RELIEVED traders in Staindrop have welcomed county officers’ u-turn on a planned road closure that would have “obliterated” their businesses.
Officials had wanted to close a long stretch of the A688 through the village for up to six days during the peak summer season for resurfacing work. This would have prevented access to shops along the route as well as the doctor’s surgery. Angry shop owners say the road closure, which was due to start on Sunday, July 29, came “out of the blue” and they were never consulted about it.
Under the closure, residents would also not have had access along the A688 from the bridge at the Ingleton turn-off to the Spar shop. The officially recommended detour for people wanting to get from one end of the village to the other was to follow the route to Ingleton, on to Piercebridge, ahead to Barnard Castle and back to Staindrop.
The county council said road works were planned to minimise disruption but added this was not always possible because of the size of the county and the sheer number of schemes being carried out.
Parish councillor Ed Chicken received notice of the closure on Friday, July 13.
He said: “It came out of the blue. The amount of disruption it would have caused is enormous. It seemed it was done without consultation, I thought it [consultation] would have been part of the job. This is the A688 – it is a really important route.”
Butcher Simon Hill was among the first traders to find out about the closure. Mr Hill said: “We’ve had no official letter from anyone as businesses or as residents. There has been no thought to the consequences. I am likely to lose 75 per cent of my business.”
Susan Melton, who runs The Country Teashop said her business would be “obliterated” because she relies on trade during the six-week summer holiday to get her through the winter. She said most of her customers are elderly and arrive by car.
She said: “Getting business back after it has gone elsewhere is really difficult.”
Questions were asked about how deliveries could be made to businesses, how the buses would get through and how waste removal could take place. Ms Melton was later informed on Tuesday, July 19, that officers had called off the road closure and would do the work later in the year or early next year, depending on the weather.
She was also told people would be consulted before work goes ahead.
Mr Hill said: I am very relieved. It will be nice when they do the road closure that they will consult with businesses that are affected.”
John Reed, Durham County Council’s head of technical service, said: “The resurfacing scheme at Staindrop is essential to ensure the road is in good condition but following our standard consultation with local businesses we have listened to concerns raised and postponed these works until after the school summer holidays.
“We will consult with businesses over a new date for the scheme and will let people know once this is finalised.”
