CAMPAIGNERS fighting to safeguard the future of a village community centre have expressed disappointment a leading church official has postponed his visit.
The Rt Revd Nick Baines, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, was to visit Startforth next month to meet villagers who fear the centre, which used to be the village school, could be sold off.
The building is part owned by the Church of England, which says that as it is no longer used for educational purposes its original trust document should be changed.
An application for such a change has been made to the Department for Education, a move that villagers believe could be the precursor to selling the building, which is also part owned by Durham County Council.
The bishop along with the archdeacon and deacon were due to visit the centre on Friday, September 29, meeting representatives from the parish council, local church and community centre volunteers. However, a spokesperson from the Diocese of Leeds informed the parish council they would be postponing their visit.
A spokesperson for the Anglican Diocese of Leeds said: “A planned visit by the Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds to meet interested parties at Startforth Community Centre has been delayed until after a decision from the Department for Education (DfE) regarding its future.
“When the September date was agreed, it was very much hoped that decision would have been received, so that frank and constructive conversations could take place with the all the facts on the table.
“Bishop Nick is looking forward to help plan positive progress and the diocese is fully aware of the importance of this matter to local people.
“The diocese is liaising with Startforth Parish Council to arrange a meeting at the earliest opportunity after the DfE’s decision has been received.”
Parish council chairman Cllr Pat Estall said: “We are disappointed they have postponed the visit. We would have liked to have had the discussion. He has chosen not to go forward until the decision from the DfE is made and we will go from there.”
Vicar for the lower Teesdale Benefice, which includes Startforth, the Rev David Tomlinson, added: “I was saddened by the decision of the bishop to postpone his visit until some future date as I saw this as an opportunity for both the diocesan senior team and the local parish to listen well to each other.
“This could then have begun to build a trust foundation which would have enabled healthy dialogue in the months to come.”
![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)
