Staindrop Parish Council

Road safety and traffic calming measures in Staindrop

- a position statement from the Parish Council, March 2023

Staindrop Parish Council knows that many residents have serious concerns about the dangers caused by traffic speeds, congestion, lack of a crossing place and inconsiderate parking in the village. 

The Parish Council has very little power to do anything to directly improve matters, but it is determined to influence those who can do something. 

Over the past many months, the Parish Council has tried to persuade various bodies to take this matter seriously, and to work together to introduce measures which will holistically address, if not completely solve, our problems. At the same time the Highway Code has been revised to underline that the hierarchy of road users places pedestrians and not vehicles at the top. The Parish Council believes that improvements to highway arrangements in Staindrop must recognise this.

A Community Speedwatch group has been out measuring the speed of traffic through the village. Their findings are reporting to the police, and the registered owners of vehicles being driven at more than 10% over the speed limit, are issued with a letter advising them to moderate their speed in future. More volunteers for the group are always welcome.

The police are able to deploy an enforcement van and will do this if certain patterns of speed can be identified as causing a problem. Drivers exceeding the speed limit and caught in this way would be issued with a fine, and possibly penalty points on their licence. 

The Parish Council has attempted to persuade the Highways Authority, Durham County Council, to introduce ‘buffer zones’ of 40mph on all approaches to Staindrop, and even to introduce a 20mph limit through the village, however, the highways officers don’t believe that this is justified or necessary. Some councillors find this hard to accept, given that such measures are commonplace elsewhere; indeed many regions are introducing reduced maximum limits as a default position.  A temporary vehicle-activated-sign has occasionally been used in Staindrop, however there is no hard evidence as to its effectiveness. The Parish Council requested a permanent speed-activated-sign which flashes up an approaching vehicle’s speed and perhaps also a smiley or a sad face. Eventually, Durham County Council has agreed to provide this, subject to a funding application (it costs £10,800) and we hope this will soon be in place. As part of a wider traffic calming scheme, the County Council is also renewing the ‘gateway’ entrance features at the Barnard Castle and Raby Castle ends of the village. New road markings (cross-carriageway markings, and ‘SLOW’ markings) will also be put down. The Parish Council has agreed to contribute £3,400 to the full package. It took many months for a traffic calming scheme to be designed by the County Council and throughout the process the Parish Council has tried hard to engage with the engineers about the best design. Councillors have differing views about the efficacy of Durham County Council’s ‘final offer’, but they are all agreed that the lack of engagement  and then pressure for a decision without the opportunity for meaningful dialogue has been very disappointing.

HOWEVER, parish councillors believe that there is still more than could be done – if only those in power would appreciate how busy, how congested the village is at times, and how difficult it is for people to cross the road. The situation seems to be getting worse and it really is affecting many people’s quality of life. A pedestrian crossing has been requested, on several occasions, but Durham County Council has repeatedly turned down this suggestion. 

The Parish Council has, with Raby Estates’ permission, installed on the Village Green an AutoSpeedWatch device which will measure the volume, and speed of traffic through the village (in effect it’s an automated version of the Community Speedwatch volunteers). Data from the device will NOT be used for prosecutions, but used as aggregated data to build a picture and evidence which will then be presented to both the police and the Highways Authority. The Parish Council’s hope is that when faced with evidence of what’s happening along the A688 in the village, it will be harder for those responsible for highways safety and for enforcement of speed limits, to dismiss the case for urgent and maybe radical improvements to help protect lives.

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There are currently three vacancies on Staindrop Parish Council.

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