Sign 'pokes fun' at bid to sell off police land

CAMPAIGNERS trying to save a Barnard Castle green space from being sold off have hit back at police with a visual protest. 

Durham Police is to sell the old force station site at Bede Kirk to make way for a housing scheme by the Railway Housing Association, a charity.

But Teesdale’s police and crime and victim’s commissioner, Ron Hogg, has come under fire for the move and this sign appeared on the site over the weekend.

A petition demanding the 1.36-acre site and its 29 trees to be retained has gathered more than 120 signatures so far.

Campaigner Sophie Ebeling said the people she had spoken to were “enraged” by the sell off.

She added: “Everybody we talk to say it’s really outrageous how they have behaved and what they think they can do.

“It’s a humorous sign – we don’t want it to become really bitter but everyone we talk to feels strongly.”

Barnard Castle Police moved into the emergency services quad hub on Wilson Street last year after leaving Bede Kirk. The Railway Housing Association wants to build bungalows on the site and renovate the former police station as part of a £3.2million housing development.

Mr Hogg said: “It is important that a sensible decision is made which balances three factors – the need to replace the old building with something more useful and

attractive, the natural environment, and the scope for much-needed income for the constabulary at a time when the government is cutting my budget and I am having to increase the policing element of council tax.

“What happens to the old building, and the site around it, is still to be decided. Durham County Council will have the final say because they are the relevant planning authority.

“The developer who is interested in the site is thinking of building affordable housing for older people there, something which I know is needed in the town.

“In any event, the building itself is ugly and should be replaced.”

Mr Hogg said he is prepared to meet residents to discuss their concerns.