If you are interested in transport issues, the County has produced a leaflet reporting on the outcome of Year 2 (2007/08) Area Programme Schemes. A leaflet can be viewed on the council web site at Area Programme Leaflet Yr 2.

This and much else is available on the Local Transport Plan web pages.

I’ve just received copies of a load of letters from County Hall about bus stops.

Firstly, all bus stops in Durham City District are (under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, no less) to be made “no stopping except buses”.  So, after the relevant road markings are in place, it will be an offence to park at a bus stop (unless you are a bus, of course).

Seondly, a number of currently unused bus stops will be removed as there are no longer any buses running past them. The ones I have been notifed of (in my area) are:

At Durham School, Quarryheads Lane
Opposite Durham School, Quarryheads Lane
Adjacent to 21 St Margaret’s Court, Margery Lane
Opposite 18A North End
Opposite and adjacent to Inishfree, Whitesmocks

Please let me know if there is an issue with these removals.

Our MP continues to claim credit for pressing for the re-opening of the Leamside Line, but it may be useful to put this all into a little bit of context.

Firstly a bit of history: The Leamside line was originally a relief/freight line by-passing Durham City that was closed some time ago. Unlike many other line closures, however, the rails were not taken up as someone with a few extra grey cells realised it might be useful in the future.

For some of us, that particular future should have started some years ago when road traffic started to become a problem. Indeed the Belmont Park and Ride location was chosen specifically because it is adjacent to the line and the prospect of a commuter service up to Gateshead is very attractive.

So the issue of re-opening the line has been raised regularly for at least the past 5 years at meetings of the Association of North East Councils (ANEC) and has strong all-party support there, as there is for a similar line up from Newcastle via Wallsend up to Blyth.

The problem is that under the privatisation agenda of both Conservative and Labour Governments, the strategic benefit of these lines has been consistently ignored even though the East Coast Main Line is approaching capacity.

MPs in the region (Labour of course as there are none of any other kind in Tyne & Wear and Durham) belatedly took up the issue last year led by Fraser Kemp MP (Houghton & Washington East) - yes, Roberta was in the room but it by all accounts Fraser was taking the lead.

It seems that the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has at long last realised that this scheme might have legs (or perhaps wheels might be more appropriate) , but it has been talking about a timescale of 2020 rather than the 2014 (latest) that everyone locally wants.

So that’s the background. My issue with our MP is that she is again trying to claim everything for herself without acknowledging the fact that councils regionally have been pressing this for a long long time and that she is only one of several MPS involved, and not the lead one anyway.

Letters to ministers are no doubt welcome, but as things are arranged, the people to press are actually the SRA, and efffective lobbying of bodies like that is best done by getting all the partners working together, MPs, Councils and business leaders irrespective of party affiliation.

PS It probably isn’t important, but as a minority Vice Chair of ANEC I have often spoken at its meetings in support of opening the Leamside Line!

I received an e-mail yesterday from the public transport co-ordinator at County Hall to say that the District Councils should have posted out all the new national bus passes by last night.

Mine did not arrive today, so I guess they are going out second class!

Remember - unless you have told the City Council otherwise, your replacement will be sent out to the address you gave when you first got yours.

Also, the new bus pass is only valid from 1 April, so keep using the existing one until then.

The English National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme comes into force on 1 April 2008.

The County Council has produced a leaflet which I have managed to manufacture as a pdf-file and can be viewed below.

County Durham Travel - National Bus Pass Leaflet

Some key points are:

• Existing passholders will automatically be sent a new pass in the post before 1 April (so if you do not get one by then contact the City Council straight away - you should not use the old one after 1 April).
• It follows that anyone who has changed address since they got their current pass may need to contact the City Council now to ensure their replacement gets to them in time.
• Travel rules with the County remain the same, but elsewhere the new pass cannot be used before 9.30 am or after 11 pm Monday - Friday, nor in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
• Similarly the new pass cannot be used on long distance coach services such as National Express or private coach excursions and tours.

The contact telephone number for Durham City Council is 0191 301 8499 or you can do so on the City web site via www.durhamcity.gov.uk/ContactUs

I am hoping that it will be possible to upgrade Mill Hill Lane to allow cyclists to use it legally.

Mill Hill Lane is a very well used path from Merryoaks to the Colleges on South Road and down into the city. Over the years I have been able to get the pathway upgraded, flooding has been dealt with and extra lighting has been put in - but it remains technically just a footpath and there are signs prohibiting cycling.

Following a request from a local resident, County are now actively looking at ways to improve the route for cyclists. The main work needed is to increase the width of the path to provide separation of cyclists and pedestrians.

There are two main issues involved, the first is getting permission from the various landowners (and who they are does not seem very clear) and then putting the funding together for the work.

So it won’t happen overnight, but it will undoubtedly be a benefit for the area so I have given my backing to the project.

The County Council is looking seriously at moving to something called “decriminalised parking enforcement” across the Durham City district about 12 months from now.

This is all about who can issue fines for things like parking on double yellow lines, or causing an obstruction.

At the moment, these are criminal offences and tickets can only be issued by the police, a traffic warden (of which there are currently none anyway) or a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO).

There is now provision in law for the Highway Authority (the County Council) to introduce a scheme whereby the Council can do this sort of things and the offence ceases to be a criminal one. Sunderland, for instance, currently has this arrangement.

Personally, I think this should be an improvement because parking offences are very low down the priority list for the police and I know of areas (e.g. back lanes) where there are continuing problems. Having a dedicated staff to deal with it should improve things for most residents.

County Councillors for the City area were given a presentation on this after last week’s Highways Committee. The first stage for getting everything set up is for all the local parking orders to be checked for accuracy and consistency. Then the Council will draw up a scheme for approval by the Secretary of State. If that goes through, the Council will contract out the service and with a fair wind it could be in place this time next year.