Barnard Castle Strategic Place Plan

Help shape Barnard Castle town centre's future

We are starting work in Barnard Castle with our partner Urban Foresight to find out your views and ideas about how you would like to see the town develop over the next 10 years.

We want this plan to be developed with our communities, so its important that you tell us what you would like to see for the future.

We want to hear from the people who live and work in Barnard Castle to help shape the future of your town. We want to understand your thoughts on its strengths and opportunities, what can be improved and what we’d all like Barnard Castle to be in the future.

There are no existing ideas in mind, this vision will be directly shaped by the people of Barnard Castle from the very beginning.

Over the next ten weeks, we will be talking to people in the streets, at transport hubs, bus stops, shopping centres, organising drop-in meetings, listening to children and young people in schools, visiting community meetings and local organisations to find out your thoughts on the town's strengths, opportunities, and challenges, and your hopes for its future.

About Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle is the main market town in the south west of County Durham. It has an important role as a key local service centre for the upper dales and as a central point for tourism. Within the town and in the surrounding area there are numerous heritage and cultural assets including the Bowes Museum, Castles and surrounding landscape including an area of outstanding natural beauty and High Force one of the most spectacular waterfalls in England. The town is located 25 miles south west of Durham City, is 16 miles from Darlington, 50 miles from the heart of the Lake District and on the border of North Yorkshire.

It is accessible from all directions from the A688 to the north via Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor, the A1(M) from the south, Darlington and Tees Valley via the A67 and has particularly good access to east-west routes via the A66. It is a relatively compact town and most areas are within easy walking distance of the main centre. Barnard Castle has a resident population of 5,172 in the main town but also serves a rural hinterland which has a catchment area of over 24000 that reside in the market town of Middleton-in-Teesdale and also surrounding villages, which include the settlements of:

• Cotherstone
• Mickleton
• Eggleston
• Staindrop
• Whorlton
• Bowes; and
• Startforth.

The area contains a number of key employment sites including the Harmire and Stainton Grove Industrial Estates and around 4,397 jobs are provided. Economic activity stands at around 71.4% (2011) of the working age population – which is marginally below the county, regional and national averages.

Barnard Castle acts as the main service centre for the rural west, as well as the principal focus for employment. Consequently, offices and industrial units are concentrated within the town’s two main employment areas of Harmire Enterprise Park and Stainton Grove.

Your Views

We will use the information gathered from you alongside what we know about the town to develop a draft vision.

We will then come back and ask you again what you think about the vision and start to draw up plans to help us get there.

The boundary map shows the Barnard Castle town centre boundary. The area covers the west end of Galgate taking in Horse Market, Market Place and The Bank.

It also includes some of the areas linked to the town centre and which will have an influence on the Vision for the town including Harmire Industrial Estate, Richardson Community Hospital, Glaxo Smith Kline, Bowes Museum, The Castle, Smith Works and HM Deerbolt Prison.

We want to know if you think we have missed any important areas which should be included in the map.

Complete our survey to enter into a free prize draw for a £100 One4All gift card. You will see the terms and conditions and privacy notice at the end of the survey.

Below shows what will happen during the project at each stage, how you can take part in the online surveys and other ways to have your say. The dates for future stages are provision and may change as the project progresses.

For more information visit Barnard Castle Strategic Plan Plan .

Phase one of this consultation will close on 3 May 2026.

For more information contact CED@durham.gov.uk

To have this in a different format contact letstalkcountydurham@durham.gov.uk.