A NORTHUMBERLAND village is being hailed as an example of how to preserve rural beauty after a crackdown on double yellow lines.
Bamburgh, on the north Northumberland coast, is being held up as a case study of how villagers can get together and stop their village losing its character because of clutter and tourism.
It is one of several case studies from across the country which has been added into a toolkit for rural villages to use to prevent things such as road signs, dog bins and parking bays damaging the beauty and views of their community.
In particular, Bamburgh is being used to show how small tourist honeypots can avoid being clogged with traffic. Now rural experts are recommending that other communities in Northumberland take up the suggestions.
People in Bamburgh, with the help of a consultant, came up with ideas to reduce the impact of modern highway signage and street clutter, as well as parking problems in the summer months. The toolkit, collated by Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), talks about how parish council is looking to get a restricted parking zone throughout the village centre instead of ugly yellow lines.
It is also looking to come up with ways to get visitors to use the car parks instead of filling the village first and the village green is being restored to its role as the focal point, downplaying its former role as just another road junction.
The ideas have now gone to Northumberland County Council, which will examine them and create several proposals. Once the village has chosen which it prefers, it must go to the Department for Transport for final approval.
