HGV campaigners in Barnard Castle are hoping to enter talks with a North Yorkshire town which got its bypass after years of fighting.
While the route of a potential Barney relief road is being safeguarded, highways chiefs admit it depends on funding being available in years to come. They have also suggested an interim ban on HGVs in the town centre would be “costly and bureaucratic” and deter less than ten per cent of vehicles.
Barnard Castle HGV Action Group, which wants to reduce the amount of heavy traffic to protect historic buildings such as the Market Cross, is hoping a change in tack will break the deadlock.
In giving an update to town councillors, Cllr Judi Sutherland revealed that the group hoped to start talks with campaigners in Bedale, which got a £34million bypass in 2016.
She said: “We are pushing for a relief road but we will have to come up with a pot of money somewhere. We need someone who understands how to get money from the government.”
Cllr Sutherland said campaigners in Bedale are happy to discuss how the town went about its fight.
She added that the group was looking at how to use the results of an unofficial survey members carried out this spring.
One possibility was to speak to haulage companies to find out why some of the lorries were going through town.
Members also took two photos of lorries driving over the pavement near the Market Cross. It comes after police confirmed a law from 1835 making this illegal was still enforceable.
Barnard Castle HGV Action Group was also hoping environmental officials would carry out air quality readings to gauge the level of air pollution.
Cllr Sutherland said: “We know [Durham County Council] the highways department have got no plans to do anything. It seems to me that Cumbria and North Yorkshire are more amenable to doing things for the community that County Durham highways [department] is.”
Cllr Ian Kirkbride replied: “It will take a casualty. I am not saying we want one but that’s what it will take.”
However, the meeting heard that Durham County Council has agreed to move the traffic lights back on the north side of Egglestone Abbey bridge so lorries don’t pass each other at the narrowest part of the road. A date for this to happen has not yet been set.
![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)
