Please don’t forget that I am holding a surgery at 5pm at Framwellgate Moor Community Centre this Wednesday, followed by the PACT meeting with the police and community wardens at 5.30pm, and the Parish council meeting at 6.30pm.

At a full cabinet meeting this week i questioned the Portfolio Mebmer for Housing about the proposed housing development on the Findon Avenue Play Area (Some call it Shetland Field). I have for many months now been working with officers of the council to ensure that the homes are built in the division and that the play area is protected.

I can now confirm that the Council has agreed to this and that the play area is protected. I reported this to the Witton Gilbert Residents Group this week, which was met with much relief.

The work must now start to ensure that  the field is protected from any potential future plans for development.

There is a delay in the siting of dog waste bins due to the sheer volume of work for council workers.

We are waiting for two bins in Brasside and one on Woodbine Road in Pity Me. I am also requesting an additional two bins, one for Alexandra Close and another for a location to be decided. If there is a particular area where you feel there are serious problems please let me know.

I have been working with officers and have put in funding to remove the dangerous fencing at the entrance to Bridgemere Drive which is currently at risk of falling into the woodland and is only held up by a few trees.

The front row of trees will be removed, all the land filled in to be level with the pavement, and the whole area grassed. This should make visibility far better and stop the perennial problem of the area filling up with rubbish which is difficult to clear.

The winter planting of the flower tubs in Framwelgate Moor, Pity Me and Brasside has been completed by Finchale College. This was funded by my City Council allowance form last year/ Whilst they don’t need as much watering at this time of year, thanks to everyone who is still tending to them. Hopefully the current and upcoming bad weather won’t do doo much damage. In the srping they should look great.

The next pact meeting will be on December 2nd at Framwellgate Moor Community Centre at 5.30pm

I will be there at 5pm for a surgery if anyone needs to raise anything in person with me.

Garden waste collections have now ended until the spring – a bit too early for some of us who haven’t got round to clearing the leaves yet. New leaflets will notify everyone next year when the service restarts. During the spring a number of households which currently do not have the service will be receiving bins. I will be pushing once again for as many houses as possible across the villages to get this. If you currently do not get garden waste collections and want to, please let me know.

Following on from the clearance of the overgrown bushes around the war memorial and the cleaning of the war memorial which I requested through the parish council, the benches near to it will now be repainted. this will probably only take place in December or January. We expect a new box hedge to be put in place in a few months as well, and finally we will have a memorial fit for those who lost their lives for us.

The residents parking scheme for Framwellgate Moor has progressed to the legal department to arrange the necessary paperwork. This hould mean that we are only a few months away from this being put in place.

There have been complaints this week about the state of Front Street after failed litter picking.

I have addressed this with officers at County Hall and we are back on track. In the next week or so a larger bin will be placed near Newcastle Terrace entrance, where bins are overflowing due to the success of the work by our Neighbourhood wardens to get students and school children to use the bins.

The current use of large plastic containers for takeaway food means bins are filling up too quickly to be emptied. Hopefully these changes will improve the situation.