Every month I'm invited by the parish council to come along to their Environment Committee meetings where we exchange ideas and information about environmental issues facing our communities.
The latest meeting took place in the Parish Office in Middle Street last night (Wednesday 13 March) and was followed immediately afterwards by the monthly PACT meeting for the Blackhall area. Some of the issues covered at the environment meeting and the PACT meeting included the following:
Dog fouling in Blackhall Colliery
Along with a number of comments made on social media about an increase in incidents of dog fouling recently, I was contacted separately by a number of residents yesterday telling me of their concerns about the condition of the footpaths in several locations, especially in the streets around Blackhall Primary School.
I’ve raised those concerns with the neighbourhood wardens who have confirmed they'll take whichever measures are necessary to tackle this problem.
Updates on highway and footpath resurfacing works
On the afternoon of the PACT meeting residents from Dene View in High Hesleden contacted me asking if I could get them more information about highway resurfacing works scheduled to take place soon in their back lane. A note had been put through residents' letterboxes simply stating that works would be carried out in the 'back lane.' There were no dates, times or any other details about how the works would be carried out.
I raised the issue with the highways section at county hall who confirmed that notices giving additional information would be erected prior to works commencing. Full details can be found in the post I published yesterday: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2024/03/information-on-resurfacing-works-at.html
On a separate issue, I reported back on the significant frustration of drivers and residents alike who were left confused by poor communications and mixed messages from the council about scheduled works to resurface a section of the B1281.
Despite being promoted originally as resurfacing works to a stretch of the B1281 over a five-day timeframe - as I was told by the council - the works took place instead along a relatively short section of the road towards the Castle Eden end, and also on the A181 Stockton Road either side of the recently remodelled junction at the Castle Eden memorial - something I hadn't been told about at all until I asked the council for an update on progress! The council has since apologised for any confusion caused.
In addition I gave an update on ongoing works to resurface the entire footpath along the B1281 between Blackhall Colliery and Hesleden. Works began on site last week and are expected to last for another few days before they are completed. The road remains open to vehicles, with traffic control lights in place. Details of the extent of the works can be found in this post: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2024/02/b1281-blackhall-to-hesleden-footpath.html
Updated plans to tackle dangerous parking practices in Middle Street and Hesleden Road
As many residents will know there has been a long-running problem caused by drivers parking their vehicles on the double yellow lines outside the shops on Middle Street and one or two other locations in Blackhall Colliery.
There have been a number of delays over the past few years in installing a scheme that would tackle this problem. Firstly the Towns & Villages programme, which would provide funding for the scheme, was paused by the coalition running the council. There was an additional delay last year when business owners rejected an initial scheme that was designed to prevent illegal parking and stop vehicles from pulling onto the pavement to park. A revised scheme is now nearing completion which will hopefully address the concerns of both shop owners and the general public.
What had started as a problem of parked cars restricting access to the shops soon developed into a wider safety concern where drivers were pulling onto the public footpath when trying to straighten their vehicles before parking. Clearly this posed a risk to pedestrians and other road users, and there have been several reports of near-misses caused by this dangerous practice. With that in mind a 'safety-first' scheme aimed at preventing vehicles trespassing onto the public footpath has become the overriding priority, rather than simply addressing concerns about illegally parked cars. Increased patrols by the parking enforcement team will be an integral part of the new scheme.
All the funding to needed to support the scheme is in place, so hopefully works can begin as soon as the final design is finished and the materials are in place.
Water leak on the Coast Road at Crimdon
There has been a long-running issue with excess water from soaked fields seeping through the bank side and onto the public footpath along the A1086 Coast Road at Crimdon.
I received an update from drainage engineers earlier this week, which they feel confident will address this issue. Full details can be found in the post I published a few days ago on this site: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2024/03/latest-update-on-land-drainage-issue-at.html
If there are any issues you would like me to know about please get in touch with me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk and I'll do whatever I can to help.
