The Council just released its plans for Aykley Heads including the demolition of County Hall.

The masterplan overview can be found here:

https://publicaccess.durham.gov.uk/online-applications/files/6DCFEA27F7BBD8792A2BE0F23975EDEB/pdf/DM_20_01846_FPA-INDICATIVE_MASTERPLAN-2731983.pdf

The list of documents for the application can be found here:

https://publicaccess.durham.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=QDEJECGD0H200

We have not been shown these final plans in advance of them being published, however we have had meetings with council officers before lockdown raising issues about the development of Aykley Heads roundabout, parking and congestion as well as public transport links amongst other things.

We will be looking at all these plans in detail.

If you have any concerns you would like to raise, please contact Mamie on 0191 386 9006 or Amanda on 03000 268726.

As the application is likely to go to the County Planning committee, I will not be commenting further at this stage as I am on that committee.

Abbey Leisure Centre will reopen on the 27th and we have been successful in getting the centre reopened throughout the day.

Previously it opened in the morning then closed for a few hours before reopening. The new opening hours will be much longer.

Opening hours when you will be able to book a gym slot will be:

8.30am-7.30pm Mon to Fri and 9am-1.30pm on Saturdays.

The Council web page was wrong and is being removed And updated.

When we have more info I will put it on here, but please do bear in mind that all sessions will need to be booked and that system is still being worked on by the Council to make sure they get it right! (We hope)

THe Parish Council are currently carrying out risk assessments and making the required changes at local play areas. Similar work is taking place at the County Council play areas in Newton Hall.

Shouldn’t be too long now before reopening. All residents are advised that they will need to bring along wipes/or a spray prior to using the facilities To wipe areas children would be touching, whether county or parish play facilities.

The County Council will start reopening some play areas from Saturday 11th.

Council press release below:

Reopening of playgrounds in eight locations from Saturday 11 July:

• Stanhope West End Playing Field
• Sedgefield Hardwick Park
• Wharton Park in Durham City
• Langley Moor Holiday Park
• Blackhall and Consett Park
• Willington Town Centre Park
• Bishop Auckland Jane Armstrong Park
• Stanley Oakey Park

The parks included within the first phase were chosen as they are popular facilities and, as far as possible, are spread across the county. Some also have staff on site regularly, which will allow the council to monitor any social distancing and hygiene issues that arise and consider issues and feedback when reopening other playgrounds. Unfortunately  whilst a very popular location, Riverside Park in Chester-le-Street has not been included as work is required to repair the play surface, which has eroded.

To ensure the first phase of reopening could begin at the weekend, temporary signs are being put up to highlight key social distancing and hygiene guidance. These will be replaced with permanent signs and include the following messages:

• Please do not attend if you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms.
• Please wash your hands before and after you visit the playgrounds.
• Please observe the two-metre distancing guidance.
• Please do not bring food, drink or your own cleaning products into the playgrounds.
• Please avoid entering the park if it looks busy and come back at another time.
• Please take your litter home.

The council’s remaining play parks will open as soon as their risk assessments have been completed and necessary safety measures have been put in place. In the meantime we will be asking residents to avoid the temptation of visiting play parks that remain closed, as the equipment will not have been used for some months and may not be safe.

Full communications including social media and press releases are being issued, and we will provide further updates as more playgrounds reopen.

Residents and councillors alike were in shock last week to discover the bus pull in at the hospital had disappeared, to be replaced with a huge amount of pavement.

We are all for improving pedestrian safety and distancing but not at the expensive of road safety.

No councillor was told about this before it happened and we’ve already had apologies from the council for this, however it does not fix the immediate problem.

Motorists are now overtaking stationary buses on the wrong side of the road. This really is an accident waiting to happen and someone at County Hall needs to listen.

As the roads get busier the queues because of this change are going to get longer too.

The irony of all this is that this was done to increase space for people waiting for the bus – but there are fewer people using the buses than at any time in history.

Perhaps the council could concentrate on edging back all the overgrown footpaths across the County instead, which really would help with pedestrian safety. There hasn’t been a budget for this in the entire history of this Unitary Council despite our repeated requests for it.

If there is a footpath near you which has become really overgrown, please report it to help@durham.gov.uk or let us know. We have reported quite a lot ourselves but the more pressure the better.

Cones have been placed from the petrol station down to the internal roundabout to stop overtaking and improve safety for pedestrians. This is a temporary measure, but the knock on is long queues.

We continue to push for a solution and hope that McDs will reopen for takeaway orders on foot very soon, to reduce the queues for the drive thru.

Everyone now seems on board with the need for an additional exit from the site or a redesign and we are pushing for this to happen as a mater of urgency. It’s something we have banged on about for a decade with the site owners and Council consistently saying it isn’t necessary. We all know it is.

The system we managed to get in place for queuing for McDs has now been withdrawn as the whole site has now reopened and it required closing off part of the car park.

We have raised safety concerns with the site management company Workman, the site owners Sovereign Centros, McDs, the Council and the police. Earlier today i observed a father and daughter nearly get wiped out by a Range Rover overtaking at speed on the wrong side of the road through the crossing.

Please take extra care using the crossings on the site and driving around the site. We are calling for action every day until the issue is resolved.

Please report any incidents to the police and ourselves.

Someone has asked where all the smoke was coming from in Framwellgate Moor and Pity Me last night. I can confirm it was a barn fire which the local fire service dealt with just before sunset. news article below:

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/pictures-show-devastation-after-1000-18476730

The Council held its first Scrutiny meeting since lockdown today. This is one of the meetings where councillors challenge the council on its decision making.

The meeting was broadcast on You Tube for the first time with councillors and officer joining the meeting from home.

Comments from myself and my Lib Dem councillor colleagues Craig Martin (North Lodge) and Amanda Hopgood start at 55 minutes in.

We raised concerns including about care home decisions, cuts to help for the homeless during the crisis and concerns about all local AAP budgets being ring fenced for Covid specific issues.

We also commented on where the council and staff had done a good job.

Here is the link:

In the last week or so we’ve started going out round our area identifying where footpaths and pavements are so overgrown they are not safe to walk along or are a mess.

This is not an issue caused by lockdown, rather it is a problem because the council has no dedicated budget or teams to edge back paths.

This is a problem at the best of times, but in the current crisis, with so many more people now walking about through necessity, simply to try and stay fit, it is a complaint we are getting very, very regularly now. And making sure people can actually get past each other safety is critical at the moment.

So far we have reported several dozen locations where there are issues. I believe that the Council needs to tackle this issue head on.

We are making sure that the worst overgrown areas are being addressed by working with our excellent Clean and Green staff as quickly as possible and have even been and cut back some areas ourselves, but many years of under investment in this area by the County Council can’t be fixed using existing already over worked staff.

One way or another we are going to find a solution to this in the coming weeks and months.