I had a productive morning in Crimdon yesterday with the council’s Clean & Green team looking at options available to keep the access points to the Dene open to horse riders and wheelchair/mobility scooters whilst preventing access to off-road bikes and other prohibited vehicles.
By way of background, gates and other physical measures were installed at both sides of Crimdon Dene recently to prevent access by quads and off-road bikers who damage the open spaces and put other users at risk of serious injury by riding along the public footpath through the Dene.
It goes without saying that vehicles should not be allowed access to any public footpath, especially when the danger in doing so is obvious and the risk has been raised with the authorities.
As sometimes happens however measures like these can have unintended consequences meaning that legitimate users, such as horse riders and mobility vehicles, have been unable to access the Dene. I’ve been contacted by representatives of those particular groups asking if these access issues could be sorted out.
At the site meeting in Crimdon yesterday morning all options were considered that would meet the requirements of those people who have had difficulty accessing the public footpath, and officers are confident that a solution can be found by either modifying or replacing the barriers installed at either side of the Dene. The fabricating company who installed the gates and other physical measures have been asked to come to Crimdon to see which options would be viable and then carry out any works necessary to safely open access at these entry points.
I’ll update on progress as soon as I have more information, but in the meantime if you have any similar issues to report in your area please contact me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk and I’ll do whatever I can to help.
