AN upper dale parish council has launched a petition calling on Durham’s highways team to reduce the speed limit in Newbiggin to 30mph “before someone is injured”.
Members of Middleton-in-Teesdale and Newbiggin Parish Council are calling for a 30mph speed limit on the B6277 through Newbiggin, with a 40mph buffer put in place.
Currently, motorists can rocket through the small hamlet at the national limit of 60mph. Although there have been no fatal accidents in the village, the parish council wants the limit reduced in the interests of safety for all road users and pedestrians.
The petition was launched at the Middleton’s annual parish meeting, with Newbiggin member Cllr Wayne Appleton taking the honours of being the first to sign.
Cllr Appleton, a reserve manager for Natural England, said: “Reducing the speed limit is the main reason why I became a parish councillor.
“When I moved here last year, I got in touch with Durham County Council about it, but they passed me to the police.
“The police said it was a council issue.”
The parish council hopes to garner as much support for the petition, with all 110 Newbiggin households putting their weight behind it.
There are two petition sheets, one for Newbiggin residents and another for anyone who wishes to lend their support to the campaign.
Although rural, the B6277 at Newbiggin sees a large number of lorries from High Force quarry use the route.
During the summer it is also popular with motorcyclists and tourists.
Cllr Appleton said: “I have been talking to all the village and they are all behind it.
“It is not the fact that everybody speeds through the village, it is that the road is not made for the 60mph speed and with the quantity of wagons from the quarry rumbling through as well, it is a worry.
“I was talking to my neighbour and last year she was backing out of her drive and a motorcyclist ran into the back of her car.”
Cllr John Miller added: “The way the road goes through Newbiggin is quite bendy. It’s strange that it has never had a speed limit.”
County councillor Richard Bell, who represents the area at County Hall, said: “I have previously raised the speed limit with DCC highways and it did not qualify under Department of Transport guidelines, but it is timely to look at it again and I will ensure that the petition is considered seriously.”
The parish council will also be writing to Force Garth quarry operator, Breedon, to ask that HGV drivers respect a voluntary speed limit of 40mph until they have left Middleton-in-Teesdale.
The petition calling for a 30mph speed limit through Newbiggin is available at G and J Newsagents and MacFarlane’s butchers, in Middleton-in-Teesdale.
