Rosemount Broadband Update

After repeatedly chasing up again, I have just been told that  Northern Powergrid will start works to provide electric to the broadband box from the 28th February to the 5th March. Another unacceptable delay it has to be said, but at least once the electric is in it shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks for go live. So fingers crossed, fast broadband arrives before the end of March.

Say No to Donald Trump State Visit – Petition Parliament

The actions of Mr Trump are divisive, misogynistic, racist and unacceptable to so many people. As the US President should we allow him to enter the UK? Probably yes. Should he be afforded a State Visit? At present I do not believe so. By supporting the petition for parliament to debate this we get a message out there that a huge number of us feel very strongly that he should reconsider his current actions and that we stand together with all those he insults and all those whose human rights are being impinged by his actions.

You can sign the petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171928

At the time of this post over 67,000 people an hour are signing the petition for this to be debated in parliament.

FRONT ST, PRIORY AND BEECH ROAD CLEAN UP – Lib Dem action with Council

The Council approached us about cleaning up the Front St in Framwellgate Moor after we made repeated requests for action. They are doing Spruce Ups around the County, however we had already arranged for many bollards to be replaced, new bins and benches so we thought tidying up the Priory Road and Beech Road shopping areas as well would be a good idea. All this work is currently underway, with new benches, pavements and roads being cleaned, paths cut back, chewing gum removed and more.

The flower tubs we installed have been planted up along Finchale Rd in Fram and we are working with the council on plans to replace these, as well as to do more work to the area on the other side of the road near the bus stop opposite Beech Road shops.

Hopefully when its all done the area will look much better.

In a few weeks the garages behind the Priory Rd shops will be taken down by Durham City Homes. The area will be left for parking to help reduce problems on the front road. We will be checking what it looks like to see if anything needs a further tidy up.

We still feel much more needs doing on Fram Front St. Pavements are not in a good condition, the drainage channels are forever getting blocked up and some bollards need replacing. The highways department says there’s no money for this work anti doesn’t meet criteria for resurfacing. We think they are wrong and will seek to find a solution as in places the pavements are a disgrace.

We are also looking at getting clean-ups of other parts of Framwellgate Moor, Pity Me, Newton Hall and Brasside, so let us know where you think we should get some work done. We’ve already asked for road/pavement sweepers at over 2 dozen locations and had additional bins installed in half a dozen more.

One resident has already been in touch to ask if we can sort the leaves out around Canterbury Road shops and on the path through York Crescent. We’d already asked yet again for the grassed areas in the car park to be cut properly and will be chasing this up again if not done.

SUPPORT THE MOBILE POST OFFICE IN FRAMWELLGATE MOOR

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.

SEVERE WEATHER IMPACT ON COUNTY

Head of Neighbourhoods sent this out earlier. A lot of work going in around the County.

Clean and Green

During the early hours of this morning we have attended several incidents relating to fallen trees.  In the north we attended to 2 trees that had fallen at Lumley, 1 at Nettlesworth, 1 at Durham (Carville) and 1 at Medomsley.  In the south 1 tree had fallen at Trimdon and 1 at Sedgefield.  All of the incidents are now complete.

This morning crews are currently responding to seven calls relating to fallen trees.  Incidents have been prioritised and crews are on site.

Refuse and Recycling

The windy weather is causing loose materials (such as recycling) to be blown about and in some instances bins to fall over.  Our clean and green teams are working with refuse to ensure any materials are cleared as far as possible, although this may take time. If it is collection day, residents are asked to ensure bins and boxes are secure as possible and once bins are emptied, if possible they should be taken back to properties.

Household Waste Recycling Centres

Tudhoe, Annfield Plain, Roman Way and Coxhoe sites are closed due to the windy weather.  Different sites may be affected during the day and we will keep the web page and Customer Services staff updated.

Buildings and Facilities Maintenance Service

Overnight B&FM had no  weather related call outs.

The Property Helpdesk has received 2 calls for assistance since opening at 8.00am.

Etherley Lane Primary – Tree blown down at entrance
West Rainton Fence – Wooden fence blown down

Highway Service

Highways Services had a limited number of calls relating to the high winds, the only call related to a tree down at Ouston which caused some property damage and was dealt with accordingly.   Emergency response teams remain on duty today to deal with any further issues.

There are currently no road closures as a result of the high winds. If the position does change this will be included in road closure updates on the Council website.

Street Lighting

Due to the high winds we have had one wood pole down and  a further incident of a tree blowing down bringing overheads down at the same location on the B6312, Woodland Terrace between Sacriston and Nettlesworth.

Further Updates:

Staff from across the services will continue to monitor and react accordingly, including out of hours through usual procedures.

Information will be posted on the Councils website:

http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/11188/Weather-disruption-Wednesday-11-January

http://www.durham.gov.uk/alerts

If you wish to report an issue in your area please either contact us by telephone 03000 261000 or e-mail at help@durham.gov.uk.

 

Road sweepers – help us get our area clean

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.