Critics slam planned northern relief road

County bosses have defended plans for a new road which could improve links between Wearside and parts of Durham City.

Proposals in the draft County Durham Plan (CDP) have suggested a ‘Northern Relief Road’ connecting the A690 near Carrville with Pity Me and Brasside, to the north of the city.

But the scheme, one of two new relief roads planned for Durham, has been attacked by critics over the impact it could have on wildlife and air quality, as well as traffic and congestion.

“As the road fills up [the impact] will become significant, with more cars using the road the scale of that impact will go up over time,” said Jonathan Elmer, a Green Party member of the City of Durham Parish Councilandcandidatefornext month’s general election.

“And the more and more webecomecardependentand create car dependent communities, the more we create the potentialforpeopletobecome isolatedintheirhomes[asthey get older].”

Coun Elmer was speaking atasessionofthepublicexamination of the CDP, a blueprint for future development in the county up to 2035.

Government-appointed planning inspector William Fieldhouse began hearing evidence on the plan’s proposals in October, a process which is expected to end in December.

Mr Fieldhouse was scepticalaboutthe‘potentialforpeople to become isolated’ raised by Coun Elmer, which he said could not be considered a ‘direct impact’ of the road.

Other criticisms raised by opponents of the project included loss of green and leisure spaces to families living in areas such as Newton Hall and Brasside, as well as the potentialimpactoncitybusiness.