STAINDROP annual carnival promises to be bigger and better with major changes announced.
The most significant of them is a new traffic diversion that will be in place between 1pm and 4pm on the day of the grand procession, Saturday, July 14.
Other additions to the event include Bunny Burrows small animal petting and a 100 key vintage fairground organ.
Acoustic, ukulele and pit bands are to perform, with busking and performances taking place along the main street through the village.
A carnival spokesman said the pet show has been moved to Office Square green on carnival day at 4pm.
For the first time, the grand procession will start off
from Beck Side and Barnard Street.
The duck race takes place at Beck Side and Duke Street from 3pm.
The events culminate the following day, Sunday, July 15, with sports on the green starting at 11am, followed by live music at FosFest on the sports-field at Staindrop Primary School. Residents and visitors who want to travel out of the village during the road closure are being urged to park their vehicles at Staindrop Academy before the road closure comes into effect. During the road closure traffic will be diverted at Church Corner down the B6274 to Winston, and then to Barnard Castle.
![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)
