Update on residents' calls for restricted access at Park Avenue

A few weeks ago I published an article on this site updating on a request by residents at Park Avenue in Blackhall Colliery to restrict access to vehicular traffic along the alleyway between both sides of the street (please see post dated Thursday 29 April 2021 for background details: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/04/access-to-park-avenue-to-be-restricted.html)

I have now received an additional update on progress from highways engineers:

To update you regarding the resident(s) from Park Avenue illegally using the footpath to access his property with vehicles – we have issued a warning letter requesting that they stop access now and that we are arranging for the Traffic team to erect a bollard at both ends of Park Avenue to prevent any vehicle accessing the footpath. The only authorised vehicles permitted access are those to maintain the highway.

We have undertaken consultation with the relevant emergency services who have confirmed they do not need access and they support the bollard option.

Hopefully this solves the problem once and for all.

Once I have a date for the installation of the bollards I will be back in touch to confirm.

Environmental Issues in Blackhall Colliery

As regular readers of these pages will know I try to get around the streets every morning, mainly to get a head-start on reporting any environmental issues before the day gets into full swing. 

For some reason the streets today were in a particularly poor condition - even for a Monday morning. The back lanes on either side of Middle Street were littered at almost every street top - with traffic cones and even a supermarket trolley abandoned in the street behind the shops.

As usual all incidents have been reported to the council’s clean and green team for clearance. I have also asked the neighbourhood wardens to follow up on residents’ complaints about a number of back yards that have become filled again with all kinds of rubbish and debris. Hopefully the owners/landlords of the affected properties will react positively as soon as they are contacted with a request for their properties to be kept in a decent condition.

Review of community defibrillators in social and sporting venues

Over the weekend most of us saw or heard about the dramatic events that took place in the Euro 2020 football match between Denmark and Finland, during which the Denmark player Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field of play. Thankfully Eriksen appears to be well on the road to recovery, and this is in the main due to the rapid response of his teammates and the Danish team's medical staff who rushed onto the pitch to apply CPR and then use a defibrillator to 'reset' the players heart.

This event got me thinking about a campaign we ran a few years ago to ensure that as far as is practicable all of the communities in our ward had access to a defibrillator. Although we were largely successful in meeting this target I thought now might be a good time to review the provision of community defibrillators, with the specific intention of installing additional appliances as close as possible to any sporting venues on our patch. If anything, the events of last weekend in Copenhagen proved the importance of access to a defibrillator and the rapid actions of trained responders - so although occurrences like that are thankfully rare I think it's vital that we do everything we possibly can in advance to save lives under those conditions in future.

Previous posts on this subject will set out the background to our community defibrillator project (please see posts dated Monday 9 May 2014, Monday 4 January 2016 and Wednesday 12 April 2017 for details of just a few of our successful schemes). We are aware that despite the efforts of the parish clerk we have so far not been able to install a defibrillator in a suitable location at Blackhall Rocks. However, that will be the starting point for this review and we then intend to identify any gaps in provision across our communities - including crucially at sporting venues such as at Blackhall Welfare Park and others.

We will update on progress in due course, but in the meantime please get in touch with us if you know of any venues that you think might be suitable for use as a defibrillator site:

Rob: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk or Stacey: stacey.deinali@durham.gov.uk

Highway inspection on the A1086 Coast Road at Blackhall Rocks

Last year the road surface along the A1086 Coast Road at Blackhall Rocks was fully resurfaced. Some time after the works were completed I received reports from a resident that the highway surface at the junction with Mickle Hill Road appeared to be defective so I issued a request for the highway surface to be inspected. I received the following response from highways engineers this afternoon:

Myself and the lead designer went out today to assess the A1086 Coast Road at Broad Road and the junction with Mickle Hill Road. We found no evidence of the reported subsidence to the recent resurfacing. However, we noted two defects:

1) An area of broken footway/kerbing, where we observed a bus and a HGV clip the corner while navigating the tight bend, suggesting this is the cause of the defect. I will pass this on to the highways inspector/maintenance manager to assess the need for any reactive maintenance.

2) Isolated areas of chipping loss due to the abrasive breaking action of buses stopping at the bus stop or turning through the junction. This is a usual occurrence, however we are monitoring this issue as the rate of deterioration thus far, seems accelerated. We will continue to monitor these isolated areas prior to carrying out any maintenance when required.

As suggested in the engineer’s report any necessary repair works will be carried out in due course. In the meantime works have recommenced to reinstate the road markings at this location.

2023 Boundary Commission Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries

Long-term readers of these pages will know that for almost ten years I’ve published regular reports and updates on successive Boundary Commission for England reviews and recommendations (please see previous posts dated Tuesday 16 October 2012 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2012/10/bce-revised-proposals.html, Wednesday 30 January 2013  https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2013/01/blackhall-to-remain-in-easington.html, Wednesday 14 September 2016 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2016/09/parliamentary-boundary-review.html, Friday 8 December 2017 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2017/12/our-objections-to-proposed.html, Monday 10 September 2018 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2018/09/boundary-commissions-final.html and Friday 12 June 2020 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/06/parliamentary-boundary-review-update.html  for background details).

The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has now published its proposals for the latest boundary review which is expected to be implemented by 2023 - hence the term ‘2023 Boundary Review.’

In short the proposals for the Easington Constituency - and specifically the communities of the Blackhalls Division - will mean that things remain pretty much the same as they are now apart from a proposal to bring the Wingate Division into the new constituency from Sedgefield, and also a proposed constituency name change to the Seaham and Peterlee Constituency. 

I’ve published a link below to the BCE website which includes all of the latest recommendations and also details about how you can comment on the proposals during the public consultation period which runs until Monday 2 August 2021:

https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/

Please note that the recommendations made by the BCE relate to parliamentary boundaries only. Local government boundaries will not be affected.

Road works next week in Blackhall Colliery

Please note below details of road works scheduled to begin next week on the B1281 at Blackhall Colliery:

Location	Description	Traffic Management	Start Date	End Date	Responsibility
B1281 (from Hesleden Road Junc To A1086 Coast Road Junc), Blackhall Colliery, Durham	New Water, Gas and Electric Services	Multi-way traffic signals	7 June 2021	13 August 2021	Aptus Utilities Ltd

Latest update on the Hardwicke Place housing development

Following initial complaints from residents about disruption caused by the early phase of development on the Hardwicke Place housing site on the B1281 I raised the matter with the council’s planning enforcement and monitoring and compliance teams for their attention. Following previous updates published on social media I’ve received another update from the council’s monitoring and compliance officer:

Just by way of an update, I visited this morning and whilst there was some minor dust to the carriageway it was of an acceptable level and appearance and not causing any issues.

I spoke with Gleeson staff earlier this week and it is a possibility that they will move the Heras fencing a little closer to the carriageway (leaving at least 2 metres between kerb and fencing) to the east of the entrance in order to increase the on site parking. The area will in due course form part of the new roundabout so I do not have an issue with this as it will reduce the amount of possible parking on the main road when the land clearance people move on and the builders begin their development.

I just wished to make you aware in case it commences before I return next week you get enquiries asking why they are moving the fencing.

I will update on progress as soon as I have additional information from the monitoring and compliance team, but in the meantime please get in touch with me or Stacey if you have any issues you would like to raise about this development: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk or stacey.deinali@durham.gov.uk 

For the planning consent report on this development please go to the post published on this site on Saturday 31 October 2020: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/10/planning-application-for-123-homes-in.html

Schedule of roadworks for Station Town

Please note below details of ongoing and scheduled roadworks in and around Station Town:

Location	Description	Traffic Management	Start Date	End Date	Responsibility
B1280 (from C22 Corner House Junc To C24 Junc), Station Town, Durham	Carriageway patching	Multi-way traffic signals	2 June 2021	8 June 2021	Durham County Council
Road From Station Town To Hutton Henry, Station Town, Durham	New gas supply	Two-way traffic signals	24 May 2021	2 June 2021	Northern Gas Networks

Police update on the A1086 Coast Road speed survey

Earlier this year I contacted the traffic office at Durham police and the highways office at Durham County Council to request a speed survey to be carried out along the A1086 Coast Road between Blackhall Rocks and Crimdon (please see post dated Tuesday 6 April 2021 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/04/speed-survey-scheduled-for-a1086-coast.html  for background information).

I received the following update last month from the traffic management officer at Durham police:

Hi Rob,

 

Durham County Council have now undertaken a speed survey on the A1086 road near to Crimdon Terrace between 15^th and 22^nd  April, 2021.

 

As you know these speed surveys are designed to give a true reflection of vehicle speeds which are not influenced by  a uniformed presence. So the data can give us a direction of if to target enforcement resources to the location.

 

After considering the data provided while the average speed was found to be 41 mph on this 40 mph restricted section of A1086 Coast Road,  there were a number of vehicles within our escalation levels where Police enforcement action would be considered.

 

Although we can’t quantify it, given the strategic importance of this road a number of the higher end speeds recorded are likely to be attributed to blue light vehicles.

 

I’ve added the below table just to give an overview of the outcome of the speed survey.

Date of Survey	Average Daily Traffic Flow	≤40 MPH	41-45 MPH	46-50 MPH	51-55 MPH	56-60 MPH	≥60 MPH	Mean Speed	85%ile Speed
15/04 – 22/04/21	8863	4227 48%	2983 34%	1062 12%	344 4%	130 1%	117 0%	41 mph	46 mph

(shaded area is percentage of vehicles within Police enforcement threshold)

(while there are some vehicles in the 0% level they are so small in numbers that they do not register as a percentage)

 

As this just meets our levels for further specific enforcement attention as the next step I will undertake a Risk Assessment to see if we can target the road with Mobile Safety Camera technology.

 

Forwarded by way of update.

Access steps to Crimdon beach

Following concerns expressed over the weekend by members of the public about the poor condition of the access steps onto the beach at Crimdon the countryside/coastal team has confirmed this afternoon that repairs are scheduled to be carried out as soon as consent is received from Natural England.

This is the message received from the countryside officer:

Hi Rob, we are in the process of gaining Assent for approval from Natural England to repair the steps hoping its not too long a process and we can proceed as quickly as possible.

In this context please note below an update received last month from the countryside officer:

Hi Rob, a meeting was held this morning with Natural England to discuss the repair of the steps they are happy for us to carry out the work however we need an assent due the site being a SSSI. We will proceed with the process as quickly as possible we also hope to put in place further fencing as the dune system around and just beyond the steps are eroding badly. 

I’ll report on progress as and when I receive further updates from the countryside team.

Coast Road footpath repair works scheduled to begin on Monday

Please see below details of pathway improvements works scheduled to take place over the next few weeks along the A1086 Coast Road between Blackhall Rocks and Crimdon:

Location	Description	Traffic Management	Start Date	End Date	Responsibility
Coast Road, Blackhall Rocks, Durham	Footpath works	Multi-way traffic signals	24 May 2021	25 June 2021	Durham County Council

Blackhall Rocks to Crimdon: Footpath repair works to begin later this month

Earlier this year I published an article about requests for repairs to footpaths in and around our villages. Most of the repairs requested had been carried out over the previous year or so, but it was proving something of a challenge to persuade engineers to bring the footpath along the Coast Road between Blackhall Rocks and Crimdon up to an acceptable standard (please see post dated Sunday 10 January 2021 for details: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/01/footpath-repairs-update-a1086-blackhall.html)

However our persistence has paid off and we have now received confirmation from the highways section at Durham County Council that works are scheduled to begin later this month to repair the footpath along the A1086 Coast Road between Blackhall Rocks and Crimdon. Please see the table below for full details:

Road No.	Location	Description	Traffic Management	Start Date	End Date	Responsibility
A1086	A1086 Coast Road, Blackhall Rocks to Crimdon	Footpath repair works	3 way lights with lane restrictions as required	24 May 2021	25 June 2021	Durham County Council