THE return of a village pub and an end to any more major housing developments were the dominant desires gleaned from a consultation.
More than 250 people turned out to Startforth’s Easter Fayre to offer their views on what they wanted to see happen in the village in the coming years.
Volunteers on the Startforth Parish Neighbourhood Planning group were armed with pens, notepads and tape recorders during the festivities to jot down and understand what villagers wanted.
Event organiser Jim Boaden revealed residents were keen to see big housing developments come to an end and the former school to be retained.
He said: “They were the two big things – that the school/community centre should be preserved and used for the community and nobody wanted further large housing developments.
“We got a lot of suggestions – a lot of people wanted a shop or a pub.”
Startforth has been the site of major housing developments in the past decade with work on the latest 162 home scheme near Deerbolt Young Offenders’ Institution continuing apace and the closure of the village school.
Other dominant themes to come from the consultation included continued disquiet over the closure of the school and concerns over the absence of a pub or shop.
Parking problems, poor transport infrastructure and the need for better broadband were also brought up.
Mr Boaden added: “There will be more people living over there so more local amenities would be welcome to a larger population.”
Neighbourhood plans are documents drawn up by villages to help shape what happens with amenities and housing provision in their immediate surroundings.
Whorlton has drawn up a plan and other blueprints are taking shape in villages across Teesdale. However, while the county-wide Durham Plan remains on hold, there is still uncertainty over how much sway these neighbourhood blueprints will eventually have.
Startforth’s group had already handed out a questionnaire and a “play” with a fictional village to help
gather thoughts about the future.
The aim of this latest event was to collate opinions from younger families and residents on the western side of the A67 in the village. Mr Boaden was pleased with how it went.
He said: “If we just call meetings or give out questionnaires we just do not get everybody. I think part of it was everything else was successful as well – we had so many Easter bonnets and Easter eggs we ran out of tables to put them on.
“We had stalls and sideshows and the great thing was the number of younger families and we got a lot of people over from Startforth Park.”
Mr Boaden thanked Kirklands Nursery owner Janice Duffy-McGhie for all her help on the day as well as Brightwoods Forest School, Katie and Marcel Dieteren, for their aid running a milkshake stand, and the other neighbourhood plan volunteers.
