A VILLAGE is hoping a new playground will attract more families with children.
Whorlton’s neighbourhood plan has identified an “imbalance” between the number of retired people and families with children in the village.
Now the parish council wants to remedy that by revamping its derelict play-park.
The plan received a massive boost this month when the Big Lottery Fund announced it will put £10,000 towards the scheme.
This will be added to £3,000 in grants the parish has already received from Whorlton Community Association and Teesdale Action Partnership.
Parish councillor George Stastny said: “It is great, absolutely great. It came just in time, so we are elated. It means we can get on with the ground work. We will do that and see where we are and decide what we can afford.”
Current projections are the council will need about £20,000 to complete ground works and install new equipment.
A pledge of another £8,000 from county councillors for the area George Richardson and James Rowlandson should see the parish council exceed its target.
Cllr Stastny said: “There always used to be a playground. I have been here 40 years and there always was one.
“But the lease ran out and ownership of the land changed hands.”
That was about five years ago but it was only last year that the council succeeded in buying the land from nearby care-home owners The Danshell Group.
Cllr Stastny said: “They agreed to sell it to us at a nominal sum. It took us four years to buy because of legal issues.” Mr Stastny added the ground works include fencing, a gate, paving and grassing over the play area. Once completed, equipment will include a climbing frame, a basket swing and slides. The paved area will feature benches and tables where parents can watch their children or have picnics.
Mr Stastny said the revamped playground will provide access to a new cemetery which is on land that was bought at the same time as the playground.
Only a handful of spaces remain in the existing cemetery.
![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)
