A WARNING shot has been fired across the boughs of a Teesdale sports club over the use of its home field.
Former town councillor John Watson warned Barnard Castle RUFC it wasn’t the only user of the Demesnes at last week’s annual town meeting.
The veteran speaker told councillors and residents at the meeting, organised by the town council, of his quiet concerns over the “emerging complexities” of the site.
Mr Watson said: “The Demesnes is an entity including the rugby pitches but not in isolation.
Other users are entitled to use it for reasonable use – as long as they’re not damaging it and especially outside the rugby season. So they do not have a monopoly over it.”
Years of legal wrangling has seen a slow move of assets from Durham County Council to the town council, with control of part of the Demesnes included.
Under the county’s “delivering differently” initiative, the town council has already taken over the Woodleigh building and Scar Top play area from the county council.
Discussions over the transfer of the Demesnes have honed in on the inclusion of the Barnard Castle Dog Training Club and the exclusion of the rugby fields along with the line of the western boundary and street lighting.
With the transfer looming, Mr Watson urged the county council not to divide up the field as though the rugby club had outright control over its use.
“Particularly with access across the upper Demesnes coming to the town council,” he added.
Rugby club chairman David Jackson said the county council were still the owners of the rugby fields and the existing lease still applies. He said: “That area is ours to play on. We are the custodians and we are held responsible by the deeds we hold on the lease that we maintain it, cut the hedges and look after it – it’s as simple as that.”
When it came to access and the upcoming handover, Mr Jackson said access had been granted by the county authority.
“Durham County Council are not transferring that piece of the Demesnes – I would say that’s because they get rent for it.”
Once the Demesnes is transferred to local control, Mr Watson said he was keen to see controls put in place to prevent travellers from trespassing on the land.
However, he warned that the disparate nature of traveller groups and gypsies now finding themselves “in a minority” meant managing the Appleby Fair migration faced new challenges.
Mr Watson added it had been “extremely trying”, “frustrating” and “deeply disappointing” to note the slow progress of the handover.
He bemoaned how Barnard Castle used to be “at the top of the list” when it came to asset management as it had the “most” complex set of sites.
But the transition from Teesdale District Council to the unitary Durham County Council had subsequently left the town “at the bottom of the pile”.
Mr Watson added: “Clearly the asset transfer is not at the top of the pile and neither is dealing with the legal detail of the Galgate greens.
“But when the authority has got to sort out the Chester-le-Street cricket ground, Sedgefield and the new County Hall – it goes to the bottom of the pile.”
