A DESPERATE bid by children in Butterknowle to get a playpark in their village is being thwarted because their parish council can’t find suitable land for it.
A group of youngsters, led by ten-year-old Sara Lowther, took it upon themselves to launch a petition last September asking Lynesack and Softley Parish Council to return equipment that was taken away from a recreation area in the village many years ago.
But parish council chairwoman Cllr Jeanette Newell says nimbyism is hampering attempts to find a solution.
Sara’s dad, Tommy, says the lack of facilities for young people in Butterknowle is putting their lives at risk.
He said: “There is nowhere for them to play so they are just sort of riding up and down the road. It is not an ideal situation and it is quite dangerous. We have got a lot of heavy vehicles coming through the village – I am surprised there hasn’t been an accident.”
He said the original play area had been dismantled more than 25 years ago and wondered why the parish council had not simply put in new equipment. Mr Lowther added: “There are grants out there so it is not coming out of their pockets. They [the children] are not asking for Flamingo Land, just a slide and a few swings.
“They don’t need anything big so it won’t cost that
much. I can’t see why it hasn’t been done before.”
But Ms Newell said the land where the original play area was sited belongs to a housing association which had been approached shortly after the parish council discussed the issue during a meeting last October
She said: “They were our first port of call, but the answer was no. We have been on this case for about 40 years – every time we get thwarted by legal restrictions or something else. People want it, but not in their back yard. People don’t want it near them.”
She added that the parish council had a piece of land in mind which could potentially house a playpark, but negotiations with the landowner have yet to take place.
![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)
