Access problems caused by DCC-imposed parking charges at Crimdon

In March this year the parking charges imposed at Crimdon by Durham County Council came into effect. Almost immediately I received complaints of access issues along the road linking the A1086 Coast Road to the sea-front so I asked the council to suspend the charges until a solution could be found. Unfortunately the council insisted that the charges would remain in place. Full background details can be found in this link: Durham County Council urged to suspend parking charges at Crimdon.

Over the spring and summer season I've been contacted again by residents and visitors reporting that instead of paying to park along the sea-front some people are opting instead to park along the approach road from the A1086 Coast Road junction. To be clear, there are no parking restrictions along that road, and no one is doing anything illegal. They're simply parking at a location that is convenient for them.

Residents and visitors told me that on a few occasions over the summer months the road has been difficult to access in parts - not because people are parking illegally, but because the parking charges imposed by the council along the sea-front have created a problem that didn't exist beforehand. After listening to the concerns raised I wrote to the council to highlight the problems they've created and I've asked them to let me know how they're going to put things right. This is the response I received:

'I must advise that the land encompassing the access road is the responsibility of Crimdon Dene Holiday Park. Durham County Council did initially make contact to discuss a wider scheme that would include enforcement of the access road as mitigation against any potential displacement, however we were not granted permission to include this area within our enforcement regime. We therefore advised that the holiday park should progress their own measures to prevent parking on the access road. 

'With the above in mind, any concerns associated with obstructive parking in this area should be reported directly to Crimdon Dene Holiday Park.'

I don't find this rather terse statement issued by the council to be particularly helpful under the circumstances, and in addition I think it's grossly unfair to pass this matter over to the owners of the Crimdon Dene Holiday Park. They didn't cause this problem, but they're being told by the council that they're going to have to deal with the consequences!

Without a full explanation from the council it looks as though they've imposed parking charges along the sea-front at Crimdon without any real understanding of the circumstances or consideration of the consequences elsewhere. I don't think this is good enough - and the residents and visitors I've met with agree.

After all it was Durham County Council who made the decision to impose parking charges earlier this year when the issue was discussed at a meeting of the council's Highways Committee. That decision was made against my wishes and despite the objections I raised at the meeting. Full details can be found here: Coalition to introduce parking charges at Crimdon

In trying to find a better way to deal with the issues raised in this post I'm aware that a resident has been organising a petition to put to the council asking them to scrap the charges altogether. I've met with the lead petitioner and I've given them my full support. As soon as the petition is ready I'll make arrangements for it to be handed over to the authorities in county hall.

If the council can be persuaded to rescind the charges we'll at least have a respite from the parking problems experienced at Crimdon Dene during the summer months. It would also give the council time to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better solution to the parking capacity problems they used as an excuse to impose the charges in the first place.