We have had a number of business owners contact us about how they are to manage.

Various announcements have been made by the government including loans schemes and grants, however trying to get the details is proving difficult. As soon as council officers provide details or I can find it online I will report it here.

Businesses are now able to contact their bank to get an emergency government backed loan. If anyone tries to do this and finds their bank hasn’t started offering this then please let us know.

Government advice is now being updated on daily basis. Latest advice today is critical and includes:

Avoid “non-essential” travel and contact with others to fight coronavirus.

Work from home where possible

Pregnant women, people over the age of 70 and those with certain health conditions should consider the advice “particularly important”

People in at-risk groups asked to stay home for 12 weeks from this coming weekend with further advice to follow.

http://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Please help the local food bank. They need to build up supplies as a matter of urgency.

The following are currently needed:

Tinned: soup, veg, fruit, spaghetti, fish, meat, tomatoes, rice pudding, sponge pudding

Pasta sauce, Long life Fruit juice, Powdered milk, Custard, Sugar, Chocolate bars, mini eggs

Toiletries – soap, hand gel/sanitiser, sanitary products

Any items for people with special dietary requirements – eg Long life milk alternatives, gluten free

Collection points in or near our area include:

Sainsbury’s Arnison Centre,

Co-Op Newton Hall,

All Saint’s Church Newton Hall,

Sainsbury’s Framwellgate Moor

We have had numerous discussions with council officers about Coronavirus and continue to receive updates.

The most important message we would like to pass on to all residents is to follow published advice from the government.

If there are specific localised messages we will post them here.

For the best current advice please visit http://Www.gov.uk/coronavirus

The most important thing to do is to follow the advice, not just for our own safety but for the safety of everyone in our community.

The County Council has a page which is also being updated:

https://www.durham.gov.uk/coronavirus

All Council staff are working hard to ensure that council services can continue and management are making sure staff are able to work from home in the event that they have to.

Clearly things are changing on a daily, even hourly basis at the moment, so please keep checking for updates on the government and council sites and keep abreast of the news.

Making sure our elderly and vulnerable residents are safe and have the help they need is going to be critical in the coming weeks, but in doing so, please make sure that you follow the government advice which is being updated all the time.

After a break online as we have been working on so many local issues, we will be updating on a regular basis on here from today.

NWL are aware of the problem and are working on it.

Last week we scored another major victory in the battle to cut Labour’s council majority. We managed to win in their their safe seat of Shildon. Lib Dem councillor Garry Huntington won with a massive increase in the vote: Garry got 1267 votes to Labour’s 682! Well done Garry. Let’s hope more parts of the County turn Lib Dem soon.

When the County Council said they had to cut down the tree which stands at the junction of Abbey Road and Wheatlands Way I asked them to leave a big stump so we could get it carved.

Amanda managed to find someone willing to do this for a knock down price and the work is nearing completion. The Parish council agreed to pay for the carving and we are funding a flower display around it later this year along with new flower tubs across the area. Should look fantastic when it’s finished!

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https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584

The biggest ever petition on the governments website – to revoke Article 50.

Lib Dem Bev Coult has secured an amazing election win, securing 63% of the vote for the County Council seat which covers Witton Gilbert, Langley Park and many smaller villages.

Labour which held the seat until less than two years ago saw their vote fall further to just 20%.

The Tories slid to just 8%.

Well done Bev, and a big thank you to the residents across this area for sending a resounding message to Labour at County Hall.