Belford Parish Council submits highways wish list and agrees to move proposed speed deterrent

The deterrent will be installed on West Street but its planned location has been moved from near the junction with Williams Way towards the school.

Cllr Kerry Noble, at a meeting of Belford Parish Council, said: “I spoke to a number of residents and I agree with them that it needs to be further up the street.

"If possible, it should be fixed to the horse’s carriage ‘Welcome to Belford’ sign because it draws the eyes of everyone coming down that hill.

"We would get the double-whammy of welcoming people to Belford while getting the message to slow down.”

The £3,500 sign, which would thank drivers who pass under the speed limit, is being funded via Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson’s small schemes budget with Northumberland County Council.

The parish council has previously suggested the sign should placed about half way along West Street as there is already a traffic calming chicane by the school.

Cllr Renner-Thompson said: “I have already signed it off so it should go ahead fairly quickly.”

The parish council has also submitted its priorities for potential inclusion in the county council’s Local Transport Plan (LTP) for 2021/22.

They have asked for various improvements on the High Street, including an extension to the micro-surfacing scheme carried out earlier this year and work to fix sunken manhole covers and a dip in the road outside the former bank.

Parish councillors have also asked for ‘slow’ signs at Middleton where speeding concerns have been raised and works to fix a drain at North Bank.

Cllr Renner-Thompson will also check on plans to resurface a section of the Cragmill road east of the railway crossing.

Cllr Noble said: “They patched it last week and, frankly, it’s appalling. It’s not going to last five minutes.”

But Cllr Renner-Thompson responded: "My understanding is that the recent patching work done there was a temporary job. They are going to bring it forward into this year’s budget.”

If completed, it will mean all three of the parish council’s 2020/21 LTP suggestions have been done. The others were resurfacing of the Cragmill road west of the A1 and an extension of double yellow lines on High Street.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.

If you can, please do pick up a copy when you are at the shops. Thank you for your support.