Since the road was resurfaced back at the start of July after I pushed for it to be included in this years work, I have been trying to sort out the missed bit near the primary school. It seems crazy that the council would resurface such a large area and missed the small area near the school and doctors. I have passed this up the chain of command to try and get it sorted but not too confident at the moment with responses. Will keep pushing it.

I have today reported the road defect at Hudspeth Crescent for the n’th time in the last year or so. Waiting to see if this gets booked in before taking the matter to senior management.

As the last report shows, we are meeting with officers next week to kick off the serious discussions on the future of the centre.

The following is my report from after the meeting. Comments in brackets not part of meeting but rather my own actions/observations.

Present

Cllr Mamie Simmons

Cllr Amanda Hopgood

Cllr Mark Wilkes

Peter Hall – Chair – Abbey Steering group

Steve Lister – Head of Indoor Leisure

Stephen Howell – Head of Leisure

Terry Collins – Director Neighbourhood Services

Aim:

To make Abbey cost neutral.

Issues Discussed:

General:

Centre to continue to be run by Council, who will make all final decisions.

Officers provided details of next stage of process.

Steering group and councillors updated on their views.

Staffing:

Council to determine future staffing for Abbey taking into account views on service provision put forward by staff, councillors and Abbey Steering group. No public discussion on staffing to take place without Council consent.

Council to take account of  investment proposals in looking at staffing issues.

Hours:

Agreement  that changes to hours will be based on minimum impact on centre.

Consideration of Sunday closure and alteration to other hours to try to ensure both off peak and peak membership remains as little impacted as possible. Proposals to be reported to users of centre once full plan determined.

No changes to opening hours before 1^st October.

Investment:

Council agrees that County Councillors can invest Neighbourhood budget funding into the centre immediately following the finalising of new running operations and for this to include possible improvements to conference facilities/rooms for hire, and provision of improved youth facilities possibly including gym and fitness equipment.

Council to agree to ensure that existing gym equipment is retained and improved from within Council’s existing stock where possible.

Council has added Abbey onto the program for provision of solar pv panels to help reduce running costs at centre and subject to completion of suitability survey these will be installed in current financial year subject to the wider case being made with those operating the Solar PV scheme.

Membership:

Agreement promotional offers/methods of seeking new members will be informed to Councillors/Steering group with a view to implementation at earliest possible point.

Covenant:

Confirmation from leisure officers that they have not had any discussions with the company with the rights over the covenant . Council comment: Abbey LC has been retained and the focus is on operating the site at nil cost. [I have a freedom of information request in to find out if any non- leisure officers have been is discussions]

Future Meetings:

Council officer(s), councillors and Steering group members to be present at meeting to update users of centre and wider public of progress on 31^st August.

Meeting between officers, councillors and steering group members to discuss in detail proposals for centre on 5TH August. Officers to have sufficient information at this meeting to detail financial implications of options.

[Any comments given to council from users off back of posters being displayed in centre by the council i expect to be included in discussion along with steering group information.]

Additional:

In addition to the above details, Councillors also ask if the following information can be made available for the meeting on the 2^nd August.

1. Although not being part of the required savings, please can a breakdown of the support services costs for the six centres be made available to look at wider cost issues.

2. Answer to whether a proportion the Feed-in Tariff payments from any solar pv will be attributed to the running costs at the centre and if the energy savings will be considered in calculating the cost neutrality of the centre.

3. Details of what the Council will be investing in relation to repairs and maintenance in the current financial year

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So overall, all parties are doing all they can to get the best solution possible for the centre.

The following poster is being displayed around the leisure centre detailing the current position. I will shortly put an update on last weeks meeting with officers on the blog too.

Abbey Leisure Centre

The future operation

Further to the council’s decision regarding the future of Abbey Leisure Centre. We want to keep you informed of what is happening.

We are currently exploring options for how the leisure centre will be operated in the future in order to minimise costs as agreed in the Council’s Cabinet report.  At this stage, it is intended that there will be no changes to opening times or activities prior to 1 October 2011.

Council representatives will meet with the Abbey Steering Group, who have taken on a representative role for Abbey’s customers, in early August. This is to discuss initial proposals and then, during August, to develop these ideas.  If you would like to contribute to the process, or have any comments or suggestions to make, please contact the leisure centre’s management.

Meeting date

A meeting will then be arranged for 7.00pm on Wednesday 31^st August where the proposals for Abbey’s future operation will be discussed. More details of the meeting will follow but ALL customers are welcome to attend.

Once the future operation of Abbey is determined, we will start work looking at any actions needed to help lessen the impact of a reduced service. However our aim is to provide a service that balances the council’s need to significantly reduce costs whilst also satisfying customer requirements where possible.

1 Aug 2011    Update 1

Councillors have been provided with a draft of the community buildings report from the county council which looks at the long term proposals for the 126 buildings currently owned by the council.

The report details a number of properties which the council intends to invest in, and others which it currently does not have money to do work on but which it would like to or would like to transfer owndership to community organisations if they can show that they are capable of securing funding and running such centres.

There are also buildings which they intend to close, or in some cases which are already closed.

Councillors have a meeting on the 2nd August to raise issues with the report.

I am meeting with Framwellgate Moor Community Association this evening to get an idea of how they feel about certain issues and will try to contact those involved with other centres.

Over a number of months now I have been asking for the council to make reparations to the building following damage to walls caused by a failure to repair the roof, and am still waiting for an answer. Some of the work can be done cheaply other work requires council involvement.

Following the official report  being released there will be a consultation phase on all the buildings in the county and I am sure there will be some serious to follow.

I will report back on the various proposals for each centre in the Fram Division after next weeks meeting.

I have met with a council officer today to agree placing a set of recycling bins on Fram Front Street as a trial which is happening in a couple of places across the county. If successful, the council will be considering rolling them out to other areas. The extra bins we have already along with these new bins will mean that we have more than enough capacity to cope with the needs on the Front St.

Once in place, please let me know what you think and once the trial has been running for a while i will report back on its success.

Councillors received the enclosed letter today regarding possible changes to the way that Council owned housing is managed in the county. Residents are to be consulted on this.

MESSAGE:

I would like to update you on progress with the Council’s appraisal of the options available for the future financing, ownership and management of its 19,000 homes.

Since April 2011 the council has worked very closely with its three housing management organisations (Dale & Valley Homes, Durham City Homes and East Durham Homes) and with expert financial advisers Consult CIH to develop a 30 year business plan and to identify potential options for the future of council housing. The business plan will enable the authority to understand how it can repay the £216M of HRA debt allocated to the authority (in order to introduce a new self financing arrangement for council housing) and determine how much investment is required into the housing stock and services over the long term. We’ve found that:

·         We need to invest around £797 million in our homes over the next 30 years. This works out to around £40,000 for each home; and

·         We must spend around £388 million on our homes in the first 10 years of our business plan. However only £333 million is available to us (in rents, funding and other allowances). This leaves us with a shortfall of £55 million, which rises to £63 million with inflation.

The shortfall between the resources available to the council and the investment it needs to make in its homes unbalances the 30 year business plan. The council will also struggle to afford improvements in the first 10 years of its business plan because the Government will limit its ability to borrow above the £216 million of debt they’ve allocated to the authority.

Consult CIH and the council’s legal advisers Trowers and Hamlins have identified a number of potential options to develop a balanced and affordable business plan that enables the council to repay its £216 million debt and to invest in its housing stock. The options are:

·         The council retains ownership of the housing stock and stays the landlord. This would mean the authority would need to make efficiency savings and could mean that it would need to defer some works to customer’s homes. The council would not be able to borrow privately and so a basic improvement programme is all the authority could commit to over the next thirty years.

·         The council could transfer the ownership of its homes to an existing or new Registered Provider (Large Scale Voluntary Transfer) or to a newly established council owned community owned organisation (CoCo). Transfer of ownership would mean that the new owner of the housing stock could borrow above the debt cap and a more extensive range of improvements could be undertaken to customer’s homes and neighbourhoods. At the moment the Government have not issued any policy guidance on their approach to stock transfer. The council will meet with representatives of the Department for Communities and Local Government in August 2011 to discuss their views.

It is important to note that all of these options would mean that the council’s homes will staff as social housing with a landlord who must (by law) operate as not for profit.

The council is currently consulting on these options with customers, staff, Board members, Councillors and other key partners. Details of a full consultation programme (on the options for the future financing, ownership and management of the Council’s housing stock) have been published and sent to Councillors representing communities living in affected areas.

There are also a variety of opportunities for all councillors to get involved in the consultation process. A suggestion box is available in the Member’s Library and a newsletter will be issued shortly. The option appraisal team will be available in the Durham Room to answer questions from 10.00am on Monday 8 August 2011. Two focus groups will also be held on the 8 August at 10.00AM and at 2.00PM. If you would like to attend a focus group please contact. (FOR COUNCILLORS)

In the meantime the Council’s webpage is regularly updated with information relating to the stock option appraisal. You can also keep up to date on the project’s progress by logging onto a website for customers –www.itsyourhomecountydurham.org

You can also follow our progress on twitter and facebook.

If you have any questions about the stock option appraisal or you would like a copy of the consultation programme  for customers and Councillors please contact the Stock Option Appraisal Project Team on 0191 3018220 or e-mail either housingdirections@durham.gov.uk

Councillors of all parties except Labour supported a cost effective proposal I put forward to move the Tourist Information Centre into the Town Hall entrance instead of shutting it down completely.

We proved that it did not need to cost very much, and in fact could end up being self sustaining. Labour tried to blame government cuts, it simply didn’t wash with us or i expect with the 7124 people who signed the petition to try and keep open the existing centre.

Labour is systematically ripping the heart out of our great city. If incompetence were a criminal offence the Labour cabinet would have been locked up by now. We have simply got to remove them from office before they completely destroy our County.

The council is offering a £28 membership to join Abbey Leisure Centre for six weeks to get fit for the summer and see if you want to carry on afterwards. At the end of the six weeks, you can get a £30 health and fitness voucher if you decide to join at the end of the six weeks. You need to sign up before the 4th September for the six week deal. Membership entitles you to use the gym, sauna and a whole raft of other facilities and programs.

The more people join, the more we can make Abbey sustainable and continue to improve it. Just call in to the centre for more information and to join up or call 0191 301 8301

The meeting last night in St Nicholas’ Church to discuss the market place was packed with residents. Barely a seat free in fact. Almost unanimous in their concerns about the mess we have been left with. From the critical road safety issues to the appalling drainage, metal bins, loss of traffic lights, a whole raft of issues raised, but the overriding view seemed to be that the shared use of road and pavement was unacceptable, and the overall scheme had been managed disgracefully.

I raised the issue of why the vennels had not had work done on them and have put in a freedom of information requesdt to find out if this work should have been included. It is one thing for the Labour Cabinet member to say that the project finished on budget, but clearly anything can finish on budgtet if you just do half the work.

I think this debate is going to rumble on. Once again Labour have made a mess of something which could have been great.

I would add that there are other bodies as well who may have to answer questions about this and about the way in which taxpayers money has been misspent.