Parking issues at School Avenue and Park Avenue

I've written to the council this week to raise with them the concerns of a resident about parking in the back lane between Park Avenue and School Avenue in Blackhall Colliery. 

I’ve published my correspondence in full below, and I’ll update on progress as soon as I have a response from the council and other partner agencies:

The top of the back lane between School Avenue and Park Avenue

I’ve been contacted recently by a representative of a resident in Park Avenue concerned about problem parking in the back lane between Park Avenue and School Avenue in Blackhall Colliery.

It is reported that residents at Park Avenue and their families/visitors have concerns about the volume of traffic parking in the street which they report impacts on their ability to park their own vehicles.

I'm not sure what might be done to alleviate this problem so I would be grateful if you could forward this query to the relevant section(s) at DCC for their attention, and with a request that all options are considered in addressing residents' concerns about parking at this location.

The bottom of the back lane between Park Avenue and School Avenue

Illegal access to public footpaths and dangerous parking on Middle Street

As regular readers of these pages will be aware there have been a number of issues associated with vehicles driving into the public footpath and parking outside the shops on Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery - with some incidents resulting in near misses for pedestrians and others using the footpath. The most recent background information can be found in the articles published previously on these pages: 

Monday 19 April 2021: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/04/parking-in-middle-street.html and 

Saturday 11 June 2022: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/06/report-from-environment-committee-mhpc.html

I spoke over the weekend to concerned resident who reported another near miss last week when a vehicle pulled onto the pavement before straightening up to park parallel to the shops. It’s reported by the person I spoke to that they were almost hit as the vehicle crossed the public footpath. 

It goes without saying that vehicles shouldn’t be allowed to drive over a public footpath so some time ago I worked alongside the parish council clerk and officers from the highways authority to draw up plans within the county council’s Towns & Villages programme which would prevent vehicles from driving fully onto the pavement or parking along the double yellow lines outside the shops. 

That scheme was endorsed, fully funded and ready to go ahead when the Tory-led Coalition currently in control of the county council decided to review the Towns & Villages programme - and then ultimately call a halt to the entire Capital Programme which would have seen measures installed in Middle Street to prevent vehicles from accessing the footpath. It was acknowledged in the scheme of course that access would still be required for delivery vehicles and those drivers who need close access to the shops.

I have written again to the council today reiterating those concerns on behalf of residents and businesses about parking and illegal access to the footpath. I’ve asked specifically for an update on what the Coalition’s plans are for the Towns and Villages programme (and the Middle Street scheme in particular) and I’ll update as soon as I have a response. 

In the meantime I’ve also asked that the council’s Parking Enforcement team gives this issue more attention in the coming weeks and months.

Remembrance Day Service at Blackhall Welfare Park

Once again there was a tremendous turnout from the Blackhall community for this year’s Remembrance Day service held at the village’s Welfare Park to honour the memory of those who served and the many who gave their lives through two world wars and other conflicts over the years. 

As in years past many of our local groups and residents came together to mark the day and to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph. It was particularly heartwarming to see so many of our children and young people at the service - some representing the Blackhall 1932 Squadron Air Training Corps (ATC) and other attending on behalf of Blackhall Colliery and St Joseph’s primary schools. The headteacher at Wellfield School also came along to lay a wreath on behalf of the school’s community. 

Many thanks go to the clerk and members of Monk Hesleden Parish Council who played a key role in organising the service of remembrance and to the chair of the council for leading the service alongside John Kidd. In addition, representatives from the Royal British Legion, Blackhall Navy Club, Blackhall RAFA and St Andrew’s church did themselves and their organisations proud. 

As ever special recognition goes to Ian Harrison for his faultless rendition of the Last Post, Reveille and the National Anthem and to Brian Drummond for the poppy and silhouette street decorations in the villages in the lead up to the event. I was honoured to lay a wreath on behalf of the staff and members of Durham County Council. 

The post-service buffet reception at Blackhall Cricket Club, funded by both local county councillors and offering the chance for residents past and present to meet up with old friends, was also very well attended. Thanks go to the members and staff at Blackhall Cricket Club for hosting the reception with their usual professionalism.

Finally, thanks go to all the residents of the Blackhall community for coming along in their numbers to mark their respects to those who gave their all for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Damaged fence behind Primrose Court removed

Earlier this week I contacted the authorities to report a fence that had collapsed into the public footpath behind Primrose Court and Bluebell Close in Blackhall Colliery. Details can be found here in a recent update of local issues: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/11/update-on-local-issues.html

I’m told by the council that an officer from the building control team called out to the site on the same evening to assess the extent of the damage. I subsequently received confirmation from the council that arrangements were in place to make the area clear for pedestrians.

It was further confirmed on Friday that the landowner responsible for the fencing had taken all necessary measures without delay and had made the location safe and passable ready for replacement fencing to be installed.

Replacement bus shelters at Crimdon and Blackhall Colliery

Earlier this year I published an article on these pages updating on progress with a number of environmental and highways issues in Crimdon, including a request for a bus shelter to replace the one damaged during last year’s storms. Background details can be found in this link: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/06/crimdon-issues-update.html

In addition I asked the council if it would be possible to have seating installed at both of the bus shelters at Sawmills Avenue and outside the Lido garage in Crimdon. I’ve now received confirmation that a replacement bus shelter at the Lido garage is scheduled to be installed early next month. I’ve published below the council’s response in full:

The new bus shelter which includes a perch seat is expected to be installed on 6 December 2022. (Outside Lido Garage). 

I have also chased the possibility of installing a perch seat in the bus shelter opposite lido garage with our contractor. I will update Councillor Crute when I have more information.

I’ve also asked for an update on progress with my request for a new bus shelter opposite the Welfare Park gates on Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery to replace the one destroyed earlier this year by a fire. I’ll publish the council’s response as soon as I have more information.

**UPDATE** Tuesday 15 November:

Good morning Councillor Crute, 

 

The replacement bus shelter opposite the Welfare Park is currently on order with our supplier, however it is expected that it will be installed in the new year.  

 

The new bus shelter adjacent to Lido Garage, Coast Road is currently on order and expected to be installed on the W/C 5^th of December. 

 

Kind regards,  

Strategic Public Transport

Update on Local Issues

Each month Monk Hesleden Parish Council holds its Environment Committee meeting in the Parish Offices on Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery. I attend the meetings in my capacity as one of the two local county councillors and this gives me and members of the parish council the opportunity to share views about local issues and discuss ways of bringing about environmental improvements in and around our villages. It also gives us an opportunity to monitor progress with several ongoing issues and initiatives.

The most recent meeting took place earlier this week, on Wednesday 9 November, when a number of local issues were raised. I've selected just a few of them below for updates:

Collapsible bollards at Park Avenue footpath: despite repeated requests by the authorities to desist a handful of residents have continued to drive along the public footpath at Park Avenue to access their properties. In response the council has informed residents this week that as a last resort collapsible bollards are to be installed at both ends of the footpath to restrict access to vehicles. Full details can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/11/vehicle-access-at-park-avenue.html

Public footpaths: following concerns expressed by residents footpaths at High Hesleden and Station Road in Blackhall Rocks have been included in the council's works programme for repairs or resurfacing.

Highway resurfacing works: similarly, following concerns expressed by residents, and after a long, drawn-out campaign, the council has agreed to carry out resurfacing works at the rear of Leaholme Terrace and at Meadow Avenue. I’ve also been advised that all ‘actionable’ defects (ie potholes) were dealt with during the summer months and also that the council will continue to address any actionable defects until scheduled resurfacing works are carried out.

Fencing behind Primrose Court: a section of the fence near to the footpath behind Primrose Court and Bluebell Close collapsed earlier this week. The issue has been raised with the authorities who will contact the landowners with a request that the fence is made safe and that repairs are carried out as soon as possible: 

Derelict land in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery: there has been a long-running problem with unstable fencing on either side of a patch of derelict land in Middle Street falling into the public footpath. Partial repairs were carried out earlier this year making the fence more secure on the Middle Street side of the land. However, the fencing along the other side facing the library has been removed altogether leaving the land open to fly-tipping. This matter has been reported again to the council's planning enforcement team:

Bus shelter replacements: the bus shelter outside the Lido garage on the Coast Road in Crimdon was badly damaged following Storm Arwen towards the end of last year. I've received confirmation that a replacement shelter is scheduled to be installed early next month. I've also requested an update on plans to replace a bus shelter on Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery destroyed by fire earlier this summer. Full details can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/11/replacement-bus-shelters-at-crimdon-and.html 

**UPDATE** Tuesday 15 November: The public transport department has confirmed that the order for a replacement bus shelter opposite the Welfare Park gates on Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery is still with the council’s suppliers. It’s estimated that the new bus shelter will be installed in the new year. 

As reported earlier the replacement bus shelter at the Lido garage in Crimdon is due to be installed early next month.

If there are any environmental issues in your area that require attention please let us know at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk or stacey.deinali@durham.gov.uk

Open drain at Blackhall Rocks

I’ve been contacted this afternoon by a resident concerned about an open drain/manhole among the trees in the fields behind Ocean View and Attlee Avenue in Blackhall Rocks. 

It is reported that sewage has been flowing out of the drain and into the field. It is also thought that children may have been playing in this area.

I’ve raised the resident’s concerns with the council and I’ve also alerted Northumbrian Water to the reports of overflowing sewage and the potential danger of falling into the open manhole.

Until these issues have been fully addressed by the authorities please take extra care when in this area, and please warn your children of the potential dangers and ask them to stay away from this location.

UPDATE FROM NORTHUMBRIAN WATER - FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER:

Morning Rob

We attended yesterday, removed some debris and made safe the manhole before it was too dark to continue work. We’ll return again today to investigate further.

Thanks for bringing the issue to our attention.

Kind regards

Collapsible safety bollards to prevent illegal access to Park Avenue footpath

Regular readers of these pages will be aware of a long-running issue regarding a few residents driving along a public footpath to access their properties in Park Avenue, Blackhall Colliery. Background details can be found in this post dated Friday 29 April 2022: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/04/update-on-councils-proposal-to-restrict.html

I'm in no doubt that this has been a contentious issue from beginning to end - with some residents in Park Avenue reporting a risk of accidents from vehicles driving along the footpath, and other residents seemingly happy to leave things as they are. For my part I've played with a straight bat throughout the whole process by meeting with and listening to residents on both sides of the argument whenever I've been asked and then raising their concerns with the authorities. Links to previous articles about this matter can be found in the link above. 

However, whatever your opinion might be, it's obvious that the authorities have had to do something in response to residents' concerns. By way of an example, there's a similar issue nearby on Middle Street where residents have raised concerns about vehicles driving onto the public footpath to park outside the shops. It's acknowledged that there have been no accidents here to date - but there's no guarantee there won't be an accident at some point in the future if nothing is done to address those concerns. 

Everyone I've spoken to about the risk of accidents on Middle Street agrees that the authorities simply cannot wait until someone is killed or injured before they do something to eliminate the risk. The authorities would argue that precisely the same principle applies to the current situation on Park Avenue. A lot of people have warned it’s ‘an accident waiting to happen’ so doing nothing simply isn’t an option.

By way of an update, residents in Park Avenue were contacted again this week to confirm that lockable, drop-down bollards are to be installed later this week at both ends of the footpath to restrict access to vehicles. 

When I asked for the rationale behind the council's decision I was told by officers in the highways department that lockable, drop-down bollards were being installed as a safety measure and as a last resort after some residents continued to drive along the footpath to access their properties despite repeated requests to desist. 

In addition, highways officers made it clear that if those residents had complied with requests to stop driving on the footpath the bollards wouldn’t have been necessary. As it happens, some people are driving vehicles on a public footpath, the authorities have been made aware of the risk so they have a public duty and a legal obligation to deal with it.

Following additional concerns expressed by residents about access to emergency vehicles the highways assets department has confirmed that the emergency services have been consulted and offered no objections to the council’s proposals. This had been previously confirmed in an article I published on this site back in June last year: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/06/update-on-residents-calls-for.html

I’ve published the highways officer’s response in full below:

The emergency services were consulted and there were no objections to the proposal. The police did inform that the presence of motor vehicles using the footpath was illegal and should an incident occur where someone is injured as a result of vehicles using this footpath then a prosecution could follow.

The bollards proposed to be installed are drop-down and lockable. I have issued a number of letters to residents asking them not to use the footpath to access driveways and I have been challenged each time regarding the status of the path. It is a pavement for use by pedestrians and is not designed for use by vehicles. As I understand it, there are two residents who have constructed driveways to the front of their properties and are using the footpath for access. If we had full compliance with my request to cease driving along the footpath we wouldn’t need to install the bollards. The rationale for installing the bollards is pedestrian safety after we received a number of complaints. Legally we cannot condone residents driving significant distances over a public footpath to access driveways.

 

With regard to emergency access, the average widths of an ambulance and a fire appliance is 2.2-2.4m meaning that there is less than 900mm clearance at the side of the vehicle if they were to use the footpath. The emergency services would probably access the public road to the rear of the properties in an emergency and maybe not the footpath. In addition a fire appliance weighs approximately 12 tonnes so there is a possibility that it could cause footpath damage given the pavement construction is not designed for vehicles. Also the width of the footpath is reduced in the middle of Park Avenue where there is a lighting column meaning that the access is further restricted 

 

The recent communication I have received after our letter drop to all residents informing of the bollard scheme, suggests that a number of residents have objected. At present I have two objections on file.

Any comments and queries about this issue should be directed to the Senior Asset Management Engineer at: andrew.blanckley@durham.gov.uk or 03000 268103.

Remembrance Sunday Services in Blackhall Colliery and Hesleden

Remembrance Sunday commemoration services will be held throughout the county on Sunday 13 November when we will come together to honour the sacrifice made by many in defence of our country during two world wars and other conflicts over the years.

As usual I will be laying a wreath at the memorial garden in Blackhall Colliery Welfare Park on behalf of the members of Durham County Council. With the assistance of the clerk and admin staff of Monk Hesleden Parish Council I have also arranged for a buffet reception to be made available at Blackhall Cricket Club after the ceremony. Everyone will be made welcome, so please feel free to call into the club immediately after the service.

My county council colleague Stacey Deinali has made similar arrangements for the Remembrance Sunday service to be held at the memorial on Myra Avenue in Hesleden, with a reception afterwards at Hesleden Workingmen's Club. 

Please note that in line with past practice a stopping-up order has been issued to restrict traffic on Myra Avenue from 10.30am to 11.15am on the day of the service. This is to ensure the safety of residents and other attendees.

Works underway to regrade B1281 embankment in Blackhall Colliery

Works are underway to reinstate the embankment and grass verges along the B1281 in Blackhall Colliery. This follows reports I’d received earlier this year from residents concerned about soil spilling down from the sloping embankment into the pathway.

The council's maintenance team had also expressed concerns that the gradient of the slope was too steep for their grass cutters to operate so the company carrying out the works has agreed to regrade the embankment to enable grass-cutting operations to continue after reseeding works have been completed.

Please see the following articles for background information:

Tuesday 16 August 2022: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/08/untidy-pathway-and-embankment-on-b1281.html

Sunday 21 August 2022: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/08/development-company-to-reinstate.html