office at Durham police regarding my request for safety measures to be installed to prevent further accidents at this location. I’ve reproduced the response below in full:

Hi Rob,

 

With regard to your question around if the police would support the measures installed elsewhere……. I would advise that in principle the Police would support most measures DCC propose as appropriate and legal in the highway which has a potential for a positive impact on road safety. Obviously we would need to review any designs before giving full commitment.

 

However, in this specific case I am not convinced that this is the answer in isolation.

 

First you will be aware from previous liaison with DCC that due to the road width it was deemed not possible to extend the island and introduced bollards (like Sheraton) without widening the slip which would entail land outside of DCC ownership. If there is a change and this could be done then that would be great. However, consideration also needs to be given to the fact that the extended island and bollards would still need to cease with sufficient space to allow a vehicle to join the main road from the slip road and there would then be nothing to stop a vehicle from u-turning wherever the extended island/bollards cease.

 

The difference with Sheraton is that there is a long island in the centre of the main road with bollards as well which means that where the extended island and bollards cease along the slip road it then has the central road island in place to physically prevent a u-turn at the end of the slip road. 

There appears to be insufficient road space at Castle Eden to facilitate this extra central island. So in effect this may not be the solution required.

 

Even if the u-turning stops here due to an elongated island/ bollards, you need to bear in mind that it will potentially exacerbate the residents complaints as even more vehicles will likely be displaced into Burdon Walk and the bus turning circle further into Castle Eden to turn around as the alternative to waiting in the queue on the A19(T) southbound off-slip.

 

While I appreciate that this will no doubt be seen as negative response, I would advise that nobody would be more delighted than me to have this longstanding concern area resolved but, in doing so, wider considerations must be deliberated including aspects as briefly mentioned above.

Repairs to the steps at Crimdon beach

Last month a visitor to our coast contacted me to report that the steps approaching the beach at Crimdon had been damaged and were in a dangerous condition. 

I raised those concerns with the countryside team who confirmed that repairs would be carried out as soon as possible. Full details can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/repairs-to-damaged-steps-at-crimdon-in.html

I’m pleased to report that the countryside team contacted me earlier this week to let me know that repairs to the access steps had now been completed.

A beginner’s guide to tackling housing blight in East Durham

I noticed a comment on Facebook the other day from a local Reform UK member who appears to think that the local housing issues they’ve come across recently have just appeared out of thin air over the past few weeks. This is their comment in full:

'Watching BBC Look North tonight was an eye opener, seeing press out in Easington, the village that was filled with false promises for decades, and has been left to wreck and ruin.

'As you know, I held my first Reform UK meeting at Easington Social Welfare Centre, in which constituents stated they feel forgotten about.

'The local [Easington] councillor was out and about repeating what I was saying about the empty houses, and the MP was speaking about getting the coal from under their feet, the complete opposite of what his party leader is saying.

'Why is this only being spoke about now I wonder?'

The facts tell a very different story of course. Just about everyone who’s taken an active interest in our communities over the years will know that we’ve been out on the streets dealing with housing-related issues for some time, almost always working against significant odds, so I felt I had to respond to those comments, if only to let the newcomers from Reform UK know that the issues they think are ‘just being spoken about now’ have actually been the focus of intense debate and local activity for a hell of a lot longer than they realise. 

I’ve posted my response below in full, along with a link to all the relevant background information:

Anyone with even a passing interest in our communities will know that housing issues have been 'spoken about' for quite some time, not just the past week and a half. 

 

A few years ago, in response to residents' concerns about problems caused in the main by some absent landlords in the private-rented sector, we set out to establish a selective licensing scheme to bring some much-needed regulation to the sector and hold irresponsible landlords to account for the condition of their properties. 

 

Almost immediately it became obvious that the government was determined to make it as difficult as they could, putting obstacles in the way and forcing us to jump through hoops to get something off the ground. This dragged the whole process on for much longer than it should have done, but we persisted and eventually got a scheme established over a year ago. 

 

Unfortunately since then the coalition controlling the council has dragged its heels over fully implementing the licensing scheme. Their complacency, and in some cases outright resistance, is failing our residents, our private sector tenants and our communities as a whole. Furthermore, it undermines the good work and goodwill of the overwhelming majority of caring, responsible local landlords who react immediately when local concerns are raised. 

 

It's obvious that we need a fully enforced licensing scheme to regulate the sector and rid our communities of the blight created by a handful of irresponsible private landlords, many of whom live in places far removed from our towns and villages and who couldn't care less about the disruption caused by some of their tenants and the poor condition of their properties. Unfortunately that won't happen until everyone starts pulling in the same direction. 

 

I’ve included full background details here in an article published earlier this week: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/06/ongoing-private-sector-housing-issues.html

Ongoing private sector housing issues in East Durham

Tomorrow morning the county council’s cabinet will meet to discuss a range of issues, including on this occasion a performance management report which tracks the council’s progress against certain targets in the Council Plan, the Council Vision to 2035 and other strategic documents. 

One of these aims relates to the number of properties across the county that have been signed up to the council’s Selective Licensing Scheme, established over a year ago to tackle issues relating to private-rented housing, with many properties in that sector abandoned and having a hugely negative impact on our streets and wider communities.

Full details on selective licensing for private sector housing and the impact it can have in bringing private properties back to a decent standard can be found here in a post dated Tuesday 7 December 2021: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-selective-licensing-scheme-for-county.html

Going through the performance management report on tomorrow’s cabinet agenda I was quite alarmed to note that only just over a quarter (28%) of all eligible properties have been signed up to the licensing scheme. Given that the programme is time-limited to 5 years there won’t be anywhere near sufficient time at this rate to register all the properties before it’s due for review and (potential) extension by government in 2027. And in the meantime the intended impact of selective licensing as a lever to improve the condition of private-rented sector properties in our towns and villages will not be able to take full effect.

As regular readers of these pages will know private sector housing and the impact empty and abandoned properties can have on our communities has been a continuing theme of the work we do in the community day in, day out. Clearly we can only be successful in tackling these issues if everyone pulls in the same direction. Unfortunately it looks as though some are dragging their heels instead.

For brief background information on private sector housing, selective licensing and other housing related issues please see posts from:

Monday 15 June 2020: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/06/community-action-team-and-private.html

Thursday 25 June 2020: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/06/housing-issues-in-blackhall-colliery.html and

Tuesday 7 December 2021: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-selective-licensing-scheme-for-county.html

Scrutiny committee members will be following up on the figures reported in tomorrow’s cabinet report when it’s referred to the council’s overview and scrutiny committee this coming Friday morning. 

Many of us have been fighting for years to bring order and regulation to private sector housing, particularly in the rented sector, and are not at all impressed with the glacial approach of the current Tory/Lib Dem cabinet to selective licensing and related housing issues across the county. 

We spent years talking to residents, reporting housing problems and setting the scene for selective licensing to work  - so don’t be surprised if there are demands for more stringent action to be taken by cabinet members to tackle the blight of poor housing conditions in the towns and villages of County Durham!

Damaged fences at Crimdon

I was contacted by a number of people over the weekend reporting damage to one or two of the fences at Crimdon. I’ve raised this matter with the countryside team at county hall this morning and they have confirmed that the fencing will be repaired as soon as possible.

In addition to the reports of damaged fencing I was also made aware yesterday afternoon of a number of parking issues in the area. Naturally it’s great to see people coming to Crimdon to enjoy the walks and the open spaces but parking has become something of an issue on a few occasions recently. However, when I’ve raised this issue with the authorities in the past there have been one or two problems about the right approach to take when dealing with over-parking.  

For example, for some time there’s been a degree of conflict between individual groups and individuals about how Crimdon should be developed. Some want to bring more visitors to the coast - mainly for economic reasons, while others argue that ecologically sensitive locations should be protected. I think that both viewpoints are reasonable so neither of them should be disregarded.

For my part I think we need to develop Crimdon in a way that brings much-needed visitor money to the area. Tourism creates jobs and boosts the local economy, not just at Crimdon but in other towns and villages nearby, so I think the council and its partner organisations should be doing all they can to attract people to the area. As mentioned earlier I accept there’s a level of disagreement between the two separate camps, but surely there's a way to strike the right balance between the two conflicting opinions. 

For instance we had some success in bringing the new Dunes cafeteria and visitor centre to the front at Crimdon a couple of years ago. Since it opened the centre has proved very popular with visitors. However there were initial concerns about the impact the building might have on a protected nature reserve close by, so the plans were modified and the building was relocated slightly to protect the grassland and protected site nearby. To me this demonstrates that with the right approach Crimdon can be fully developed for everyone's benefit. 

Full background details about recent environmental works at Crimdon can be found in an article I published on these pages last year: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/05/i-recently-received-update-from-design.html

Stacey and I will take these latest reported issues up with the council and its partners this week and see what can be done to address the issues set out above. I'll update as soon as we have a full response, but in the meantime if you have any issues you would like to raise with us please get in touch at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk or stacey.deinali@durham.gov.uk

Concerns over unacceptable delays to highways repairs in the Blackhall area

Following persistent delays in highways and footpath repair works in several settlements across the county I’ve written to the head of highways services at county hall this afternoon to ask for an explanation for the disruption, especially in relation to the villages in the Blackhall area.

Specifically I’ve identified several examples in the villages of the Blackhall ward alone, where residents have been advised that repairs would be carried out within days, yet weeks later the roads and pavements are left in a state of disrepair.

I’ve reproduced my letter below in full. I’ll update on progress as soon as I have a satisfactory response from the service head:

Good afternoon ****,

 

I write to express my concern about persistent delays to highway repair requests and the associated difficulty in receiving updates from the highways section. There are several highway and footpath repairs waiting to be carried out in my ward (Blackhall) despite assurances that they would be carried out within 14 days of the initial report. These repairs include:

 

• Potholes in the road and damaged pavements adjacent to the A181 at Castle Eden - reported on 18 April (14 day response time)
• Damaged highway surface at Hesleden Road, Blackhall Colliery - reported on 16 May (14 day response time) and
• Potholes in the road at Park Avenue, Blackhall Colliery – reported on 27 April (14 day response time). Along with the members’ support office I’ve requested updates on 3 separate occasions (12 May, 16 May & 1 June) and to date there has been no response from the service
• Footpath at Station Road, Blackhall Rocks – reported in 2020
• Footpath at The Elms, High Hesleden – reported in 2018 but still in a dreadful state because of an error by the service in identifying the correct location

 

There are other examples too, but these are the worst affected at the moment

 

From a local member’s perspective I find it unacceptable that residents in my ward cannot have timely repairs carried out, nor am I able to receive updates on progress on their behalf. I would be grateful if you could follow up with the queries outlined above and update on progress, with a commitment that repairs will be carried out within the defined timescales. 

I’m sure you’ll understand my and residents’ frustrations when they’re waiting weeks for fairly minor repairs to be carried after they’ve been told by the service that repairs would be completed within days.

 

Regards,

 

Rob.

 

Cllr Rob Crute (Blackhall Division)

Deputy Leader of the Labour Group

Durham County Council

Preventing accidents on our public footpaths and open spaces

I posted an article recently about the potential to install restrictive measures at the Black Path to prevent illegal access to the public footpath. The article followed concerns expressed by residents that off-road bikes were riding along the footpath and putting people at risk. 

When these incidents were first reported people made it clear that they were not prepared to wait until an accident happened before something was done about the dangers posed to people using the footpath. 

After the article was published the authorities confirmed that they would consider installing suitable preventative measures to restrict access to the Black Path. Since then I’ve been asked for more details about the type of physical restrictions that could be put in place.

Although the authorities will decide on a way forward I thought it might be helpful to look at similar restrictions that were installed at Chicken’s Green a couple of years ago following concerns expressed by residents that there was ‘an accident waiting to happen’ on the public footpath across the green between Dene Road and Corry Close. As a result anti-bike gates were installed at either side of the path to prevent illegal access. In addition, boulders were placed in the gap between the fencing at the bottom of Corry Close to stop vehicles coming onto the green from the East Street side.

By carrying out those measures the public footpath has been kept secure against trespass and has to date ensured the safety of people in and around the public footpath and open space at Chicken’s Green. All in all this stands as a proven example that with just a little bit of imagination and forethought accidents can be prevented before they happen.

Full details can be found in the link below published on these pages shortly after the safety measures were installed:

https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/02/reporting-bikes-and-off-road-vehicles.html

Illegal access to public footpaths and open spaces

Earlier this month I raised concerns on behalf of residents about illegal access to a popular and well-used public right of way along the Haswell to Hart walkway. This follows a previous complaint in a similar vein about off-road bikes and quads riding along the Black Path between Blackhall Colliery and High Hesleden.

It goes without saying that people are entitled to feel safe when using our public footpaths and open spaces wherever they are so I raised this as a matter of concern at a recent PACT (Police & Communities Together) meeting.

Please see full background details to the Black Path query here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/04/issues-from-pact-meeting-for-april.html 

and the Haswell to Hart Walkway query here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/illegal-access-on-public-footpaths-and.html

Since then I've received an update from the countryside team confirming that they're considering all options to prevent illegal access to the Haswell to Hart walkway:

Firstly I would like to say thank you for your message. We are aware that the current situation with the motorbikes and quad bikes is at a all time high, we are having issues across the full County.

Please rest assured that we are trying our best to combat the situation working with various teams including the police.

We are currently coming up with the most suitable and effective way to deal with the issues, so we can try combat the situation.

As the Railway Lines are multi user routes this is becoming quite the challenge as we have to allow access to bikes, horses and pedestrians whilst looking at ways  to stop quads and motorbikes accessing the line.

I can only apologise for your recent encounters, as we aim to move forward and combat the situation.

I would like to ask and encourage you to call 101 each time you come across the issue, I appreciate this can be onerous however it really helps create a hot spot, leading to more patrols of the area.

Residents contact me quite regularly to express their concerns about vehicles driving along public footpaths and trespassing on public rights of way. In every case they insist they are not prepared to wait until an accident happens before something is done to end these illegal and dangerous practices. In response I've assured them that I'll do whatever I can to get the authorities to address their concerns and keep our public open spaces and footpaths safe.

After all, public footpaths and open spaces are there for everyone. And everyone should be able to feel safe when out and about - whether that's in the heart of our villages or the coastal and countryside settings surrounding them.

I'll update on progress as soon as I have any additional information from the authorities, but in the meantime please get in touch with me if you have any concerns or any comments about this issue: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk 

Monthly Update for May

May was another busy month in our part of County Durham. In case you missed them the first time around I’ve reproduced below just a few the issues I’ve been working on over the past few weeks in county hall and in the community. 

If you have any comments or queries about these or any other issues affecting our patch please feel free to get in touch with me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

1. Proposed changes to County Council Ward Boundaries: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/proposed-local-government-boundary.html

2. Illegal access to Public Rights of Way and Public Footpaths: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/illegal-access-on-public-footpaths-and.html

3. Blackhall Community Walkabout: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/community-walkabout-in-blackhall.html

4. Crimdon Steps: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/repairs-to-damaged-steps-at-crimdon-in.html

5. The Seagull: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-seagull-at-crimdon.html

6. A19/Wellfield Interchange: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/a181a19-wellfield-interchange-at-castle.html

7. Reports of grass-cutting issues: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/countywide-grass-cutting-issues.html