Newgate nightmare: Lorry protestors vow to fight on

Residents demanding traffic calming measures to reduce the impact of heavy goods vehicles won’t take no for an answer.

Protesters living in Newgate, Barnard Castle, who want new speed limits to be introduced to slow down lorries passing their homes, plus other restrictions, have suffered a setback after Durham County Council rejected their request.

Reducing the limit from 40mph to 30mph where Westwick Road passes Barnard Castle School and extending the 20mph limit to the full length of Newgate from the Market Cross to The Bowes Museum are just two of the measures that have been requested.

Others include time limits to stop HGVs from using the street in the early hours of the morning.

However, Durham County Council has rejected the requests claiming there’s insufficient evidence to justify extending speed limits along Newgate or introducing restrictions on HGVs.

The issue was raised at a meeting of county council by Cllr Chris Foote-Wood, who reported that residents living along Newgate are constantly disturbed by noise and vibrations from HGVs from as early as 5am.

Responding, cabinet member Cllr Tim McGuinness said council officers had already carried out site visits, meetings, correspondence and formal assessments of the proposals.

The Reform councillor said introducing a HGV restriction would affect the wider road network by diverting traffic onto alternative routes and could have consequences for other communities.

Officers had also reviewed requests to extend the speed limits and considered traffic speed data, collision history and local road conditions.

Cllr McGuinness added: “Officers have concluded that the current speed limits are appropriate and there is no evidential basis for extending them.”

He did, however, agree to Cllr Foote-Wood’s request for a follow-up meeting to discuss the issue.

Ros Evans lives on Newgate and is a member of the HGV Action Group that has consistently campaigned to introduce measures that will improve residents’ quality of life.

“We just want the council to listen, so it’s really good that we will hopefully have the opportunity to talk to a councillor, an elected politician, who is supposed to represent us in county hall and is in charge of highways,’ she told the Mercury.

“I’m really hoping an elected representative will actually listen to the people that are putting up with this noise.

“We do feel we have said these things over the years and we don’t feel we have been listened to.

“The houses along Newgate are all different and people all have different experiences,” she added.

“But there are people who used to sleep at the front of their house that can’t, they’ve had to move to the back, and there are people who have to use earplugs in order to get to sleep.

“Some of the houses are tall and that creates a tunnel effect and the sound from the vehicles reverberates around and rattles windows.

“And the state of the road is appalling, which just makes the noise worse.”

• Additional reporting by Bill Edgar