Overgrown paths in Pity Me and Framwellgate Moor

I have now had to complain at Director level about two paths in our area which every single year get ignored by the Council and become so overgrown that it is practically impossible to walk or cycle along them.

The first is from the Vauxhall Garage on Abbey Road to Rotary Way and is supposed to be a cycle path. Its a complete mess with rose bushes almost touching the ground in the middle. It once was 1.8m wide, now the path is barely visible in places.

Different council departments blame others for who is responsible and it seems to fall on Public Rights of Way who it appears do not have any money.

The other path is very well used and is the Old Wagon Way/Black Trod. About 7 years ago Miller Homes paid a substantial amount as part of the Meadows development of the old council depot to upgrade the path from Pity Me Oxley terrace, right across to Old Pit Lane, connecting Newton Hall with Fram and Pity Me. Every year I have to ask for it to be strimmed, and right now it is less than 50cm wide in places. Many residents like to push prams or cycle along here, or simply walk along it. The Council has never yet put it on a strimming program despite even the new Chief Exec being asked for action and the surface has now almost disappeared. Hopefully now that these are on this blog and have been elevated to the top of the Council we will see some action. If the council wants people to walk more and cycle, the least it can do is keep some of the most well used paths in our area passable.

County Plan issues and options report to Cabient next week along with Sustainable transport plan (including Northern Relief Road) and Air Quality Action Plan

The first leg of the consultation on the County Plan starts next week.

Previously the Council simply published what it wanted and called it a consultation. This time they are providing options for consideration. The cynical will say they have already made up their minds and this time they are simply making sure the consultation appears to be above board.

The only way we can be sure that we get a better Plan for County Durham and for the Durham City area is for everyone to get involved and put across their views.

What I am absolutely certain of is that developers and land owners will inundate the consultation process with calls for huge housing developments around Durham City.

Collectively all residents must respond to this consultation making it known that we need a sustainable plan for the future which doesn’t flood the area with over-development of the greenbelt.

In addition to the plan there are two really important  reports also going to Cabinet – Sustainable Transport Strategy and Air Quality Action Plan.

I have been campaigning for the Council to get its act together on Air Quality for many years – they have failed catastrophically thus far, with an Air Quality Management Order being in place on the City for many years. Indeed were it not for the continued pressure from Lib Dem councillors I don’t think any plan would exist.

The second additional report is the Sustainable Transport Strategy. which includes recommendations for a Northern Relief Road. This very much links in with the pollution issues and the wider County Plan.

You can find the various documents going to Cabinet at this link:

http://democracy.durham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=154&MId=8478&Ver=4

We will be commenting in due course on all of this in more detail. With links to the Consultation pages.

Abbey Leisure Centre – Extended hours in July and Free thrive membership

Next week – Monday 13th June to Sunday 19th June, all visitors who are not currently members can sign up for a Thrive Card ( usually £5 ) for free.

This entitles you to  20% discount on a range of activities, including group exercise classes, swimming sessions at Freemans Quay, squash court hire, sauna/steam room use.

More info at: www.durham.gov.uk/thrivecard

Also, in July, the leisure centre will have extended opening hours between 4th July and 17th July. This is due to work being done at Chester le Street leisure centre. The opening hours will be:

Monday 7.30am-10pm

Tuesday 8.30am-10pm

Wed 7.30am-10pm

Thurs 7.30am-10pm

Fri 7.30am-9.30pm

Sat/Sun 8am-6.30pm

Lib Dem Councillors intervene over Durham Accident and Emergency expansion

Following the release of plans for a new expanded Accident and Emergency Department at Durham’s University Hospital, as local councillors we have been forced to intervene.

We did not get notification of the plans, this despite the fact the hospital borders our area and it is residents in our area who will be most affected. I also discovered not a single local residents was to be notified of the proposals either. In addition, the application from Durham and Darlington NHS Trust did not include a travel plan.

The council wasn’t  consulting with a single local resident in the surrounding area, despite this having a massive impact on residents.

We felt this was wholly unacceptable misjudgement by Labour-run Durham County Council.

For many years parking problems have plagued the area due to lack of space at the hospital and excessive charges for staff and visitors.

Following our intervention, the Head of Planning at Durham County Council has confirmed that residents across a wide area will now receive letters about the application.

We raised further concerns about the fact the Travel plan for the new A and E was not submitted with the application and would not have been seen until after the end of the consultation period. The plan will now be submitted in the next two weeks so that we can comment on it within the consultation period.

We also contacted the press about our concerns – some comments made below:

Cllr Amanda Hopgood, Lib Dem group leader said that submitting the travel plan after the end of the consultation period was “completely unacceptable” and would leave residents thinking there was “a rabbit away” believing the impact on the surrounding area must be addressed. Also commenting to the press she said “We fully support having an excellent A&E facility but we must see a robust plan to deal with the horrendous lack of parking at the hospital.”

The use of the A and E has doubled and is set to rise by over 30% over the coming decade according to the hospitals’ plans for a new Accident and Emergency building.

Amanda further commented “I am not convinced that this application offers anywhere near enough parking provision.”

“We were told previously that a multi story carpark was being considered. That is not in the plans. We will be analysing the travel plan when it appears and may have to challenge it at committee.”

Again Durham Council has accepted failings in the process and confirmed that a travel plan will now be submitted within the consultation period.

Cllr Mamie Simmons commented “We felt that the public in Durham were being ignored by the Council and the Hospital Trust in respect of this application. This doesn’t bode well for the future.

“Hospital parking is causing issues up to half a mile from the site. It causes serious disruption for residents and businesses.”

I believe hospital staff have never had their parking concerns adequately addressed by the Trust. Parking charges are considered excessive for visitors and staff and the nearby park and ride is near capacity.

Many streets around the hospital have had residents only parking installed, and the concern is that this will have to be extended even further out from the hospital at additional cost to residents.

We are also commenting that there has been large increase in complaints about the over-use of ambulance sirens in the area and that this could be further exacerbated by the expansion if proper procedures are not put in place – to clarify sirens do not need to be on at all times, only where there is a safety concern. Some residents believe that sirens are being used when there are no other road users or pedestrians around and are therefore unnecessary.

You can comment on the application by writing to the Council at County Hall, quoting reference:  DM/16/01417/FPA

To view the application click here. Note that the travel plan has not yet been uploaded.

Dozens of potholes, pavement defects, blocked drains and damaged kerbs reported by your Lib Dem councillors

Over the last few months we have been out and about noting problems across the area. In addition, our surveys have been coming back in and we have been reporting the problems you have identified. Many of these have already been fixed following our intervention, more are still to be done. We also know there will be other local issues not reported yet. Please let us know about any potholes, pavement defects, streetlights not working, blocked drains or broken kerbstones or anything else you feel is affecting the look of the area.

Streets where we have recently reported problems include: Newton Drive, Gray Av, Winchester Rd, Hylton Rd, Aykley Vale, St Cuthberts Av, Front Street in Pity Me and Framwellgate Moor and Old Pit Lane to name a few.

Article 4 Consultation – urgent

The council is consulting again on the proposals we secured to add our area into the Article 4 Direction.

This will make it easier to challenge the conversion of properties into Houses of Multiple Occupation. We need residents to back this proposal to make sure that we keep the sustainable community we need.

This is not just about student accommodation, there are properties being converted to four five or six beds which are basically terraced houses. The knock on effects are significant to local residents.

Please attend the consultations. Consultation dates:

  • Wednesday, 18 May, 1pm to 5pm – Framwellgate Moor Community Centre
  • Thursday, 2 June, 3pm to 7pm – All Saints Church, Newton Hall

Student accommodation/houses in multiple occupation (HMO) – Framwellgate Moor area – Council explanation

What are we doing? We are currently consulting on a proposal which will impact on student accommodation in Framwellgate Moor, Pity Me and Newton Hall. This is an Article 4 Direction which would mean that all future changes of use from a residential property to a HMO would require planning consent in Framwellgate Moor, Pity Me and Newton Hall.

Why are we doing it? The use of an Article 4 Direction would help the council maintain mixed and balanced communities in the area.

Where does it apply? It would apply to a defined area within Framwellgate Moor, Pity Me and Newton Hall.

The closing date for comments is Monday 6 June 2016.

More info from my previous posts below:

The council completed its first consultation on introducing new rules in the City on student/HMO housing earlier in the year. The aim of this is to protect areas from having too many houses of multiple occupation, to avoid the negative consequences. When we found out about this last year, we immediately asked for our area to be included as it had been ignored. An initial consultation was arranged by your Lib Dem councillors.

The council has now accepted that  the area should be considered for inclusion, and a final round of consultation will start soon, along with a couple of drop in events in our area which we have requested.

Our previous post on this can be found here:

http://markwilkes.mycouncillor.org.uk/2015/09/29/article-4-direction-framwellgate-moor-area/

Please do join in the consultation and help us ensure that our area retains a mixed community without any further increase in the problems which HMOs can cause in the wrong places.

Tindale Avenue Flytipping and rubbish finally sorted after further Lib Dem intervention

I was pretty unimpressed a couple of days ago when revisting South Terrace and Tindale Avenue to discover this:

WP_20160420_16_50_57_Pro

I had previously asked months ago for some of this to be shifted, then asked again a a month or so later, then two weeks ago on site with council officers I was given a date it would be shifted and it wasn’t. And of course it was even worse this week when I checked.

I am pleased to say that after elevating the issue and kicking up a fuss, the whole lot has now been cleared and in future I will not be so tolerant of such delays by the Council.

If anyone knows of any areas with flytipping and rubbish please let us know immediately so it doesn’t get out of hand, and if it isn’t shifted within a few days let us know again. We need to keep on top of such issues to make sure our area is kept clean and tidy.

Also if anyone knows who might be dumping rubbish anywhere let us know. The council can impose hefty fines on the culprits.

 

Finally – Action on flooded path near Vets for Pets

As your local councillors, over the last nine months or so we have repeatedly asked for action to fix the waterlogging of the main footpath from Newton Hall to Framwellgate Moor near where the cut through to Vets 4 Pets is. Repeatedly I was told it was volume of water from heavy rain, and that it needed to be monitored. We knew it was more than that – a complete lack of proper drainage. Amanda also raised the issue. Finally today on viewing how deep the water was we contacted the Head of Service at the Council. We now have confirmation that they are looking at installing a pavement drain to sort this out once and for all. Which, from what I recall is what I suggested was needed in the first place. Now we just need to keep an eye on how long it is going to take to get the work done.

streetlight removal in Northern Echo

As reported in today’s Northern Echo we are still really concerned about the A167 streetlight removal:

 

COUNCILLORS say turning out the lights alongside one of a county’s busiest roads would make the area unsafe for pedestrians.

Durham County Council plans to remove 35 street lights from a stretch of the A167 between Pity Me roundabout and Sniperley, on the northern outskirts of Durham City, over the summer.

The move comes amid a wider overhaul of street lights across County Durham, which has seen many lights removed and others dimmed overnight.

Back in 2013, the council said the changes would save £24m over the following 25 years, a total rising to £55m when inflation was taken into account.

But Mark Wilkes and Amanda Hopgood, Liberal Democrat county councillors for Framwellgate Moor and Newton Hall, say removing lights at the section in question would not be safe.

They claim the stretch has a joint cycle-footpath which is no more than 1.5m wide, narrower in places, and rarely maintained and they want safety improvements introduced before the lights go out.

Cllr Wilkes said: “We simply do not believe it is safe to remove all the lighting on this stretch without widening the shared cycle and footpath and providing a central refuge to get to public footpaths.

“I’ve been asking for years for the path to be improved and the council have again and again done nothing. If there are accidents along this stretch they will have themselves to blame.”

John Reed, the council’s head of technical services, said the lights were being removed as part of an ongoing programme to reduce energy costs.

He said the “standard running costs” of the lights was more than £4,000 a year, not including “potential replacement costs going forward”.

In a statement, Mr Reed added: “Removing street lights is only considered where it is safe to do so, following a thorough risk assessment undertaken by an independent road safety auditor.”

Cllr Hopgood said: “Any suggestion that the council can’t afford to widen the path or install a refuge simply does not stack up.

The council can afford six communications departments, spent millions on the stretch from Durham to Spennymoor and have over £200m in reserves.

“They should delay removal until they have found the money for this improvement.”

Removing street lights from the A167 further south between Durham and Rushyford was controversial when it was announced last year and there have also been calls for lights to be reinstalled on the A692 between Consett and The Grove, where a 27-year-old motorist died last November.