Headlines from this week’s paper include:
A plea to protect wooden bridges which a local councillor says are being left to rot
The Deerbolt Independent Monitoring Board annual report reveals how warnings were sounded after staff shortages almost saw the prison reach a “tipping point”
Plans have been submitted for a children’s home at Hamsterley
Proposals for holiday lodges at Rokeby have been rejected
More volunteers are needed to help the dale’s Marie Curie fundraising group
Chippy staff in Barney are hoping to cook up cash for Sport Relief
Staindrop’s bid to become the fittest village in the country is gathering pace
There’s full coverage of last week’s Teesdale Business Awards
Find out what’s coming up with four pages on what’s on and events news
In rural news, tributes were paid to two of the founders of Farmwatch at the group’s 30th anniversary while we headed up the dale to meet the farmer who has introduced Dalesbred sheep to his flock
In sport, cricketers’ thoughts are turning to the new season – despite the weather
Plus all your letters, community news, business and jobs, family notices and much more… all in this week’s Mercury
![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)
