Framwellgate Moor Post Office update – Not looking good

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.

Rosemount area broadband update

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………

COUNTY PLAN CONSULTATION SHELVED

The Council has halted the County Plan yet again. This time because the government is to release a new White Paper on housing in January which may throw the Council’s housing projections out of the window.

The delays to the plan are almost exclusively due the arrogance of the Labour Party in seeking to force through overdevelopment in Durham City, which caused the first plan to be thrown out.

Now their delays have left us caught up in government policy. Hopefully the government will tell the Council that plans to sink Durham City in mass overdevelopment are unacceptable, however nothing would surprise me with the current Tory government.

POST OFFICE CLOSURE IN FRAMWELLGATE MOOR – We are fighting to keep a local service

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”.

 

Christmas at the Arnison Centre

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!!

Councillors commit £2800 from Members Funds towards Children’s Ward Improvements at University Hospital

On a visit to Treetops Ward at University Hospital I thought it could be brightened up a bit and had a chat to the staff. I then discovered that any non-essential improvements such as stickers on walls, toys etc were funded by donations. I also discovered that beds for parents to stay with ill children were not provided as standard.

This made me think that if each County Councillor gave a small amount from their Members Initiative Fund we could make a big difference. So working with officers we sorted out a form and I emailed out a request to 125 fellow councillors.

Amazingly, in total the request went out and dozens of Councillors supported the idea. In total over £2800 has been provided to the ward to carry out a whole raft of improvement. Councillors from across the County, from all political parties as well as independent councillors contributed to the total.

A huge thank to all those who contributed and hopefully the money will make a big difference to the children and their parents who have to spend time at the hospital.

Christmas Tree back in Newton Hall for another year and Framwellgate Moor gets new lights

Working with All Saint’s Church we have secured another year of Christmas decorations for Newton Hall. A bigger Christmas tree has been provided and the lights we bought last year will be up again. In Framwellgate Moor we have provided funding to the Parish Council towards the cost of new lights for the tree on Front Street.

110m stretch in to Pity Me to get big pavement/parking improvement

As many will have seen, the construction of the new footpath and cycleway we secured along the Framwellgate moor/Pity Me bypass is well under way. It occurred to us that if the work was extended into Pity Me, the long overdue improvement to the village could take place and be done cheaper.

We asked the council if they would pay for this and they refused, so we asked if they would contribute to the costs if we used local neighbourhood budgets towards it but they also refused.

Finally after repeated requests we got a price for the works which will save over £12,000 compared to this work being done separate to the Bypass works. So the 110m stretch of path from the roundabout to Potterhouse Terrace will now be resurfaced and rebuilt. The only bit not being done is the stepped area in front of the pub which we hope the Council will look to fund in the future.

We continue to be committed to improving the other side of the road too where the grassed area is in need of verge hardening as due to the lack of parking space, there is frequent parking. We are also working on improvements in other areas including on Framwellgate Moor Front Street.