Since April last year I have on a number of occasions asked for action to improve part of the footpath on Potterhouse Terrace. Unfortunately I have again had to ask as nothing has been done. Hopefully something will happen soon as this is supposed to be a council adopted footpath.
We are pushing the owners to improve the look of the Mercia side of the site where Asda is. The landscaping has almost disappeared in many places and the crossing markings are barely visible. The whole area is looking a bit of tired mess now and needs some TLC.
I attended the planting of a tree at the shops today and got stuck in with digging the hole. The WI raised the funds for the tree to commemorate the anniversary this year of the national WI.
The Silver Birch should look great as is grows.
Residents complained about the amount of surface material coming off the road and we asked for pavement and road cleaning which was done, however the situation got worse and Amanda has had to ask for more action. We saw sweepers out today and will be checking to see if the work is complete and following up if not.
We need everyone to support the mobile post office in the village until a new home can be found for a permanent service.
The mobile post office is open 9.30am to 12.30pm on Friday mornings outside Framwellgate Moor Community Centre. There’s plenty of parking round the back.
The more people use it the more it keeps the pressure on to get a full reinstatement.
We are still pushing for one of the local businesses to take on the service.
We have requested road sweepers for many streets in the area over recent weeks, particularly in Pity Me and Framwellgate Moor. The Council appears to only do road sweeping these days when requested rather than proactively. It does seem though that when requests are made, the work gets done, although we do have to ask more than once sometimes.
If you notice any streets with a lot of leaves/dirt on the road or pavement, please let us know and we will request action. the sooner they are cleared the less chance of blocked drains and flooding, or accidents.
The Post Office is still set to close on Dec 30th. From January 13th, a mobile service looks set to operate at the front of the Community Centre but it will only be there for a few hours each Friday. Clearly half a day a week is not what anyone wants to see. We need a full time post office in Framwellgate Moor. As local Lib Dem councillors we will continue to try and find a solution but it is not looking good.
Yet again I chased up all the relevant parties this week, speaking to and emailing BT Openreach, the Council, Northern Powergrid and the Arnison Centre owners and indirectly, their Lawyers.
In short, the current hold up has been between Arnison centre lawyers and NPG.
Having spoken to NPG today they have returned documents which once signed by either the lawyers or the Arnison Centre owners will allow Northern Powergrid to come on site and dig the trench to supply electric to the Broadband box.
I chased up the Arnison Centre owners today to ask them to push their lawyers to respond quickly.
Once they have signed and returned to NPG the docs, NPG will book in the work, which could be anything from 4-8 weeks before NPG are on site due to Christmas holidays etc and they can’t start earlier because we have now reached the busiest period for the Arnison Centre and the disruption to the HGV access and bus gate is not allowed.
Unfortunately, in addition a small part of the area to dig up is public highway so that needs approving via the council which is something else we are going to chase up.
From NPG completing the works, Openreach have now confirmed to me that it would only take them 2 weeks to have the box fully active.
So best case scenario is now February for go live.
Needless to say I’m not holding out much hope of that given all the previous promises from so many parties, but given we would probably be still be at least a year away from getting this sorted if we hadn’t been intervening, a few more months wait is better than the alternative.
We will continue to chase everyone we need to right through to a successful conclusion.
So now we wait to see how long the Arnison Centre and their Lawyers take to sign the docs and return them to NPG.
The clock is once again ticking………
Many of you may be aware that the postmaster is resigning at the Premier Store and the post office is closing at the end of the month.
As your local Lib Dem councillors we are pushing hard to find an alternative location for the post office. We have already publicised this in the press which can be seen on the Northern Echo here.
We are also approaching local businesses to see if any are willing to take on the service.
Please contact the post office to voice your concerns by writing to FREEPOST YOUR COMMENTS (Nothing else needed on the address). Or you can email: comments@postoffice.co.uk
The more people write in to voice their concerns and demand action, the more chance we can keep the service in the village.
Echo story:
AN APPEAL has been made for a business to come forward to take over the running of a post office in a Durham community.
Lib Dem councillors have made the call to ensure the future of post office services in Framwellgate Moor.
The post office, which was moved into a Nisa store on the Front Street about a year ago is to due to close on December 30 after the postmaster unexpectedly resigned.
Cllr Mark Wilkes said: “We challenged the closure of the stand-alone post office over concerns about the future of services a year or so ago.
“When the post office was moved into the Nisa store we thought great, the service is protected.
“Now that’s out the window. It is simply not acceptable for such a vibrant area with so much demand for postal services to not have a post office.”
Local Lib Dem councillors are approaching local businesses to see if any are willing to take on the service and will be speaking with Post Office Limited about what can be done.
In a letter to councillors, Post Office network operations advisor Angela Bettison said: “I would like to assure you that we are currently investigating the options available which will enable us to reinstate a post office service to the local community.
“In exploring this it is important that any future service is sustainable for the person operating the service and for Post Office Limited.”
A concerned Cllr Amanda Hopgood said: “We need to protect the diversity of our shopping areas.
“So many people of all ages in Framwellgate Moor use postal services.
“The city centre post office was downgraded and we cannot afford to see the service in Framwellgate Moor disappear.”
Fellow Lib Dem councillor Mamie Simmons said she was particularly concerned about elderly and disabled residents who rely on the post office to collect pensions and benefits.
Councillors have already had calls from concerned residents.
She said: “We must find a solution, there are too many people who have no alternative.
“One lady has told us she doesn’t have a bank account and struggles to get into Durham.
“These kinds of people are going to be seriously impacted by the loss of these services.”
Residents can comment on the closure by email to comments@postoffice.co.uk or by post to “FREEPOST Your Comments”. They can also comment on the closure by email to comments@postoffice.co.uk or by post to “FREEPOST Your Comments”.
Every year we try to find ways to cut congestion at the Centre. This year we have already been in touch with the site owners to ask that they look at what is possible to help with parking.
Thankfully the expanded carpark has been completed as well as the extra 50 staff spaces round the back. However the expansion of the centre means that it is looking busier than ever.
We have suggested they bring back the parking helpers who show where there are empty spaces, and continue to believe that the new layout needs some adjustment where some turns are too tight.
We have also asked if the council can signpost the Leisure Centre carpark as overflow parking at weekend.
Most importantly though, if you live close by and are not buying anything too heavy, consider walking to the centre at busy times – it’ll help burn off some of the calories we are all going to put on this Christmas and reduce congestion!!