We received a huge response to our petition against the building of thousands of homes on Durham’s greenbelt. Big thanks must go to residents who helped with this. 1671 local residents have signed it.

The council must listen to people’s views and recognise that their plans to build on 370 acres of open countryside are crazy. Large parts of the land they want to build on around the outskirts of Newton Hall, Brasside, Framwellgate Moor and Pity Me was under water over the summer and autumn. This land acts not just as a barrier to stop over development of Durham City, it also acts as a sponge to soak up heavy rainfall. The more countryside we build on the more risks of flooding both in the areas where the new housing is, and farther afield. Furthermore much of this land is productive farmland, has recreational and aesthetic value and is of value to wildlife. (more…)

PRESS RELEASE:

Durham County Councillor Mark Wilkes has secured commitment from the Council that they will address the major flooding which occurred in Witton Gilbert during the summer.

The council is applying to the Environment Agency for funding for major works which could cost upto £500,000. The Lib Dem councillor commented “The flooding in Witton Gilbert has been some of the worst seen anywhere in the County, which is why along with places such as Lanchester and Chester-le-Street, the Council has agreed to my requests that this be one of their highest priorities.”

Work in the village to improve culverts, drains and ditches is to start in the coming weeks including near the White Tun public house which was devastated by the flooding in the summer. (more…)

Received this today:

Sent on behalf of Ron Hogg, Police and Crime Commissioner: –

Dear All

As your newly elected Police and Crime Commissioner, I am hosting my first public consultation day on Thursday the 13^th of December 2012, and you are invited to attend.

There will be two sessions, the morning session which take place at 9am at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington and an afternoon session which will take place at 1.45pm at Durham Town Hall.  During the sessions I will talk about my vision and personal priority outcomes and I will be consulting on the Police and Crime Plan and the police precept.  A draft programme for each session is attached.

The sessions are free to attend and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to attend one of the sessions, please register by 6^thDecember 2012 by contacting the Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner either by telephone on 0191 383 5511, by email at: enquiries@durham-pcc.gov.uk or you can contact us at Office of the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL.

I would be grateful if you would pass this invite on to colleagues and throughout your thematic partnerships.

Yours sincerely

Ron Hogg

Below is the latest update form the Council on flooding. Continue to take care. Any problems get in touch.

As expected, the wet weather continued overnight and conditions in many parts of the county have deteriorated.  However the weather warning has now been lifted and we are expecting the weather to improve during the day.  That said there is still a significant amount of water about and flood warnings are still in force across the region.

As at 9am this morning, the following roads were affected: (more…)

I have been out today assisting with flooding problems in Witton Gilbert, Brasside and Pity Me. if anyone has any problems, they can call the council on 01913706000 or contact me if that doesn’t work. Managed to get council officers out (despite the county wide problems), to help with problems in the centre of Witton Gilbert and down in Brasside again, in both cases there are various things which are still needing to be done by the council which I continue to chase up on.

The A167 from Plawsworth to Pity Me remains closed southbound, Potterhouse lane is still dangerous and there is some flooding on the Fram to Sacriston road though not as bad as earlier. Across the County a huge number of roads are under water:

Update at 5pm from Council: (more…)

Please be aware that across the County there are a large number of closed roads and flooded areas. In our area the A691 Durham to Witton Gilbert and the B6532 from Fram Moor to Sacriston are flooded in a number of places and only passable with care. There is also flooding on Potterhouse Lane and I would urge people not to drive this way.

Teams have been out in Witton Gilbert to assist in clearing water at the White Tun which so far is not as bad as last time, and I have also been to Brasside where water is pouring off the farmers field again behind Beech Close.

Any problems call the Highways Action Line on 01913706000, if you don’t get anywhere call me on 07500125325 or 01913725866. Take care driving and don;t go out unless you have to.

Here is the latest update from the County Council: (more…)

does Durham County Council want to get?

Councillors attend scrutiny meetings where we are supposed to challenge what the council is and isn’t doing, to try and improve it. So you would assume that when we make comments and ask questions, someone would write this down so that there is a record of it. In a sinister move however, on the Economy Scrutiny committee, over the last few months, all mention of councillors names has been removed.

When I challenge a particular aspect of the council’s policy or performance or make recommendations, it should be stated in the minutes, however of late, it simply says “members commented”, meaning that there is no record of what any particular councillor has said.

So much for accountability. Minutes with no-ones names on them – So much for the council’s “Altogether Better” strapline. it also makes it easier for the Council to miss out comments which might be negative in the hope that no-one notices… no surprise there then.

At a scrutiny meeting today we were told that the new website www.businessdurham.co.uk has been up and running for 2 months. I have just had a look at the site and compared to what was on offer before it is a hundred times better, although still needs more information adding. It is however exceptionally slow and in internet explorer it didn’t seem to want to open at all.

What shocked me most in the meeting was that they didn’t even have a link on the Council’s own website to this site. Given the appalling lack of information on the council’s website about setting up a business, this is unacceptable. Hopefully the council will recognize this now and get the links onto their site along with necessary information.

I have asked how much money they have to spend on busines development within this organisation and where the funding comes from.