Here is my letter to the transport councillor for DBC.
Hello Cllr Lyonette,
I wonder if you can help me.
I live in *****.
I moved here a year ago to give my children a good quality of life.
However, I’m extremely saddened that our quality of life is being seriously compromised by Darlington Borough Council.
I don’t drive, I don’t want to drive, I want to be as “environmentally friendly” as I possibly can be, I need my children to be aware of the damages done to our planet by carbon emissions & I want, above all else, for my children to be safe.
I take my children to school by bus, since the council cut bus subsidies for our village, we are now forced to walk 3/4 of a mile to the nearest bus stop.
Not a great distance admittedly, however, this is an unlit country lane & in walking down there, my children’s lives are being put at risk EVERY DAY. The footpath is absolutely horrific.
Potholes completely cover the path between the village & the ****** hotel. I’ve quite honestly never seen anything so bad.
Such is the terrible state of the path, I am literally forced to push my baby’s buggy on the road. I’m sure you can appreciate that this is life threatening, particularly in the winter months when we’re coming home in darkness.
Please, I urge you, have this fixed right away.
I’m also an avid cyclist & would very much like to cycle to work & have my children cycle to school, however, there is absolutely ZERO provision for us to ride our bikes into town.
What happened to Darlington supposedly being a cycling demonstration town? Was this a joke?
Not only that but Darlington was also chosen to be a sustainable transport town in 2005, again, I shake my head in disbelief & wait for someone to tell me it was all just one big April fools ….
The council’s Local Motion project urges me to use sustainable transport – HOW?!
There is absolutely zero help available for me & my family. No bus provision, shocking footpaths, no cycle paths.
Now we have the closure of the Arts Centre which has had a knock on effect to Darlovelo, the cycle hire scheme.
I used this service whilst pregnant as they were easier bikes for me to ride. How is Darlington ever going to encourage sustainable transport when services such as this aren’t given the time of day?
PLEASE HELP US.
The infrastructure is terrible & is making a laughing stock out of Darlington.
Thanks for your time.
Twitter
I completely agree with this. I also know exactly which village this place is, as I live there too. Many times after a late night shift I’ve been walking up the un-lit road and nearly been hit by cars because you just have to walk on the road. A local farmer takes care of the hedges because the council doesn’t. It’s an outrage, and I know that the council is trying it’s best to cut costs. But seriously, what’s better? Saving a few pounds by doing nothing, or saving lives?
Your decision, DBC.
Incidentally, did you get a response?
Hi Jonathan, nice to meet you! (i don’t think we have already!)
Didn’t get a response at all from Cllr Lyonette – the fella in charge of transport!
I did get lots of help from Cllr Bill Dixon though who has sorted out the path at the bottom with a bit of new Tarmac.
I really struggle with what we’re actually getting from our (quite frankly extortionate) council tax – it’s not like we’re on the lowest band up here.
Thankfully I’ve now got middle child into local school in next village so we don’t need to walk to the bus stop – although if it wasn’t for friends here helping out on the school run, we’d still have a problem due to our walk including the portion of footpath less road by the quarry!
We got some news coverage with Phil Wilson MP to try & get buses re-instated, however that seems to have died a death.
As for this ridiculous, supposed cycle route from the A167 here into town, well that’s a whole new blog of woes & absolute farce.
Still, the fight is never over – we shall not become complacent, sitting ducks & I’ll certainly keep up the fight for more respect for this village