Barnard Castle Register Office is set to close and its services transferred to The Story in Durham.
The venue at 30 Galgate, will hold ceremonies scheduled for the coming year, but is no longer accepting bookings for future weddings.
Appointments to record births and deaths – both are legal requirements – ceased to be offered during Covid and were never reinstated.
Announcing the closure, Durham County Council pointed to a public consultation exercise which runs until April 30 to assess the impact of the changes.
County councillors in the dale are urging residents to speak up in support of keeping register services close by.
“It is a disgrace that the county council has already closed the office before asking people for their opinions,” said Cllr Chris Foote-Wood, who represents Barnard Castle.
“While there are alternative venues for weddings, people still want face-to-face meetings to discuss these and other important personal events in their lives.”
Upper Teesdale’s Cllr Richard Bell added: “This is a definite blow for Teesdale. The Story is almost an hour’s drive from Barnard Castle and much longer from many parts of the dale, and hard to get to by bus.
“Services to mark life’s milestones of births, deaths and marriages need to readily accessible, especially for the elderly. I call upon DCC to keep Barney’s Register Office.”
Barnard Castle Town Council also noted its disappointment at the news.
Mayor Paul Ing said: “While we understand the immense financial pressures facing DCC and the logistical shift toward the new centralised hub at The Story in Durham, we are deeply saddened by this proposal. To see these services moved further away is a loss for the rural accessibility of our residents.”
Helen Bradley, DCC’s director of legal and democratic services, told the Mercury that Barnard Castle last registered births and deaths in 2019/20, with 61 appointments that year.
In lockdown, all registrations were switched to Aykley Heads or Bishop Auckland.
She added: “Because of budget constraints and the low number of ceremonies held at that office, we’re unable to invest in improving the building or sustain its future running costs as a registration office, but we will work with the owners as they seek to bring forward other uses.”
Ms Bradley reassured Teesdale residents that ceremonies booked for the coming year would go ahead and added that registration processes might get easier in the near future.
“Legislation has also been passed to enable the registration of deaths by phone. We expect this to be available from September, with online birth registration set to follow in the next couple of years.”
To take part in the council’s consultation, visit letstalkcountydurham.co.uk
A petition against the closure is available at Galgate News and The Witham, or via [email protected].
