At the end of June this year I was contacted by a resident concerned about the impact of unregulated parking at some locations in Crimdon.
In response I contacted the traffic engineer at county hall to ask what measures could be introduced to mitigate the impact of parking, particularly in certain areas along the sea front. I was told at the time that the council intended to introduce a Traffic Regulation Order which would have the effect of limiting where people could, and could not, legally park in defined areas.
Following further concerns expressed recently I asked the traffic engineer for an update on progress, and I have received the following response by return:
Good morning Cllr,
We had initially started consultation on the proposed TRO for the car park however the Environment/Heritage Coast section(s) later flagged up concerns with planning conditions which were imposed as part of the development work for the café’s introduction. There were concerns these conditions restricted the capacity of the car park at the detriment of our initial proposals to which we have been locked in discussions since, in a bid to find a solution that satisfied all parties involved.
Recently we have revised the proposals which we now believe satisfy all concerns however we are awaiting confirmation and approval from the coastal team before we can progress further.
Unfortunately we still have all of the required consultation left to undertake before any measures can be introduced on-site, I’ve broken down these stages below for you as a guide to approximate timescales:
- Statutory Consultation with emergency services, transport service providers, elected members etc. – 3 weeks
- A ballot exercise with properties considered to be directly affected. (the café, the holiday park, pony world & the bungalows) – 3 weeks
- A formal advert where the proposals are advertised on-site, online and in the local press for the wider public to comment. – 3 weeks
Ideally we would like these consultations to run back to back over 9-weeks and whilst we have full control for the first two stages, there will inevitably be a slight delay for the third stage when our legal department take over to draft the order.
Best case scenario is that we don’t get any objections and we can then arrange for the physical work to be ordered (signs and road markings) which we would estimate at 4-6 weeks at which point the TRO would be sealed and enforcement could begin.
Worst case scenario is that we do receive objections which could delay a stage of consultation but in the event we also can’t then resolve an objection we would need to refer the TRO to our Highway’s Committee where the proposals and objections are considered before a panel of elected members. Committees for this type of Traffic Order run every 2 months with the next available dates schedules for February and April. If then approved we would still need to allow 4-6 weeks after that for the physical work.
White advisory ‘access protection/keep clear’ markings were introduced here as an immediate deterrent in strategic locations around the car park however it is clear these markings haven’t had the desired effect and are currently being abused by a number of vehicles at busy times.
We had planned to have the formal measures in place for the busy summer months however the unforeseen delays prevented us from meeting this timeframe.
Although we do hope these problems ease as we approach the end of the summer period, without the presence of formal restrictions our authority is limited and therefore we have advised the coastal team that, in the meantime, any obstruction issues should be reported to Durham Constabulary via their ‘101’ contact number who have the authority to enforce these offences without the presence of formal restrictions.
