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
