Lambton Estate bosses praise 'respectful' visitors as pathways close for the winter

The estate had been closed to the public since the safari park in the grounds shut its doors in 1980.

But in July, almost 10 miles of new pathways as part of a major redevelopment.

Four new walks were created, accessible from a public car park off the A183 at Bournmoor.

The seasonal access routes, which have been open each Sunday, are now closed for the winter but will reopen early next year.

Estate manager Tom Richardson and Calum Gillhespy, from managing agents GSC Grays, have been taken aback by how popular the move has been: “We started counting on July 26 – that would be the fourth Sunday – and since then we have had just short of 12,000 people and there have been 3,600 cars,” said Tom.

“We had to turn 80 cars away on the last day. There was capacity for about 140 cars at a time but we still had 80 who didn’t get in."

Calum believes the popularity of the new walks has been down to a combination of the easing of coronavirus restrictions, people’s desire to find somewhere new to go and sheer curiosity about what lies behind the estate’s walls.

The estate initially opened with little fanfare, but once the Echo reported the fact, there was a rush of interest: “I think the numbers have been greater than we expected especially after the first weekend was rather quiet,” said Calum.

“It was a very particular set of circumstances we opened in and that again made it very difficult to predict. But it has been quite manageable since then and it has been a relatively easy thing to keep on top of.

“One of the encouraging things appears to have been the respect that people have shown to the park.”

Tom agreed: “There have been a lot more people than I expected – then again, I didn’t really know what to expect.

“There is always going to be the odd plastic bottle or crisp packet but otherwise people have been very respectful. There has been nothing like the amount of litter we were expecting.”

There were a few early teething troubles, with tenants raising concern about people wandering off the designated paths, but improved signage and use of marshalls to guide people back onto the public access paths has seen concerns die down.

A new car park is planned, with charging – at the moment parking is free - but Calum said the estate was keen to keep costs to a minimum and not allow more people in than the grounds can cope with: “We want people to enjoy it as the quiet place it is,” he said.

"That is a balance we have to strike on how many people we let in.

"We have not gone into any detail concerning the cost of the car park but the idea is that we will use the charge to recoup the capital cost over time and maintain it going forward.

"Providing a car park is a cost to the estate and we have just got to cover that cost. I don’t think we would be looking to do anything more than that.”

Tom does not foresee many complaints about reasonable car parking charges: “A lot of people have been willing to pay and asking where they can do so,” he said.

The next stage of the development will see the creation of a new retail complex and additional business space.

It is hoped the Bowes Gate complex will be ‘a vibrant community hub, connecting residents and visitors with local businesses’.

At its heart will be a main building offering retail space across the ground floor, envisioned as a traditional high street of around eight independent local shops such as a bakery, delicatessen, butcher, grocer, estate farm shop, florist, pharmacy, convenience store and hairdresser/beauty salon.

Calum was keen to play down rumours the estate was in talks with a national supermarket chain about the site: “The intention is not for there to be any big retailers and it is not the intention to work with any of the supermarket companies,” he said.

Rather the vision is to create something akin to a country market town: “My experience is that the market towns are actually still quite busy compared to the High Street,” he said.

The upper floors were originally planned as office space but now other uses such as a wellness studio and medical or dental surgery are under consideration: ”I think we will need to be a lot more flexible with the upper floors than we had thought,” said Calum.

The estate has brought the plans forward after a number of informal enquiries and will be looking for formal expressions of interest next month: "We have already been receiving interest because people have seen the images on the hoardings – that was really what encouraged us to bring it forward,” said Calum.

“We are hopeful we will get the offering we want in there.”

After that, the aim is to press ahead with plans to develop affordable housing on the estate – one of the conditions of planning permission for the overall scheme – while the winter will see ongoing work to maintain and improve the footpaths and landscaping work along the Black Drive, which offers some of the estate’s best views of the stunning Lambton Castle.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Sunderland Echo website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.