A PUBLIC meeting is being held this week to canvas opinion on how to protect the lower Demesnes, in Barnard Castle, from illegal and overnight camping.
The meeting, which will be held on Thursday, May 12, starting at 6.30pm, at The Witham, has been organised by Barnard Castle Town Council, which is now responsible for the management of the beauty spot.
Town officials say they are looking for “positive, practical and achievable” long term solutions.
Mayor Cllr Rima Chatterjee said: “We want to get people’s views on what the best solution could be.
“Short term, we don’t have the time to get things going, but we have a few measures we would like to share with people.”
The meeting has been called after travellers moved onto the lower Demesnes late last month, cutting through the lock on the barrier to gain access.
Police and county council officials were praised after swiftly moving them on to the official traveller site at Shaw Bank, avoiding a repeat of last year’s illegal encampment on the lower Demesnes.
Cllr Chatterjee said a dialogue was continuing with residents living close to the lower Demesnes, members of the travellers forum and councillors.
She said the town’s four county councillors had been invited to Thursday’s meeting to hear the ideas put forward. Officers from Durham County Council have also been asked along.
The town’s neighbourhood police team will also be represented at the meeting.
Among the ideas likely to be outlined at the meeting is installing large boulders along each side of the track across the lower Demesnes.
But Cllr Chatterjee said: “Any long term plan will cost money – which we don’t have.”
She added: “We want the public to come along and hopefully there will be a positive outcome.”
