Earlier this week Stacey and I met on site with an officer from the council's regeneration department to revive a recently-stalled safety scheme designed to prevent illegal parking outside the shops on Middle Street, and also to ensure the safety of pedestrians and other users of the public footpath in that area.
By way of background, some time ago the coalition in control of Durham County Council decided to delay the council's Towns & Villages scheme - something beyond our control as local members, and something we resisted strongly. However, we've recently managed to get back on track with the safer parking initiative for Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery.
Although it began as a scheme to prevent illegal parking outside the shops it soon developed into a project designed specifically to prevent motorists driving onto the public footpath as they park. To be clear there have been several near-misses reported by shoppers and businesses alike, so it goes without saying that where there's a reported problem someone has to find a solution - especially when public safety is compromised.
We've now had a revised parking safety scheme drawn up which will soon be open to consultation with shop owners/businesses, and I’ve shared an image of it in advance.
As with any scheme of this nature general support will be needed to progress it to the next level. However, the bottom line must always be public safety, so this factor must be taken into consideration alongside the comments of shoppers and businesses on Middle Street.
I’ll update on progress following the consultation.