Durham City Homes has two properties which are available without having to go through the bidding process.
Esh Winning Woodland Road Flats (under repair) 1 x 1 bed bungalow
Gilesgate Churchill Square 1 x 2 bed Flat
Durham City Homes: 0800 068 0013
Tory working tax credit cuts are unforgivable
To cut working tax credits without fully compensating the poorest workers in our country is unforgivable. To do this at the same time as cutting inheritance tax bills for dead millionaires is shameful.
UPDATE: CUTS TO SCHOOL TRANSPORT PROVISION
You may have read my post last week about our Labour-run council’s plan to cut school transport provision:
At Children’s Scrutiny today I challenged this. Pointing out:
– the same department seeking to make the cuts has just announced it has saved 10 times as much so far this year as the cuts required to school transport – £7.6m
– the same department has £9.4m in a cash limit reserve allocated to nothing.
– the council has over estimated inflation this year as 15 times its current rate.
– the council has over estimated the cost of its debt to the tune of millions of pounds.
– the council has placed £20m in a planned delivery reserve to stop cuts such as this.
– the council has £6m more in its insurance reserve than it needs
– the council has six communications departments. If they were merged it would save upto £1.5m a year
– the council has more directors than it needs and could save hundreds of thousands of pounds by just reducing by one.
– the council said it would cut mileage allowances for staff and councillros by 3p from 48p a mile to 45p a mile which would have saved £240,000 it has now stopped this.
In total the council has £80m to play with and loads of ways to find the money it needs so that it does not need to make this harsh cut.
The response from one Labour councillor was that if anyone had sensible ideas they would be listened to but when i sugested the committee could recommend any of these things, I was simply told it was a consultation and my views would be passed across. Some scrutiny that is. The committee could have collectively opposed this madness.
And one Labour county councillor actually said that we should manage these things better to make sure there wasn’t as much bad publicity. The only people creating bad publicity are the Labour-run Cabinet on Durham County Council for acting like a bunch of far-right, slash and burn Tories.
Newton Drive path repaired
A few 
months back we called for the path at the corner of Newton Drive and Aykley Road to be fixed.
It was pretty bad. Thankfully Lib Dem pressure has paid off and it is now safe to walk on. Before and after below.
Abbey Leisure Centre price hikes thwarted and treadmills replaced
Attempts by the Council to hike some prices at Abbey Leisure Centre have been thwarted by your Lib Dem councillors.
After finding out that Table Tennis prices would rocket by almost 100%, we have secured an over 60’s concession to keep the price down.
A plan to hike soft play for infants by 66% have been scrapped completely after we challenged this with the Head of Service and Director.
And the two broken treadmills, one out of action for several months have been replaced/repaired after our intervention. Hopefully we will not see any more daft decisions on pricing or delays in repairs but please let us know if you do spot problems.
On a brighter note there is now a new tariff which also allows you to go swimming at Freeman’s Quay for just a pound a session if you sign up at Abbey!
Cleaning up in Framwellgate Moor
We have had three walkabouts on Framwellgate Moor Front St in the last week or so. Today I was out very early to discuss cleaning up the front street and terraced areas with one of our council officers.
The area is covered in weeds and I believe the council contractor has not been doing the job it should with weedkilling. The area is now being resprayed.
Next week the small cleaning machines should be out to clear up all the cig butts and other bits from the parking bays and pavements and in the coming weeks the side streets will be tackled too.
I have also asked that we look at replacing those bins without Cigarette ashtrays on the top of them or retrofitting. When new bigger bins were installed a year or so ago, they didn’t include ashtrays and now we have a horrendous problem with cig butts.
We have also reported various items of flytipping and rubbish and it has either already been cleaned up or shop owners have been asked to tidy up. Some of the takeaways really do need some harsh words!
A number of properties are also in an unacceptable state and we have notified various council departments about different issues of empty properties, burnt rubbish in gardens, flytipping and general untidiness.
We have asked that in some areas, the large number of bins are replaced with larger bins. I noticed on Victoria court that we have about 12 recycling bins which looks ridiculous, whereas there are four very large general waste bins which keep things far more tidy. There are similar issues on Tindale Avenue, and on South Terrace where we have partially addressed the problem.
More is planned… watch this space, but if in a few weeks time and going forward there is any flytipping, rubbish or other problems in this area please let us know. Only by us all being proactive can we clean up there area. Many residents don’t report things and the Council isn’t as proactive as we would like it to be. So if there is still rubbish around in a few weeks take a photo of any problems and email them to us.
Brasside flood alleviation plan moves a step closer
The ongoing work we have been doing for what seems like forever to protect Beech Close in Brasside from flooding moved a step closer last night at a public meeting for Beech Close Residents with council officers, your three councillors and representatives from the MOJ present.
After years of failings by so many agencies to address the issue we finally managed to get the Council to take this matter seriously over the last year or so, with a lot of work being done. Many years ago a meeting with the MP produced nothing and residents still vividly remember that Labour failure as was mentioned at last nights meeting.
The remaining hurdle to complete a long term solution is the lining of the main drain running through the estate, which would provide protection for up to 75 years. The cost is not so great, but more than half of the pipe is on Ministry of Justice land with the remainder under residents properties.
We have committed as Councillors to contribute towards the non-MoJ areas, to speed up the repair process from local budgets. Now a formal bid to the MoJ’s estates budget has been submitted by their regional estates officer, so we may be just a few months away from a final solution to this issue.
If this happens it will be fantastic news for those residents who have been flooded out as many as four times in the last 15 years. I am pleased to say, confidently, that without continuous Lib Dem councillor pressure this issue would never have been addressed.
The way in which residents were previously treated by the authorities was shameful. We were even told at one point we couldn’t bid for environmental agency funding when we could. Thankfully we are now closer than ever before to a final solution.
Thanks should be given to those Council officers who finally accepted Mamie, Amanda and I were not going away and got fully behind action.
Council cutting home to school transport for exam students, the disabled and those with no viable public transport
No I am not making this up. Here’s the link:
Consultation link: http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/6658/Home-to-schoolcollege-transport-consultation
The council has over £200million in reserves and says it wants to:
Remove the automatic entitlement to free home to school transport for:
- pupils in years 10 and 11 who move house while in the middle of their exam years,
- post-16 students who live in areas where there is no viable public transport system,
- post-16 students who cannot travel independently due to a medical condition or disability.
Their justification is:
They say they need to find millions of pounds of savings and:
1. Removing these automatic entitlements will help us to target financial support to those households in greatest need.
2. The proposals include the option to set up a Hardship Fund to meet transport costs in exceptional circumstances where families need financial help.
A few of my concerns here are:
1. That whilst it is possible council officers will act in a proper manner and make sure those on the lowest income get assistance, that is by no means guaranteed as they will be under pressure to meet financial targets.
2. Who decides which families are in hardship and at what level. A parent could earn more than the threshold, but have lots of other bills to pay.
3. Why seek to disrupt a child in the middle of their exam period, just seems plain wrong.
4. Parents of children in rural areas may have higher costs already such as transport. This policy could disrupt parental work patterns and put at risk those living in more rural communities.
5. As for those with medical conditions being penalised – really what planet are this Labour-run Council on!
I wonder what Jeremy Corbyn would think of a Council paying a Chief Exec nearly £200k but not able to help a disabled child get to school so their parents can get to work.
I’m not even sure David Cameron would approve of this.
The Council has repeatedly refused Lib Dem calls to cut the number of directors earning £120,000-£200,000 a year.
They have delayed plans to reduce mileage allowances for councillors and staff from 48p a mile to 45p a mile which would save a third of the money.
The council has refused to scrap its publicity magazine or its SIX publicity departments which would save double the savings from these transport proposals.
Presumably our well paid execs and Labour councillors need as many means as possible of telling as many people as possible about which cuts to the vulnerable they are planning.
Which seems more important to them than school transport for a disabled child!
I for one do not support their proposals.
Consultation link:
http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/6658/Home-to-schoolcollege-transport-consultation
Well done Newton Hall Women’s Institute
Newton Hall Women’s Institute has raised funds for a new community bench in Newton Hall to celebrate 100 years of the WI. There was a great turnout on Wednesday for the grand opening of the bench, which I was given the honour of carrying out.
A big thank you to the WI for raising the funds and to council officers who helped them arrange this.
Newton Hall WI has over 80 members and meets each week at Bede Lodge Social Club on Finchale Road. It is always looking for new members, sadly I can’t apply to be a full member as a man, but I can still enjoy the free cake I got today!
And they have made it onto the Northern Echo:
Reminder: Changes to Tip/Recycling centre opening times
The Council opening times change for the winter tomorrow, so Pity Me Tip will only be open from 9am-3.30pm. Personally I think they could continue to open for a longer period, but having tried to change this a number of times, the council is not going to budge on it.