In this week’s Mercury:
Barnard Castle Town Council has been left “in limbo” after the employment tribunal panel which awarded £55,000 to the council’s former clerk was asked to reconsider its decision
Volunteers have been out in force to ensure the dale is looking its best this spring:
– The Roman Way picnic site, in Barnard Castle has been spruced up
– Friends Allen Jenkins and Barry Parker have planted 2,000 daffodil bulbs to brighten up the Darlington Road entrance to Barney
– Anti-litter campaigner George O’Brien as teamed up with toy shop owner Pauline Connelly to launch a “litter pick loan hub”
– A community clean-up in Evenwood and Ramshaw resulted in 70 bags of rubbish collected
– Litter picks and other work are planned in Middleton and Staindrop
Fundraisers have walked their way to more than £4,000 for the Teesdale branch of Cancer Research UK
A unique documentary of how life was affected by lockdown has been premiered by a dale filmmaker
A joint campaign has been launched urging dog owners to keep their pets on a lead when near farm livestock
In sport, junior footballers are now playing on a tip top surface thanks to the efforts of an expert groundsman and Barnard Castle’s bowlers are preparing for action
Plus: Andrew Wilkinson on all things angling; Flora and Fauna with Dr Richard Warren; John and Ronnie Lowery take part in this week’s Q&A feature; readers’ letters; family notices… and much more.
All in this week’s paper, which is out now.
![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)
