Barnard Castle residents ignore Appleby Fair parking ban
Residents say they are "dumbfounded" that temporary parking restrictions have been imposed on their street yet again.For the past 15 years, Durham County Council has put the ban in place to stop people on their way to Cumbria's Appleby Fair parking outside homes on Bridgegate in Barnard Castle.The temporary prohibition order states it is to "minimise a danger to the public caused by indiscriminate parking", with residents being asked to leave their vehicles in a car park 10 minutes' walk away.Despite appealing to the council every year, residents say they are not being listened too, so are "taking a stand" and ignoring the restrictions.
Mark Carter, who lives on Bridgegate, said: "The letter says there's no waiting at any time. It's things like when we do our weekly shopping, it's impossible. "And people coming home late at night and having to walk back in the dark. For some of the older residents, that'll be quite frightening."
Mr Carter explained Bridgegate residents had asked the council for temporary permits in previous years with no success, so he and others had decided to ignore the cones which were put up along both sides of the road."I don't agree with it," he said. "Even if they do give us fines, we're not going to pay them because we should have a right to park outside our own homes."Fellow resident Emily Brown has a four-year-old daughter and is also ignoring the restrictions this year. "They've offered us permits to park at the top of town but that's no good when you've got a little girl who doesn't want to walk to the car, then trying to navigate back through the traffic to get to school," she said.Mrs Brown added it had been "a long time" since travellers had tried to park in town and said the council should "stop discriminating against the travelling community".Dave Lewin, Durham County Council's strategic traffic manager, said: "We continue to work closely with partners, businesses, residents and members of the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller communities to provide a smooth transition through Barnard Castle."We welcome and value any relevant feedback from residents and road users and such feedback will be included in future discussions and considerations."
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