I am petitioning for an urgent review by Durham County Council of pedestrian safety, road crossings and traffic calming measures in Sedgefield.

It follows an incident where my 6 year old boy was hit by a car on the road outside the Hardwick Arms Hotel. Thankfully he walked away with just scrapes, but is has shaken my family and the driver involved, and raised concerns that it is just a matter of time before there is a more serious accident or fatality.

Sedgefield has a grossly inadequate number of safe places to cross busy roads. Despite the population growing from three new housing sites, there is no investment in measures to slow traffic or allow pedestrians to safely cross the busy roads through the centre. The town has just one zebra crossing. 

Children need to cross the stretch along Church View, from West End to North Road, in order to get to Sedgefield Primary School. It is notoriously dangerous along that road and people traffic dodge on a daily basis. Others need to cross on Stockton Road, near the Dun Cow, to get to Hardwick Primary School and the secondary school. In both areas traffic is heavy, cars are parked on roadsides, there are junctions and motorists are known to travel at speeds above the limit.

I would like Durham County Council to carry out a review along all roads in the centre and speak to the people of Sedgefield to hear how strongly we feel about a need for better pedestrian safety.

Please let this horrible incident with my son be a warning that something needs to change and better crossings need to be put in place to make the centre a safe place for residents who need to get to the shops and schools.

Many thanks for reading

Kate