Introduction of yellow lines not at final stage yet

As reported last week, North Sunderland Parish Council agreed to request that Northumberland County Council installs the parking restrictions on both sides of James Street.

It would not apply to the whole of the street, but the stretch from the junction with King Street down to the entrance of Kippy Law and the former police station, described by Coun David Donaldson as ‘where the bottleneck is’.

The county council consulted those residents who would be directly affected by the changes, not the entire street, on introducing double-yellow lines on one side of the street or the other.

Not everyone responded and it was a mixed response.

However, because the parish council now wants to restrict parking on both sides of the street, there will need to be further consultation.

While parking is an issue across the village, parish councillors particularly wanted to take action on this stretch because it is part of the route for the school bus and also provides access to the medical centre and is therefore used by ambulances.

There have been reports in the past of vehicles being unable to get down the street.

County councillor for the area, John Woodman, said he would support the parish council and will provide some of his small schemes allowance to fund the project.

But he was keen to emphasise that this initiative was about access and not about the village’s wider parking problems.

Coun Woodman has discussed the issue with the county council and the possibility of expanding the car park in the centre of Seahouses or finding a site that could be used for seasonal parking. “It’s a problem up and down the coast,” he added.

Following the publication of last week’s story, readers shared their views on Facebook with one pointing out that motorists flout the double-yellow lines on Main Street, but another responded that the real issue was inadequate parking in the village.