Reducing single use plastics in County takes a step forward

The council has added various buildings to the campaign Refill which is pushing for as many places as possible to provide free fill up points for water with the aim of cutting back on plastic bottles.

You can find out where all the possible locations to fill up water for free can be found at: https://refill.org.uk

A report will be coming to a special scrutiny meeting at County Hall next month regarding the Plastic Free motion I proposed to Full Council earlier in the year. You can find out more about the motion here:

Council agrees my motion to work to phase out single use plastics

£343,000 being spent on Northern Relief Road survey

As part of the proposals in the County Plan, the Northern Relief Road (NRR) has split opinions in our area.

A Durham resident asked a question at full Council this week about the cost of the survey works. The response is below.

My biggest concern with this is there has been no evaluation of other routes prior to carrying out this survey. Any sane organisation would have looked at all possible routes, drawn up a report on them and THEN and only then considered survey work on the preferred route – ideally after consultation with the public.

This is where this element of the County Plan is seriously flawed. It may well be that the NRR route they propose is the best option but to not even go through the due diligence stinks of arrogance.

I asked for a report to be compiled on all the possible route options and we await for that report to come forward, however I expect there will be comments raised when the final County Plan is announced and when it is discussed at the inquiry – could be egg on the Council’s face again if they don’t get it right second time around.

Council response:

 

Question:

Since early this year, extensive ground investigations have been underway along the route of a proposed northern relief road for Durham City. What is the cost or projected cost of this work and, secondly, what was the cost of such work a few years ago for a projected western relief road?

RESPONSE
Firstly, I would like to thank Mr Clark for the question.
We are currently completing a significant exercise to test the ground conditions along the length of the proposed Durham Northern Relief Road. This work is essential if we want to bid for national funding to deliver this critical element of infrastructure. The works will see the sinking of over 70 trial holes and boreholes, some up to 90 meters deep, as well as monitoring over a 3 month period. Although the works are not fully complete it is expected that the final cost of the work will be £343,000.
A similar exercise undertaken previously along the length of the Western Relief Road previously cost £273,000.
The Draft Durham City Sustainable Transport Plan is clear that the long term transport strategy for the city centre is dependent on the ability to provide more space for people travelling on foot, by bike and bus. This is impossible to achieve without a new crossing of the River Wear which provides an alternative to Milburngate Bridge. It is this additional crossing that is provided by the Northern Relief Road.
Providing the Relief Road not only allows extra space in the City for pedestrians, cyclists, bus users it will also create significant air quality benefits by removing unnecessary slow moving and standing traffic and allow the City to function as the economy grows.
Displacing non-essential car trips away from the city centre will also encourage residents and visitors to use active travel and public transport when travelling into the city at peak hours, rather than taking the car into the city.
The Northern Relief Road is a longstanding proposal to improve the road network around Durham City. The principle was established by the Inspector of the 1979 County Durham Structure Plan which stated that a Northern link road ‘will improve the link between Consett and the A1 (M) at Carrville and together with a Western Relief Road, reduce traffic congestion through the city centre. The road was also safeguarded in the City of Durham Local Plan 2004 and had been incorporated in the latest consultation on the Durham Plan.
The improvements resulting from the provision of a Norther Relief Road will have major benefits for the cultural and historic environment of the city, making it a much more pleasant place to work, shop and visit and having direct benefits to the built fabric and public realm of the city including the World Heritage Site and safeguarding the City as a premier economic asset.

 

Well done! Council Clean and Green Team in rapid response to dangerous trees

Yesterday afternoon I contacted our Clean and Green Manager about a dangerous tree at the entrance to the Arnison Centre. There could have been a serious accident as it was leaning at 45 degrees towards the road and was only held up by a sign.

The team was out and had the whole tree down and removed and the access fully open again astonishingly quickly. All credit to them. They also made safe another tree in Newton Hall and were called out to countless other problems across the area.

Hopefully we won’t have to deal with this again but if you do spot a dangerous tree contact the Council immediately and let us know.

Winter flu details

We have received the following public health notice:

The Stay Well this Winter flu immunisation programme will be running once again this autumn to help protect adults and children at risk of flu and its complications.
Flu immunisation remains one of the most effective interventions we can provide to reduce harm from flu and pressures on health and social care services during the winter.
Flu is highly infectious and easily spread to other people therefore, it is vital that those eligible for the vaccination have it every year to protect against different strains of flu which can change regularly.

It is particularly important for those who are at increased risk from the effects of flu and their carers to receive their free vaccination. People aged 65 and over, pregnant women, those with long term health conditions and their carers can receive their vaccine at their local GP surgery or pharmacy.

It is also crucial that we protect our staff and the vulnerable clients they care for by ensuring eligible council care staff have the vaccination each year. Eligible staff will be contacted directly and offered an onsite vaccination at their place of work.

NHS England have confirmed that care home and domiciliary care staff will again be eligible to access the national NHS flu immunisation programme. A joint letter from Public Health England (PHE) and the Director of Public Health which will be sent to all commissioned care homes as a first step in promoting this to providers.

To encourage as many people as possible to take up the free vaccine, we’ll be promoting it along with the Stay Well this Winter campaign to eligible staff and members of the public between September and November.

For more information on staying well this winter, visit www.durham.gov.uk/warmandwell, and for more detail on flu vaccinations, www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/flu-influenza-vaccine/

Arnison Centre update

Various issues have been raised with the company managing the retail centre, some going back over a year. We have chased an update from them regarding these issues: My comments followed by their answers below.

1. The area to the rear of Costa has had a skip there for months, being used for general waste. It has no cover and when it’s windy it blows out. There is a rat problem in this area.
This skip has been removed and I have received the waste transfer note to confirm this.
2. In the same area the road wasn’t designed right and a big stretch of verge which was planted up very nicely when first done has been mud since just after the pods/work was done.
We are aware of this and unfortunately this is due to the occupiers service lorries reversing over this area and damaging the planted shrubs. We have obtained a quote to move the kerb back but due to the large cost of these works we have to increase the budget to allow us to proceed with this. We need to see if we have the funds to proceed with this in the new year once the service charge has been reconciled.
3. Other parts of the site have areas where planting has disappeared or is dead.
We are aware of these and it is unfortunate that people decide to walk over the new planting and as a result it dies off. We have spent £3,500 replanting the shrubs along the Greggs and Costa pod at the end of June. We tendered our landscaping contract in June this year and the new contractor is meeting myself and our facilities manager on site next week to review what others areas we need to concentrate on.
4. The kerb near Marks and Spencer which I reported over a year ago as dangerous has now had cones on it for over six months.
If you are referring to the attached photo I had asked the original contractor to review this and move the kerb back. I will follow this up.
5. The zebra crossing point next to KFC has no crossing markings (worn off) and has now been like this for a year.
We are relining all of the Mercia car park and placed the order with our contractor on 7th September to complete over £3k of works.
6. Still no bins.
We are reviewing whether these are required.
7. Still no seating.
We have decided on the seating and obtained quotes. We need to review all the leases on the park as some of the retailers have exclusion and visibility zones that need to be considered and could alter the preferred location for the seating.

// We are following up on some of these answers but it is good to see some movement on these issues. If you have any other issues with the retail park or any other shopping areas please do let us know.

Abbey Road parking

We are currently working to address some problems in the Pity Me area around Smithfield and Abbey Road. The success of some of the businesses has increased the number of vehicles in the area. This has resulted in some pretty dangerous and inconsiderate parking, but we are on the case and are working with the businesses and the Council to get as quick a resolution as possible.

Cones, warnings and tickets at Newton Drive

Our push to improve safety and behaviour took a new direction this morning. I requested traffic cones from the Council and they dropped some off. I personally coned off the pavements around the school entrance near the doctors this morning after being  pretty unimpressed with the behaviour of those picking up children from the school.

We will continue to monitor the situation, with the Council’s parkingwardens going out as well as the police to enforce proper behaviour – I counted 24 cars fully or partly blocking the pavement at the start of the week and had to witness a disabled person walking in the road to try and get to the doctors surgery.

 

Framwellgate Moor Litter Fines

Following our request for action on Front Street at lunchtimes, we have had neighbourhood wardens and the police in the area. At least one student has now received a fixed penalty notice for littering and if things don’t improve further, its likely more will follow. Our approach is zero tolerance to anti-social behaviour in this area and we will continue to challenge in all ways possible to keep the area clean and free of problems. If you see anything which concerns you please do let us know.