Startforth Parish Council

Pedestrian crossing on Bowes Road?

Startforth Parish Council was approached by numerous residents concerned about the safety of pedestrians crossing the busy A67 Bowes Road. The issue has become increasingly relevant since the Startforth Park, Grangefields and Castle Croft developments.

The Parish Council was advised that the request for a pedestrian crossing should be directed through the County Councillor to the Traffic Assets team of Durham County Council which is the Highway Authority.

In June 2024 the Parish Council asked County Councillor Richard Bell to submit a formal consideration of a lights-controlled pedestrian crossing on the A67 Bowes Road, stating that residents frequently experience difficulty and are at risk of being hit by traffic (whether travelling below the speed limit or not).

Here is the response received from Durham County Council on 9 October 2024:

Apologies for the delay in replying to your request for a signal controlled pedestrian crossing.

Requests for formalised crossing such as a zebra crossing or traffic signal controlled crossing are assessed against a national criteria devised by the Department for Transport (DfT), which takes into account various factors including traffic flow and the number of pedestrians crossing the road throughout the day and not just the busiest period. It has been proven that low pedestrian flows at formalised crossings results in more road traffic accidents whereby the motorist has failed to stop, therefore the reason for the DfT guidance. 

The County Council receives more requests for formalised crossing facilities than it is able to fund from limited road safety budgets. Due to the need to concentrate resources on reducing casualty accidents, the Council is required to direct its limited funding towards addressing locations with the worst accident trends. Having checked the accident recording database shared with Durham Constabulary, I can confirm no recorded ‘personal injury’ accidents associated with pedestrians during the past 5 years, being our standard search criteria. These figures represent a favourable accident record compared to many other locations within the County, where future intervention by the Council would be beneficial to improve road safety. 

In the case of Bowes Road, we have surveyed the location and made an assessment based upon our experience of completing appraisals against the Department for Transport’s criteria. Unfortunately, in this case, the national criteria could not be satisfied, this is basically because there is no overall “desire line” on what is a long section of road where pedestrians choose to cross where it is convenient for them, rather than at a specific location. In addition, and importantly, we are aware that the pedestrian flows are significantly too low to achieve the necessary threshold criteria to justify a crossing. Observations made indicated that due to the low traffic volumes, pedestrians generally did not have to wait to cross the road. 

In this case, the Council have made an assessment based upon our experience of completing surveys using the Department for Transports criteria and unfortunately, the national criteria are not satisfied due to the low pedestrian volumes. 

Community Marquee

Startforth Parish Council has a marquee which is available for local groups to hire.

It is a traditional style 6m x 8m marquee with side walls, but comes with no flooring or furniture.

Handling the marquee is at very least a two-person job, but four is probably better!

If you're interested in booking the marquee for an event, or would like further details of the charges and terms and conditions, please contact the Clerk on tel. 01833 640893 or by email: clerk@startforthparishcouncil.gov.uk

Alternatively, the Conditions of Hire, which includes the charges details, can be accessed here.

Action Plan for 2025/26

The Parish Council has agreed what it wants to work on and achieve in the current council year, which runs from April 2025 to March 2026.

The plan of work covers:

- The local environment

- Amenities and services

- Community Engagement and events

- administering the Parish Council

The full plan (4-page PDF) can be viewed and downloaded by clicking the button below.

Action Plan for 2024-2025

The Parish Council has agreed what it wants to work on and achieve in the current council year, which runs from April 2024 to March 2025.

The plan of work covers:

- The local environment

- Amenities and services

- Community Engagement and events

- administering the Parish Council

The full plan (4-page PDF) can be viewed and downloaded by clicking the button below.

Startforth Community Resilience and Emergency Plan

Whilst the Parish Council has no statutory responsibility to plan for or respond to emergencies, we recognise that preparing for one could help to reduce the impact that any such emergency might have on our community. At the same time we can support our residents, particularly our more vulnerable residents, to be more prepared for and resilient to emergencies.

The Startforth Community Resilience and Emergency Plan raises awareness of the risks our community might face and how to mitigate them and offers a plan of action for a coordinated response, if required. It also outlines how each of us can personally be resilient and prepared for an emergency. 

The plan was developed by a Working Group of the Parish Council based on guidance produced by the Government and with advice from the Durham County Council’s Civil Contingencies Unit (CCU) and the Local Resilience Forum (LRF).

Of course, the emergency services and local authority will take the lead for responding to emergencies and 999 should always be called in the first instance. However, there may be circumstances when the Startforth Community Emergency Group are called upon to assist, or to activate the plan before the emergency services can respond.

The full plan (16-page PDF) can be viewed and downloaded by clicking the button below.

Statement about bullying, harassment or intimidation

We treat everyone with courtesy and respect and ask for the same in return. We ask that you treat your councillors and council staff courteously without violence, abuse or harassment. 

Councillors and council staff have the right to carry out their civic duties and work without fear of being attacked or abused. Any behaviour whether that be verbal, physical or in writing, which causes either councillors or council staff to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or threatened, is totally unacceptable.

The zero tolerance policy includes abuse, aggression or threats made in person, over the telephone or in written communication, including on social media. The council considers threatening behaviour to be: 

• Attempted or actual aggressive, or physical actions made towards any councillor or member of staff.
• The use of aggressive, or abusive language, (including raising of the voice, swearing, shouting or in writing) which threatens or intimidates councillors or council staff.

Trading Standards

Durham County Council's Trading Standards team has a new Facebook Page which will be used to share scam awareness posts, consumer protection campaigns and updates on the work the Trading Standards team is doing.

Visit the Trading Standards FacebookPage and see what you think.