ABOUT 160 trees in historic areas of woodland would be cut down as part of plans for a dale reservoir.
The proposals by Northumbria Water have been submitted to Durham County Council for changes at Grassholme Reservoir, near Mickleton.
They hope to alter part of the north-western embankment, reducing the gradient down to the water’s edge.
The work would involve the removal of the trees from an area of ancient semi-natural woodland, realign parts of the Carl Beck watercourse and create a pit to provide earth for the work.
The plans are required to address safety concerns identified during the last inspection, the company said.
Janet Langsford, of Stantec, on behalf of Northumbria Water, said: “The proposed works have been designed, as required, to stabilise the northern embankment of the dam to reduce the risk of deep-seated slips, which could lead to destabilisation of the dam.
“These overriding design principles must take precedent over the design of other important elements in the scheme, which are unavoidably impacted.”
The reservoir, which supplies drinking water to 1.3 million properties in the North East, was constructed between 1901 and 1914 and is situated within the North Pennines AONB.
Ms Langsford added: “In order to strengthen the northern embankment of the reservoir it is necessary to remove an area of approximately 0.8 hectares of ancient semi-natural woodland.”
The proposal includes
creating two broadleaf
native woodlands to mitigate for the loss of trees and habitats.
Access to part of a permissive footpath which allows walkers to go around the edge of the reservoir, would be closed during construction but reopened again afterwards.
Copies of Northumbria Water’s plans are available to view on Durham
County Council’s website DM/20/01375/FPA
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
