Arnison Centre Expansion

We held a meeting with planners and the owners of the Arnison Centre today as your local councillors concerning a new planning application which will see changes to one unit and additional units being built.

The Pets at Home business is to move into the empty former Comet unit and their current unit will be upgraded and divided into a number of smaller units.

In addition three new small units will be built between Pets at Home and McDonalds. These new units will be for businesses such as restaurants, cafes, perhaps travel agent etc. We discussed a number of concerns as follows:

1. Congestion and Parking – The whole site will have a three hour maximum parking brought in which should free up a significant number of parking places. Additional staff parking is being provided to the rear of the units over and above what has been previously proposed. This makes a lot of sense and should make it easier to park and reduce congestion. We have got agreement on a full travel plan for the entire site to help promote use of public transport, car share and sustainable travel to the site. The loss in parking spaces is significantly less within the site than when a previous application was brought forward and the additional measures should actually increase parking availability within the site.

2. We raised issues about the safety of the entrance to the rear of the centre (Rear of Asda) from Abbey Road/Abbeywoods where cars are parking right up to the junction and this is being looked into.

3. We raised concerns about safety crossing the road to the new units. Officers and site owners say that putting up fencing to stop people walking straight out onto the road instead of using crossings is not appropriate. We disagreed with them but have been given assurances that there will be a considerable improvement to lighting and landscaping in the area of the new units.

4. We have also been promised proper landscaping maintenance and work to improve the landscaping around the outside of the site facing Rotary Way.

5. The Council is going to get a huge boost in business rates from the extra units as the government now gives councils half of any increase in the area. This will provide the council with hundreds of thousands of pounds of extra business rates income.

I have made representations to senior council management and the Deputy Leader of the Council to ask if they will consider providing some of this towards improving the immediate local area including Abbey Leisure Centre. After all it only seems fair that the local area gets some proportion of the benefit from the expansion.

Overall the development will help to fill the empty Comet unit. It will add to the variety of shopping at the centre and bring a significant number of extra jobs to the area. It should also result in easier parking but we remain concerned about the ongoing congestion and parking levels. For this reason we have been given commitments that the impact and progress of the travel plan will be provided to us on an ongoing basis. This will allow us to challenge the council and site owners if congestion and parking problems are not reduced.

If anyone has other issues please do get in touch with one of us.

19 Council Houses Available

Councillors are being asked to promote the fact that there are a number of properties immediately availabe for renting across the Durham City Homes area. Full list below for this week. Call Durham City Homes on 0191 301 8470 / 0800 068 0013

Bowburn

Lawson Road                          1 bed bungalow         x2

Kelloe

Woodland Crescent               2 bed house

Ann Avenue                            2 bed house

Morley Crescent                     3 bed house

Burnett Crescent                    3 bed house

Ludworth

Moor Crescent                       3 bed house               x2

Barnard Avenue                     1 bed bungalow         x2

Ushaw Moor

Skippers Meadow                  3 bed house  

Bearpark

Beaurepaire                            1 bed bungalow

Brandon

Vicarage Flats                         3 bed flat

Vicarage Flats                         2 bed flat                    x2

The Riggs                                3 bed house

Silver Courts                           1 bed bungalow

Redwood Flats                        3 bed house               x2

 

Highways budget axed

Each county councillor receives just over £5000 to spend on highways improvements across their area each year. The budget is called the LAMA fund. In the past we have spent this on road repairs, pavement renewal and replacement, disability dropped kerbs, pedestrian crossings, speed visors and road humps and various other things which are priorities for our residents.

The Labour run council has decided to axe this fund. The money will be given directly to highways officers to decide on where it is spent. This removes democratic accountability and it is wrong.

The council argues it will mean more money to spend on footpath repairs and the like. The reality is though that there are no guarantees that they will not cut the budget any time they like, which can happen without us even finding out given the black hole which is county hall these days.

I proposed an alternative which would see £600,000 ringfenced for councillors to apply to with other funding we receive to help get more highways repairs done, whilst at the same time saving money, but so far this has been refused by head officers and cabinet members. I have emailed all 125 fellow councillors today to explain to them my alternative in the hope that Labour councillors will look at this and see if this proposal or any alternatives are available to help protect local democratic accountability.

In the meantime, working with Mamie and Amanda we will continue our hard work to get as much work carried out in our area as possible, which has seen significant matched funding brought in by your Lib Dem councillors to help get roads and footpaths resurfaced and repaired across the area over the last few years.

On with the Pantomime

Not my words – the words of Durham County Council Chairman Pauline Charlton today at a meeting of the full county council.

In advance of this meeting it was agreed that appointments to the new housing body for housing currently owned by Durham County Council would be politically balanced with two labour and one non-Labour councillor.

Officers even told opposition councillors that this was the case and told the leader of the independent group that one of their members would be the non-Labour member.

So today with all that agreed, along comes Labour and turns the whole thing on its head, completely undemocratically by forcing through three Labour members on the board, changing the report, ignoring the Labour Cabinet and breaching standard protocols.

I asked Labour leader Simon Henig after the meeting who was running the council now as it certainly wasn’t him and his response suggested I was right!

So the chairman thinks its a pantomime and the leader isn’t sure he’s running the council – something the rest of us have known for some time.

Durham County Council is an utter disgrace and is failing democratically to represent the people of this great County. Simon Henig should resign.

COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE: PHONE SCAM

People in County Durham are being warned not to fall for a new type of scam which claims to offer protection from nuisance calls.

Durham County Council’s fair trading team has issued the warning to make residents aware of a so-called service which offers to stop householders receiving unwanted telesales and marketing calls.

The scam involves a call from someone offering to stop people receiving unwanted sales calls for a fee, payable by direct debit or with a bank card.

In some cases callers have falsely claimed to be from a large, well-known reputable company.

Joanne Waller, head of environment, health and consumer protection at Durham County Council, said: “There are a number of services which offer to stop people receiving unwanted calls and not all of them are genuine.

“We would strongly advise people never to give out their bank account details to anyone over the phone unless they are certain they are dealing with a legitimate company.

“We would urge caution if anyone is contacted by a company offering to stop unwanted calls for a fee.”

People can register with the Telephone Preference Service, which is free, to ensure they do not receive unwanted telephone sales and marketing calls.

People can register online at www.tpsonline.org.uk or by telephone on 0845 070 0707.

Anyone who thinks they have been targeted by such a scam is advised to report it to Action Fraud either online at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by telephone on 0300 123 2040.

Do you like green crap? (Not my words)

An email I received today from Lib Dem MP Ed Daveyy

Today is a good day – we’re creating another 200,000 green jobs right here in Britain.

They’re part of the Energy Act, which Lib Dems have worked so hard to steer through Parliament, and it has just become law.

Some Conservatives apparently call this “green crap” – but we’re proud to be the party of green. The environment is, and will always be, a priority for us. If you agree, tell us why now.

These 200,000 jobs are another example of something that simply wouldn’t have happened without the Lib Dems in Government – and we’re only here thanks to your support.

Help spread the word by telling me why the environment matters to you.

As long as the Lib Dems are in Government you may carry on hearing Tories complaining about “green crap” – but we should tell people the green truth: it’s about creating jobs and projecting the environment.

With green growth, we’re building a strong economy and a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life.

Best wishes,

Ed Davey