Abbey Road Community Speedwatch

Following on from the speedwatches last week I have joined the police this morning on Abbey Road for another round of speedwatches.

Six drivers will be getting letters from police for exceeding the speed limit by more than 5 miles an hour.

Please follow the speed limit. The injuries caused to pedestrians by a vehicle at speeds over 30mph can be fatal.

Sniperley developers jump the gun

The two groups planning to build the new housing site at Sniperley have jumped the gun. One, Bellway has already started a consultation and the other is about to.

Neither has any right to start these consultations as a comprehensive master plan has not yet been agreed. Our view is therefore that if anyone receives a consultation letter they should write back telling the developers that what they are doing is unacceptable and they should wait until a formal master plan has been published for consultation by the Council.

Community Speedwatch and Speed surveys in Framwellgate Moor, Pity Me and Brasside

This morning I carried out speedwatches with the police in Framwellgate Moor and Pity Me. I had requested these after residents raised concerns.

In Pity Me, the formal speedwatch found 10 drivers out of 180 speeding who will receive warning letters from the police. This is at lower levels than previously recorded which is good, and suggests the cycle lanes and 20mph in Fram may have helped reduce speeds.

However our speed survey in the new 20mph zone on Framwellgate Moor Front Street was not as positive. A significant number of drivers were driving over 20mph. This will be fed in to our ongoing consultation on future regeneration of the Front Street as it is clear further measures are going to be required to get the speeds down to 20mph.

We urge everyone to cut their speeds and stay within the speed limits set. They are there for a reason.

Please also let us know what you would like to see improved on Framwellgate Moor Front St and at the other shopping areas at Beech Road, Priory Rd, Alnwick Road /Carr House Drive, and Canterbury Road,

Brasside Speedwatch

Yesterday the police carried out a speedwatch on Finchale Road into Brasside. Only two drivers in an hour period were recorded at 35mph or over, a significant reduction in speeding, almost certainly as a result of the new traffic lights we have had installed to improve pedestrian access. We will be feeding this information in to our Highways team as they consider the long term options for the lights.

This is not Freedom from Masks Day in my opinion

Whilst I’m sure everyone is keen for things to get back to normal, at the moment while so many people are being pinged, and Covid rates are so high, stopping wearing masks in public places is not in my opinion a sensible thing to do. I would urge everyone to continue to wear masks until it is clear that Covid rates have fallen to acceptable levels.

Right now in our area, the figures show our Covid rate at 804/100k for Pity Me and Framwellgate Moor and 645/100k for Newton Hall. Whilst most people getting Covid at the moment are not getting really ill because they have had at least one jab, many people still are, and in addition, with so many people being Pinged this is having an impact on every business and an organisation across the whole county.

If too many people are isolating, being able to operate services becomes more difficult.

Keeping our masks on helps ensure all services can continue to operate, so for now I will continue to wear a mask in all places we were previously advised to.

Universal Credit cuts

At last weeks full council meeting I was able to confirm that the new Joint Administration is writing to the Government to implore them not to scrap the £20 a week universal credit uplift. The governments proposals will see over £50m removed from the County economy for the following year, this is. clearly unacceptable and will impact on over 52000 County Durham residents. This will also impact the council with increases in workload to address the many and varied problems which this will cause.

Inside the DLI

This week I finally got chance to see inside the DLI Museum, after several visits to the grounds area.

On first entering the building you think that it could be reopened relatively easily and doesn’t look too bad inside, but then you find out that the roof probably needs replacing, the boilers are completely shot and the drainage/sewer system also needs significant work.

Such a shame that Labour allowed the building to deteriorate. It was actually quite an emotional visit for me – seeing some of the displays still in place and thinking about just how strongly people felt about the closure and more importantly a reminder of just how much we owe to members of the Durham Light Infantry and those who came before and after.

The review of the future of the collection, building and grounds is being carried out over the summer with a report set to be brought to cabinet in September.

In the meantime, I would strongly recommend going down to see the site as it really is beautiful, even if its been allowed to be run down in places. We are currently working on and preparing to do some outdoor improvements like cutting back trees over paths and clearing rubbish.

There’s also a wonderful meadow on the other side of the main road in to the DLI, which is full of flowers – there’s an unofficial path through the trees to the train station, but watch for tree roots!

Vacancy for Crossing Patrol Officer

There is an ongoing vacancy for a crossing patrol officer (lollipop officer!) on Framwellgate Moor Front Street.

No one applied and it will shortly be readvertised. Please do get in touch if this is something you might be interested. You can view the current vacancies for all council jobs at:

https://www.northeastjobs.org.uk/default.aspx?page=orghome&orgid=73

Crossing agent jobs come under Traffic / Highways / Road safety.