St Cuthberts Hospice – Fireworks Display at Framwellgate School – Supported by your local councillors – Saturday 5th November – Display at 8pm, gates open at 6pm

Have you got your tickets yet for the fireworks display?

It’s in the grounds of Framwellgate School Durham on Saturday 5th November – Display at 8pm, gates open at 6pm.

As your local councillors we have provided funding towards the cost of running the event so that it can go ahead in our area and so that ticket prices can be kept reasonable and some money raised for the hospice.

You can get tickets by calling the hospice on 0191 386 1170 Extension 5 or visit eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/st-cuthberts-hospice-family-fireworks-night-tickets-26919866044

Full details:

St Cuthbert’s Hospice Family Fireworks Night
5th November 2016

The skies of Durham will be brought to life with an explosion of colour as St Cuthbert’s Hospice celebrate Guy Fawkes Night on Saturday, 5th November 2016 with our second fireworks extravaganza. There will also be fairground rides and catering vans to ensure fun for all the family. 

Event Timings:
6:00pm Gates and fun fair open
8.00pm Firework display

Ticket prices:
Adults (Aged 16 and over) £5
15 & Under £3
Family (2 Adults, 2 Children aged 3 to 15) £14.
*Please note children aged 2 years and under are free.

This event is sponsored by Ramside Hall Hotel Golf & Spa and kindly supported by County Councillors; Amanda Hopgood, Mamie Simmons and Mark Wilkes.

Arnison Centre Car park safety issues

We have contacted the Arnison Centre management company a number of times since August over the new carpark. Whilst it is set to increase capacity and in many ways is much better for shoppers, we are concerned about the safety of the junctions opposite Frankie and Bennies as well as a few other issues.

Cars going towards M and S and coming off the main part of the road into the car park are going to fast.

IMG_6473The new crossing has not yet been installed to get to the restaurants and it seems that this is the cause for the speeding traffic. I have already noticed one accident here between two cars and another near miss. Once the raised crossing is in place this should reduce speeds – perhaps this should have been installed first – or even over a year ago when we first raised issues about safety on the old crossing – which subsequently someone was knocked over at.

Additionally the left turn/carriageway (in the photo) at this point is simply not wide enough. This can be seen clearly by the fact that almost every car ends up hitting the kerb. The kerbs are already cracked up after just a few weeks.

1Finally the bollards protecting people who are walking through the carpark on the new pathway are not installed properly. We asked for the pathway from M and S into the car park to improve safety, however it seems as though just about every bollard has been installed using faulty materials and many are already very loose – the cement/concrete used has cracks all over the place. We mad them aware of this on the 22nd August and notified the council on 22nd September when nothing had been done about it.

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If someone accidentally reverses quickly into one it could hit a pedestrian using the new path. We informed the Council’s relevant officers a week or so ago, as well as the owners of the Arnison Centre.

It is very clear to us that the new crossing should be installed immediately and the bollards repaired as a matter of urgency. I also think the turning into the carpark in the photo should be altered so that drivers can safety get round without hitting the kerb. Hopefully the Arnison Centre owners will take this matter seriously and the Council will put the necessary pressure on too.

 

Do you walk your dog in Pity Me – Help tackle fouling – PLUS Help us get stronger enforcement

If you are one of the majority who go for a walk each day with your dog and pick up after it, you can help us. There are a small number of dog owners letting everyone else down. If you spot anyone letting their dog foul and then leaving it, please let us know the name of the person or culprit, the time, location and type of dog. We are trying to find those who are spoiling it for everyone else in the area.

We have recently targeted Newton Hall and now are trying to do the same in Pity Me. Indeed if you spot anyone anywhere leaving dog waste let us know the details.

We have asked for large signs to go up as a deterrent. Ultimately, people can face a large fine.

The Council has agreed with us that stronger measures are needed. They have a consultation running until 5th December aimed at having stronger powers of enforcement. Please respond to it by visiting this link:

http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/8635/Proposal-to-introduce-new-enforcement-powers-for-irresponsible-dog-owners

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.)

Pity Me path works – another Lib Dem success

Footpath resurfacing works have started today on The Avenue, Hudspeth and Hartside. We have been pushing for this for a number of years and are very pleased our repeated pressure has finally paid off and the paths will get the first work to them for decades.

Woodbine Rd, Folly Terrace and Red Briar Walk are also set for work and we are working with the Council to get a number of others in the area done too.

New bus shelters in Newton Hall – progressing well

A new bus shelter which was requested by residents during our survey earlier this year, is close to completion, thanks to our speedy action.

The shelter on Rothbury Road will help make it easier for local residents, particularly the elderly after we managed to get some extra steps installed as well!IMG_6131

Another shelter requested for Finchale Road, Newton Hall outside the school is currently under consultation. Numerous residents asked for one at this location and we are hopeful that it can be provided.

Over many years we have managed to get a huge number of new and replacement shelters, including scrapping many of the old brick ones which used to cause anti-social behaviour. Indeed I can hardly remember the last time we had a report of anti-social behaviour or noise in one of our bus shelters – other than some broken panels on Fram Front St.

 

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.

Tidying up the area – Pity Me

The Council has quickly responded following my requests for various areas to be strimmed and tidied up in Pity Me this week:

  • entrance to acorn place
  • the orchard
  • the rear of front street
  • st oswald’s sq

There is some litter picking still to do but I am assured it will be tended to.

If you know of other areas which look a bit of a mess please let us know so we can get them tidied up.

Council slammed again over Teaching Assistants

The Guardian newspaper today tore the shreds off Labour-run Durham County Council for it appalling handling of teaching assistants.

You can read the report here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/06/teaching-assistants-durham-pay-slashed-women-lions-of-durham-grunwick

Labour councillors should be ashamed of their actions to date.

Now a new proposal is in – an offer of a wage protection package for 2 years followed by losing unto a quarter of their pay – some deal that is!! Needless to say Lib Dem councillors are once again challenging the shameful actions of the Labour-run council and its Labour councillors over this matter.