Call from council to be on your guard against rogue traders

Residents are being warned to be on their guard against rogue traders after a string of reports of doorstep crime.

Up to 10 incidents have been reported to our consumer protection team and police in the last few weeks.

Most have featured householders being offered bogus property improvement services, such as roofing and garden work – also known as fair weather crimes.

In some of the cases victims have reported that the rogue traders have driven them to the bank to withdraw cash.

Who is being targeted?

The incidents have taken place throughout the county and victims have been of all ages, including elderly and vulnerable people and women living alone.

Victims have reported handing over between £300 and £2,000 for the work, as well as jewellery. Nearly every case has resulted from cold-calling.

Cold calling

Rogue traders will typically call uninvited at people’s homes and offer goods and services on the doorstep.

More often than not, they exert extreme pressure on householders, charge inflated prices and display poor standards of workmanship.

The summer months often see a spike in these types of incidents as many people think about having work done around the house.

This is when rogue traders are at their busiest and, in many cases, they will target the elderly and vulnerable.

Look out for your neighbour

Trading standards officers from the consumer protection team are now calling on friends, relatives, neighbours and carers to look out for others in their community.

We are advising everyone to be on their guard against rogue traders and we would also ask residents to keep an eye out for any suspicious roofing or gardening work taking place at the homes of elderly or vulnerable family members and neighbours.

Rogue traders have a significant detrimental effect on the most vulnerable in our society and our officers will take robust action against anyone found to be taking advantage of people in this manner.

Our advice:

  • DON’T accept the services of uninvited, doorstep callers.
  • DO seek recommendations from friends and family.
  • DO try and use members of a trader’s scheme, for example Durham County Council’s Registered Trader Scheme.
  • DO call the police or trading standards if you suspect that rogue traders are operating in your community.

It’s time for Utilities to fix their damage permanently

It is increasingly annoying to see utility and other companies leaving our area looking a mess. They make huge profits, and as the example here on Dryburn Road shows, they are ruining grassed areas. The Council does’t seem to bother taking action until we intervene. Here, BT is parking regularly on the grass and has damaged it to such an extent that there is now standing water most of the time. I have asked our highways department to get them to fix this properly. If no other option is available they should create a hardstanding at this location so that when they access the broadband box they do not leave a mess. If you know of a similar location in Framwellgate Moor, Pity Me, Brasside or Newton Hall, please let us know.

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Six House Planning Application in Pity Me

The piece of land which used to be a woodland at the entrance to Pity Me currently has planning permission for five houses. This was challenged by your Lib Dem councillors as over development but passed by the Labour majority planning committee. There were numerous faults with the way in which that planning application was managed by the council which resulted in a Level 2 complaint and a report from the council at my request. There would have been a total of 23 bedrooms in the houses and insufficient parking in the previously approved application.

The new application has now come in for SIX houses.  These are individually smaller than the houses passed in the previous application but serious concerns must be raised.

You can view the application here:

http://publicaccess.durham.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NPQKJNGDL3T00

And can comment using the online system or by emailing  dmcentraleast@durham.gov.uk

My concerns at the moment are, not exclusively:

1. Parking provision

2. Safety of access and egress  at this very tight cul de sac

3. Safety and parking provision during construction

4. Ensuring the remaining trees which had Tree Preservation Orders placed on them can be properly protected as part of this application

5. Whether the building of six houses on a piece of land just 30m wide by 9 meters deep is over development!

6. Safety /utility for potential occupants of the properties – there will be no access to the rear of four of the properties other than through the house – the end house will have a TPO’d tree hanging over it, with little light, this is going to result in blocked drains and slippery paths and pressure on the council, at their cost in the future to remove the trees, which will also further damage the look of the area and upset residents.

7. The applicant proposes to use additional land for the development which is currently owned by the county council which has not been made surplus to requirements, including a grassed area.

Clearly if existing residents are to lose parking area as part of this development, and the community is to lose this grassed area, then the council must ensure that alternative provision for parking is provided and that the revenue from the sale of the council land is used to improve the parking situation for residents in this area.

 

Community Speedwatch in Pity Me and Newton Hall

On Tuesday we carried out with volunteers and the police some community speedwatch sessions on Front Street in Pity Me and Canterbury Road in Newton Hall.

The results showed a very low level of speeding with only one vehicle at each location travelling at over 35 miles an hour (one at 35 and one at 37).

Out of 138 vehicles recorded in Pity Me, just seven were over 30 and most of those were at 31 or 32mph.

On Canterbury Road numbers were even lower.

I always take these figures with a pinch of salt because different times of day produce different results and also, with the best equipment and best will in the world drivers may spot the signs and start to slow down before you record the speeds, however the results are very encouraging.

The council rotates speed visors southbound on Front St and Canterbury Road, and I used local funding to provide a permanent visor between Pity Me and Framwellgate Moor which appears to continue to work well.

If there is a particular location where you want to get involved in doing a speed watch please get in touch with me.

On Wednesday I will call for protection of our human rights at Full Council – With unprecedented Labour support

My motion to full council is detailed below. I asked the Labour group if they would agree to second the motion and in an unprecedented move of support they have agreed.

If ever a response illustrated the seriousness of a matter it is this moment of unity.

The Conservative Party manifesto pledged to scrap the Human Rights Act. Tomorrow I will call for a unified response, directing the government to halt these plans. I will place my speech on here tomorrow after full council.

My motion is amended (with permission) from a motion submitted by Cllr Wendy Taylor, Lib Dem Councillor on Newcastle Council, where Labour and Lib Dem councillors also stood together in defiance against Tory proposals.

Councillor M Wilkes to Move:

The Human Rights Act enshrines a number of fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals can access.

Council believes these fundamental rights & freedoms are crucial for a fair, free & democratic society & that everyone in County Durham and across UK is entitled to have these rights respected, even when we disagree with their beliefs or actions.

Council further notes that, at a time when we are honouring those who fought in the Second World War and the purpose for which so many lost their lives defending our liberty and freedoms, we reject the Government’s proposal to repeal the Human Rights Act and withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Council therefore resolves to:-

  1. Reject the intentions of the current Government to repeal the Human Rights Act & replace it with a bill of rights.
  1. To write to the Home Secretary & the Justice Secretary to express opposition to any attempt to repeal this Act.

Attendance management Council meeting cancelled – with just 15 minutes notice – none of Labour councillors could attend!!!

I arrived at County hall with a bit of spare time this morning to reread some paperwork for a working group which is looking at Attendance Management and Sickness Absence.

15 minutes before the meeting was due to start the Labour councillor chairing the meeting found me and told me it was cancelled because none of the Labour councillors could attend because they were all in a Labour group meeting which had overrun. SO MUCH FOR ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT!!!

Surely the Labour councillors on the working group could have excused themselves? It makes a mockery of attempts to solve the crisis of sickness absence if 90% of the councillors on the committee decide they can’t turn up.

It also surely sends a wider message that ensuring we have a proper system in place for sickness absence and attendance management means less to Labour councillors than their own internal arguing.

Durham County Council has let down its staff for years by failing to address sickness absence. When the average number of sick days days off by staff each year is running at around two and a half weeks, and has done for decades, something must be seriously wrong with how the council is treating its staff.

This is not about cuts because sickness absence was as bad fifteen years ago. This is about mismanagement of the Council by Labour, and quite frankly with Labour in charge at County Hall I can’t see anything changing..

At the last meeting of the working group I suggested that we should find out about what training other organisations carry out in relation to managing sickness absence and attendance issues.

One Labour councillor responded that doing that would be like comparing CAMEMBERT with CHEDDER – a waste of time. What planet are these people on? Clearly the outcome of this working group is a FETA compli! No doubt we will be BRIEfed that it isn’t at the next meeting!

How can comparing how other councils, public sector bodies or private sector organisations manage sickness absence be a waste of time? Totally crackers!

 

Any small groups needing funding?

As councillors we have a pot of money each year which we can provide to small community groups. Over the years we have contributed to for example:

Luncheon club for elderly residents, local grass roots football teams, environmental groups, disability charities, schools, community associations,youth groups, sports groups, craft groups, to name a few.

If there is a project your group is looking at or a local group you think may need some help please get in touch. We may be able to assist with grants of £50 to £250 or help find matched funding or help with fund raising if larger amounts are needed.

Potholehouse Terrace repaired – for now – Update

We have succeeded in getting confirmation that a proper job will be done of repairing this road, and will update when the patching has been done.

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I once again had to ask for repairs to potholes on Potterhouse Terrace in Pity Me. Thankfully the council have been out and filled them in. However, this is not the first time the same holes have been filled in, in fact on my reckoning it may be half a dozen.

Given the extra cost of this, I do wonder why the council’s policy of fixing potholes properly is slipping. I have therefore asked if they are coming back out to do a proper patching job in the near future so we don’t waste any more money.