Following on from the last walkabout in Bearpark, I walked around with the police, housing officer and the neighbourhood warden for the area Chris as well as another parish councillor today. We covered Oxley Terrace, The Avenue, Hudspeth, Hartside, Woodbine, Front St, St Oswald’s, Red Briar, The Anvil, The Forge and Folly Terrace.

This was an excellent chance to speak to residents as well as to check out local problems, including footpath and road repairs, problem areas, rubbish as well as housing issues.

Please feel free to get in touch if there is anything here or in other areas you feel we should be fixing.

The Council officers and future jobs fund team are doing a great job of clearing up the undergrowth, flytipping and other rubbish at the garage sites at the rear of Front St, Pity Me. It is really surprising just how much stuff they have cleared out. Keep up the good work guys.

I today put forward a motion to the full council to ask that they allow residents of county durham to vote on the individual savings proposals being made by the council, on the councils website.

Sadly, instead of this we have a general questionnaire on the website which simply asks which departments do people want to see budget reductions in. Labour have once again failed to recognise that it is the people of County Durham who elect them, and they are unwilling to give you more say.

In the end I had to support a watered down proposal from Labour as to not do would have resulted in next to nothing.

i would urge all residents who can, to visit the Councils website and vote on the relatively vague issues the county has listed and make comments at the end of the questionnaire.

The link is: http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service.aspx?ServiceId=7983

Simply click on the Your money. Your say link to fill in the survey.

A report is going to cabinet next week which will propose the closure of seven shops across the County in Day Centres. These facilities offer a service to disabled and vulnerable people, providing help in sourcing equipment to help with day to day living.

The Council currently spends around £6 for each £1 it receives from the sales at these shops and is using this as part justification for the need to cut this service.

The shop at Abbey is to be the only one to stay open for the next year, with others around the county closing immediately or already closed.

In just over a year, Abbey will also close, however there will be provision in Spennymoor to view and be shown how to use equipment. If anyone you know finds that they are having problems with access in our area between now and the closing of the Abbey shop or after that, please get in touch.

The council plans to offer an extensive website facility, although I have pointed out that not everyone can access the internet. it also plans to have telephone and home visit capabilities but as with all changes, it is possible that this service will not meet the expectations of those in need. I would like to hear form anyone going forward who finds they have difficulties and i will be monitoring the changes to ensure that the alternative facilities are working and sufficient.

The report will be decided by cabinet next week on the 10th November. Residents with questions can attend that meeting. Details of the report can be found here:

http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/minutesinfo.aspx?ItemId=QGSB8PxXXwk=

I carried out a walkabout with one of the COuncils senior nrighbourhood officers in Pity Me yesterday, and the aim will be to cut back and clear out as much of the undergrowth, litte rand rubbish as posible around the garage sites to the rear of Front St/Folly Terrace. Some work was done several months ago, but the vast majority of the clear up work still needs to be done. A team from the future jobs fund group which the Council is working with is expected to start the work this coming week.

The black trod along the side of Hudspeth Crescent has been cut back in preparation for the new footpath works which should start in a couple of weeks

The garage sites at Witton Gilbert have now been cleared out, If there are any other areas where anyone knows there is rubbish or general untidiness, please let me know.

This is the monthly report from the neighbourhood wardens for Pity Me, Framwellgate Moor, Witton Gilbert, Brasside and Bearpark.

FRAMWELLGATE MOOR

• Lunch time patrols are still going taking place around the areas of the school and college to try and eradicate the littering problems. These patrols have resulted in the names of a number of school children being taking for littering and passed onto the school for them to take the relevant disciplinary action. Although names have been taken we are delighted with the way the school pupils are conducting themselves on a lunch time and this is no doubt down to the firm stance school staff are taking with pupils who litter.

NEWTON HALL

• Regular dog fouling and litter patrols are being made in the area. This month the many footpaths that maze through the estate have been targeted through high visibility patrols to let dog walkers and know we are in the area. On these patrols dog poo bags have been handed out and members of the public have been encouraged to report any unruly dog walkers.

PITTY ME

• Pro active patrol of area made but very little to report!

• We are currently in the process of setting up a scheme with MacDonald’s which will help us to identify individuals who are throwing away there food wrappers. This is being done due to a number of reports that certain areas are accumulating quite a lot of litter form this store particularly area that seem to attract ‘boy racers’.

BRASSIDE

• The nation wide Dog Poo Fairy campaign which was taking place in the Rowan Drive area has now finished. High visibility patrols of the area were made three times a day over the period of aprox 4 weeks which has resulted in a number of local dog walkers signing up to the respectable dog owners pledge. Although this particular campaign has finished Neighbourhood Wardens will still be patrolling the area.

WITTON GILBERT

• A tidy up of 3 garage sites in the Whitton area have been carried out – the Findon Avenue, Green Lea and May Lea sites. This has involved over grown grass being cut, the removal of large fly tipped items and litter picks carried out. This was done due to residents of Whitton Gilbert making their local Cllr Mark Wilkes aware of the state of these areas which resulted in a walk a bout of the estate being carried out with Neighbourhood wardens so that he could point out environmental issues that needed seeing too.

West Rainton / Leamside

• We have been made aware of a dog fouling issue in the West Street Area with we are attempting to resolve. Both the complainants and the owners of the accused dogs have been spoken to and told that patrols of the area will be carried out and FPN’s issued if any offences are issued.
• Along with Durham City Homes we have been working on resolving parking problems in the Fair View area. Patrols by Neighbourhood Wardens have resulted in car registration numbers that were parked on a grassed area being taken. A check on the vehicles has then been carried out giving us the owners details which enables DCH to let any of their tenants know they are in breach of their tenancy agreement if they are parking on grassed areas.
A letter drop has also been carried out in the concerned area advising local residents that they shouldn’t be parking on grassed areas and that the council can seek compensation from persistent offenders who may be prosecuted for the re-instalment of the grassed land.

BEARPARK
• On Monday 4th October, I visited residents of Woodside, who, over the last few years have been having anti social behaviour problems with a couple of addresses in Eastside, I was very pleased to hear that over recent weeks the area has been quiet. We will of course do our very best to ensure that the problem gets fully resolved for the benefit of the community.
• I attended parish council meeting, 20th October 1900hrs
• Visited the community centre and issued the caretaker two padlocks for gates at the rear of the centre to try and prevent youths gaining access on an evening and weekends.

A thank you from Framwellgate Moor Scouts for the donation I have made through the local fund the Council gives us as councillors 

Dear  Mr Mark Wilkes  

Thank you very much for your donation of £250 to 1st Framwellgate Moor Scout Group. We have used the money donated to buy fittings for the new kitchen at the Scout Hut. The kitchen is now almost complete, thanks to your donation and donations from local trades people. 

A kitchen is very important for a scout group, apart from the obvious use of preparing refreshments for functions etc, it is in training that it becomes perhaps even more important. Scouts are taught to look after themselves in all circumstances. An example being that a sixteen year old scout would be expected to be able to cook a meal on an improvised wood fire, in open countryside, when it is blowing gale, raining very heavily andthe only available wood is soaking wet. Not easy, but the training starts with much younger boys in a safe, well organized kitchen at the scout hut. 

Thank you again for your support – which allows the leaders to concentrate on developing our young people rather than worrying about funding the essential extras. 

Many of you may have become aware that Councillor Crooks has left the Liberal  Democrats.

I was elected as a Liberal Democrat and will continue to represent the people of the Framwellgate Moor Division as a Liberal Democrat.

Equally, I will as I have done since the start, work with members of all political parties and none to improve our villages. Our area is more important than individuals of any political persuasion and I am confident that my continued hard work will continue to bring new benefit to our area.

Mark

The rebuilt carpark at the rear of Framwellgate Moor Community Centre is now open for use by local residents. One of the biggest problems in Fram has been the lack of parking. This newly resurfaced carpark with disabled spaces at the rear of the community centre is a major improvement.

Additionally lighting, part paid by the community centre and part out of my councillors neighburhood fund will make the carpark safer and easier to use in the winter months. Please use these new facilities and help us cut the problem of pavement parking.

The funding for the carpark has come out of the neighbourhood budget I get as a councillor to spend in our area. Improved parking was one of the biggest issues highlighted when we stood for election, and i am pleased that we have been able to tackle this problem and also provide better facilities for the community centre too.

Framwellgate Moor Community Centre has availability for groups to use the current available times can be seen below.

If you have a private group, educational group or are looking at setting one up, there are three halls in the Community Centre which can be hired at low cost. if you are thinking of setting something up but need help, get in touch and either the Community Centre or officers from the County Council may be able to help you. For voluntary groups it is possible that some funding could be found, contact me if you need some help with this.

Current times when halls may be available are:

Call 0191 386 3356 to make a booking with the community centre.