Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth to request approval to progress Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) in Durham City’s southwest district (for copy see file of minutes).

D Lewin, Strategic Traffic Manager, gave a detailed presentation which included details of proposed TRO’s at Location 1: Briardene. for the introduction of no waiting at any time restrictions and at location 2: Sutton Street, for the introduction of no waiting & no loading/unloading at any time restrictions and Permit holders only/pay and display bays.  The presentation included aerial photographs of the area and details of the proposal and enhanced measures.

Ms S Wilkinson spoke on behalf of residents of Nevilledale Terrace in objection to the proposed Order.  Controlled zones had been introduced by the County Council in 2000 and Zone J covered various streets, with 122 houses in 6 streets, in total.  In Briardene there were a total of 35 houses which all had off street parking provision, mostly consisting of double driveways.

In other streets, residents had shared on street parking as there were no driveways in the other five streets and it was difficult to park, particularly for carers visiting elderly residents.  As per the report, the Officer advised that if the zone boundaries were amended it would disrupt the balance and create parking problems elsewhere.

Ms Wilkinson suggested that the introduction of double yellow lines would remove parking spaces and exacerbate existing issues such as the inability for refuse vehicles to access streets due to parked vehicles.  It was difficult to see how extending double yellow lines would improve access as the road was of a generous width and it was only during severe weather, when the only available parking was on Briardene or Margery Lane.

The proposal would exacerbate congestion in narrow streets and in her opinion all residents living within Zone J should have been consulted as part of the process.  There were only a small group of people from Briardene that supported the proposal.

Mr J Billinger spoke in support of the proposals as Chair of Briardene Residents Association.  The proposals to extend double yellow lines on the estate had been an ongoing process due to various issues in the street that were as a result of parking obstruction.

The issues related to the obstruction of emergency and delivery vehicles as the only way to exit was to reverse and doing so was regularly impeded by parked vehicles.

Briardene was only street in the area with no Houses of Multiple Occupation, thanks to a covenant, however it was plagued with parked cars belonging to students, sometimes abandoned for days and neighbours had to frequently ask one another to use driveways.  There were up to a dozen cars at times. none of which belonged to Briardene residents.  Mr Billinger had suggested to the University that a ban student vehicles, except for exceptional circumstances would be welcome.

In his opinion the situation was exacerbated by the present zone system and he perhaps in future there could be a situation where the street was a residents only scheme, nevertheless, he endorsed the proposals for Briardene and looked forward to its implementation.

Mr K Terrington confirmed that he was one of the remaining residents on Parkside and for many years there had been issues with unofficial taxis that were not registered in Durham and were occupying much of the space on Sutton street.  On occasions he had asked drivers to move vehicles in order for elderly residents to use the footpath and the installation of bays would legally allow somebody to park there preventing taxi drivers from using the space and obstructing the footpath.  He requested Members to endorse the proposal.

The Strategic Traffic Manager advised that if Members were concerned about one element of an application, individual proposals could be removed however they could not amend existing proposals or add new.

Councillor Sterling considered both proposals to be well thought out and sensible and moved the recommendation to endorse the application which was seconded by Councillor Robson.

Resolved

That the proposals in principle be endorsed, to proceed with the implementation of the Durham City (southwest) Parking & Waiting Restrictions, Traffic Regulation Amendment Order 2022 with the final decision to be made by the Corporate Director under delegated powers.