Lib Dem success: Better opening hours secured for Abbey Leisure Centre – PLUS Open weekend in October and New Functional training room

We’ve been working with the Council and listening to users to make Abbey Leisure Centre even better.

Users wanted the centre to open earlier so we had discussions with the Council and discovered that there was a period in the morning for setting up which wasn’t necessary, and a possible business case for longer morning opening hours.

Morning hours have been extend from 8.30-10.30 TO 8.00-11.30. (Mon-Fri). The afternoons have been adjusted to open at 3pm instead of 2pm as this time was very quiet. The new opening hours start from 1st October – Monday coming.

The Exciting New Functional Training Room looks great.

There is an Open Weekend on Friday October 21st and Saturday 22nd with loads of free sessions on Sat 22nd October: Inflatable session, soft play session, kids street dance, table tennis, squash, badminton, street dance, metafit, zumbatone, boxercise, functional training, stretch n tone.

Over the last few years we have helped to turn Abbey into one of the best leisure centres in the County. To think that Labour councillors wanted to shut it down! there’s still more to do, however over the last few years we have provided and helped secure funding for new gym areas, a refurbished reception and corridors, kids gym equipment and much more.

Now we have morning hours which should tempt in more users, particularly in the morning. Call in and take a look around!!

(It’s worth remembering that the Labour-run council aimed to shut the Centre. If it were not for users and your local Lib Dem councillors fighting to keep the centre open, it might not be there now.)

Teaching assistants being blackmailed into taking massive pay cut by Labour politicians

You couldn’t make it up. Yesterday Labour run Durham Council insulted Teaching `assistants by offering them two years protected salary in return for slashing their pay by up to a quarter.

I hope every Labour voter in County Durham finds out about how appallingly Labour is treating its lowest paid education staff. Why should anyone be expected to take such a huge pay cut? An utter shambles of a disgrace from a Labour run council which is acting more and more like a far-right Tory one.

Durham’s Labour councillors scrap youth club funding and slash youth budget – Lib Dem councillors vow to continue to help young people

Yesterday I challenged Simon Henig to delay any further cutting of youth service budgets.

Cabinet were deciding on scrapping open access services – youth clubs in effect.

At the same Cabinet meeting the department which is in charge of Youth Services, reported that it had made additional savings of more than £850,000 – unexpected early savings.

It also has £14m in a cash limit reserve not allocated to anything.

I asked that some of these unexpected savings be used to extend open access youth provision to give voluntary groups more time to change the way they work and search for alternative funding streams.

Cabinet members refused. Shame on Labour for ending youth club funding when they have the money to keep supporting them!

In addition to the £14m cash limit reserve in Adult and Children’s dept (now being broken in two), the Council has 50 other reserves of over £150m.

In addition it has a general reserve of £30 million.

Any suggestion from Labour politicians that we need to scrap youth clubs and open access provision right now is utter nonsense.

One Labour cabinet member said that she did not see why other areas should have any youth clubs since her area did not have them and in the past others (councillors etc) had secured facilities in their areas and that was unfair.

A damning indictment on her failure to ensure facilities in her area. This sounded very much like: If I don’t have them then stuff your area you can’t have them – beggar thy neighbour or what!

Whilst Labour politicians couldn’t care less about young people in our area, as your Lib Dem councillors will do all we can to ensure that our area has good facilities.

Over the last few years we have secured funding to upgrade play facilities in Framwellgate Moor, Newton Hall and Brasside, including a new play area at Caterhouse Road and brand new equipment in Brasside.

We also provided funding for Abbey Leisure Centre to have youth gym facilities and have assisted local community centres with funding which has helped local youth groups to have sessions in better quality buildings.

We have helped all our local schools with funding or assistance to improve facilities or provide excursions, local events or projects and this year we are supporting the only major fireworks display in the area at Framwellgate School – You can get tickets from St Cuthbert’s hospice which is managing the event and raising funding for the hospice.

We continue to look for other projects which can help young people in our area, so please let us know if there is something you think we can help with.

Traffic order for Framwellgate Moor to stop pavement parking

We have secured consultation which should lead to action on changing the parking restrictions opposite shops in Framwellgate Moor.

We made significant changes to improve the area a few years ago, getting limited waiting in the parking bays, and providing a new carpark at the rear of the community centre, however many inconsiderate people are still pulling onto the single width parts of the pavement opposite the shops.

The current restrictions are not adequate. The proposed restrictions we have asked to be consulted on will remove all rights to waiting and unloading on the pavement. If these proposals are confirmed, there will then be zero excuse for putting pedestrians at risk.

As local councillors we will then be asking residents to photograph any illegally parked cars and will be pushing for maximum levels of enforcement to stamp out this dangerous practice.

Labour-run Council computer farce – the muppet show continues

“Utter Farce” as Durham Council’s new all singing and dancing computer system stops councillors and employees reporting problems.

Durham County Council has taken a new system online to improve reporting of issues such as potholes, missed bin collections, litter and flytipping.

Unfortunately, the new system will not allow anyone with a Council email address to register. This means that the 126 County Councillors on Durham’s unitary authority can’t use it. Or for that matter the 1000’s of council employees!! We have also been told that we can’t use personal email addresses either! So we can’t use the system and are back to emailing in issues we need to report.

Except the new system doesn’t respond to you including the message you sent, so if we send more than one request for action we haven’t a clue which reference refers to which issue.

As I frequently send in up to a dozen issues at a time ranging from litter to flytipping to pothole repairs, I and all other councillors are now left trying to figure out which response refers to which request because of the Labour-run Council failing to make sure it had a brand new system which worked.

Only in County Durham!

I have contacted the Director of Neighbourhood Services to point this out. Apparently the council is going to try and find a solution but it could be some time in September or October. We are also to be “consulted” on how the new system works for us – a bit late isnt it when its already live?

Framwellgate Moor Front St Takeaways – Rubbish issues and Food Safety at our local takeaways, pubs and cafes

We have become increasingly angry at the rubbish being left by certain outlets outside their properties. Overflowing bins, tubs of fat and food waste are completely unacceptable, and we are adopting a zero tolerance approach to this issue which is ruining the look of the area.

Over recent months we have reported issues to the Council many times, however problems persist and we are concerned about the strength of the response and the results of enforcement.

We need your help. Every time you see overflowing takeaway bins or rubbish or containers left lying around at the front side or rear of any of the business properties on Front Street, or for that matter at any of the other shopping areas, please take photos with your phone and text or email them to us as.

Together we will make sure that these businesses and the Council take this issue seriously.

In addition we thought it worth providing details of the inspections done by the Council of the premises for food safety reasons – these are recorded on the Food Standards Agency website and are updated as and when an outlet has a new report which can be anything from 6 months to two years.

You can find the list here for Framwellgate Moor: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/authority-search/en-GB/%5E/framwellgate%20moor/desc_rating/0/durham/%5E/0/1/10

Here for Pity Me/Arnison: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/authority-search/en-GB/%5E/pity%20me/desc_rating/0/durham/%5E/0/1/10

and here for Newton Hall: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/authority-search/en-GB/%5E/newton%20hall/desc_rating/0/durham/%5E/0/1/10

If you can’t find the business you are looking for note there are three or four pages for each. You can also enter in the name of the premises, postcode or area in the search box on the FSA website.

Improving Framwellgate Moor Front St

We have been working on improvements to Framwellgate Moor Front Street. All the waste bins have been replaced with new ones. The old bins had broken doors, were cracked or damaged. We had three different types and most had no ashtray. Now all are the same and have ashtrays. We have already noted an improvement, but will have to wait until the start of the new college year in September to see the full impact. We have also been asking for more frequent cleansing of the street as pavement gullies have been clogged up with rubbish.

In addition, numerous bollards which were missing or damaged have been replaced and we are looking into further improvements in the coming months.

Ultimately we would like to see the pavements resurfaced however the Council says it doesn’t have the money. We offered to contribute to the cost but this was rejected.

County Durham Plan Issues and Options petition

We have launched a petition against Options 1,2 and 3 of the County Plan. Help us get signatures.

You can sign the petition on the Council website at:

www.durham.gov.uk

You can download paper copies here:

County Plan Petition 2016

Please get as many signatures as possible and return to us by the deadline.

The Council’s Option 1 for the future of Durham City over the next 17 years includes building 9000 houses including at least 5000 on the greenbelt. Options 2 and 3 are not much better, so we have a petition for an improved version of option 4:

PETITION AGAINST OPTIONS 1,2&3 OF THE COUNTY DURHAM PLAN & SUPPORT FOR A MUCH IMPROVED OPTION 4

We the undersigned believe Options 1,2 and 3 of the County Durham Plan Issues and Options proposals will place unacceptable pressure on Durham City and the villages around it, damaging the Greenbelt and risking Durham’s unique status as a World Heritage City. Varying Option 4 to provide a more even spread of housing, with additional infrastructure, skills and investment to boost jobs and regeneration in all parts of County Durham would offer the best sustainable plan for the City and all of our County’s towns and villages.

Paths cut back at last

After numerous attempts to get the block trod path from Pity Me to Newton Hall/Finchale Road and the cycle/path to Rotary Way from Abbey Road cut back, the Council have finally got round to doing it. It really shouldn’t be necessary for us to have to raise this to director level. The council has to get to grips with paths in urban areas which are not next to the highway. It has no policy at present, but I am assured that it is being looked into.

County plan options and issues – Urgent consultation

Residents have until the 5 August to comment on the first stage of the County plan.

We are currently delivering 6000 leaflets explaining our views relating to the four options being offered by the Council.

It is essential that as many residents as possible tell the Council that Option 1 is unacceptable as it would place too much emphasis on house building around Durham City. It proposes large scale destruction of the greenbelt with as many as 9000 houses to be built in Durham City.

The report can be read here:

http://durhamcc-consult.limehouse.co.uk/events/28610/download?file=3827560.pdf

Please send in your comments to the Council.

You can respond in numerous ways including by email to:

cdpconsultation@durham.gov.uk

We we will put more on the blog in the next few days.