I again requested work to be done to improve the road surface on these roads yesterday. I have now been asking for over three years.
As you can see it really is beyond a joke now and the pavements aren’t much better.
Perhaps if the council had listened to Lib Dem proposals to increase the highways budget using unallocated funds, the majority of which have still not been allocated, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.
Click on the image – the close up shows how bad it is!
Work is well underway to modernise council bungalows on Woodbine Road in Pity Me. I had been pushing officers for three years to take action even having Head of Housing and other senior staff visit the area following repeated failures to upgrade boilers. Thankfully my pressure has paid off and two dozen bungalows are seeing major modernisation works, which will include new heating systems which should cut fuel bills.
I asked for a community speedwatch to be carried out to see what speeds vehicles are travelling at on High Carr road. this was carried out this afternoon with the police, myself and two local residents. Over 30 vehicles were recorded speeding and some will receive letters advising them of the dangers of speeding. The dfata will help in looking at isues including speeding, vibration from traffic and the state of the road surface.
I attended a meeting with council officers and employees/agents of National Power Grid this afternoon to discuss proposals for a mast at the substation between Fram Moor and Pity Me.
There is an explanation in a previous post about the reasoning for the mast, but following more than 10 objections, the following was agreed today:
– i confirmed that my request to send the application to committee would stand.
– it was agreed that images would be created showing the view from different directions of what the mast would look like.
– it was agreed to look at what could be done to improve the landscaping at the front of the site, both by the council and the owners of the site.
– I expect to see plans of proposals to improve the look of buildings on the site, includig the eyesore near the main road, and also to be notified of improvements to sound insulation around certain parts of the site to reduce the bussing sound many residents can hear, though this is not part of the planning application.
– Finally I was able to agree a drop in session being organised for local residents with concerns to discuss the application with planners and agents for the site.
Additional works which I asked to be done to fix sunken drainage gulleys are being carried out this and next week as well as hopefully resurfacing of the carriageway, so hopefully all the works will be completed in the next couple of weeks. Now we just need to try and find some money to do more work further up and down the street.
Last night councillors received an email from senior management to say that problems with grass cutting and strimming were as a result of the exceptional weather. This is not the whole truth.
Two weeks ago Cllr Hopgood and I in a meeting with the Head of Service and managers received an apology because in the Durham City area the Council started grass cutting three weeks later than elsewhere.
We were then told that in Coxhoe grass had been cut SIX times, yet in Bearpark and Newton Hall it was only 3 times. Asked why, we were told the machinery had broken down. Why didn’t management bring machinery from other areas of the county to ensure a balanced service? They have now after our complaints.
We have evidence of staff taking longer breaks than they are allowed, of rude staff, in fact as I write this I have another complaint from Framwellgate Moor from a resident on the phone.
We have areas left unstrimmed, in some places several feet high, in one place trees growing out of the side of a council house, yet were told in the council budget that grass cutting services had not been cut in the recent budget documents.
All of this says to me a complete breakdown of communication and management at all levels and a complete failure by Durham’s Labour cabinet to get control of this huge Unitary Authority. We need political change in County Durham urgently. This is not the only department where there are problems.
And whilst budget cuts do cause problems, it does not help when the council persists in spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of our money on publicity rags, refuses to cut the cost of councillors, and seems to spend more time on press releases than dealing with day to day issues which matter to residents.
I recently asked how many press releases the council puts out here was the response:
July 2011 – 112
Aug 2011 – 75
Sept 2011 – 117
Oct 2011 – 56
Nov 2011 – 105
Dec 2011 – 82
Jan 2012 – 59
Feb 2012 – 96
Mar 2012 – 98
Apr 2012 – 77
May 2012 – 123
June 2012 – 88
TOTAL 1,088
And how many complaints have they received?
In the last fifteen months complaints to Durham County council have more than doubled:
509 – Last Quarter of 2010/11
578 – First Quarter of 2011/12
630 – Second Quarter of 2011/12
759 – Third Quarter of 2011/12
1138 – Fourth Quarter of 2011/12
It strikes me that because of the failures all over the place at DCC, Labour are fighting a media battle to put out as many press releases as possible to help cover up the problems. Staff across all departments have stories of things not being run properly. Council phone systems still have wrong phone numbers for contacting officers months after they have moved to new premises or changed their numbers.
Many staff are frustrated by the minority of colleagues taking advantage of poor or none existent monitoring of sickness absense which would see heads at all levels roll in private industry and many other councils across the country.
No one knows who is in County Hall at any particular moment because no one has to swipe into the building and record their presence – so no proper monitoring of who is and isn’t working, a health and safety nightmare in the event of a fire and a serious security risk.
Labour are losing any credibility they ever had in this county to run our local services.
DCC is pressing ahead with its plans to build on the greenbelt around Durham City. Cabinet will agree a report for the next stage of consultation next week. You can view the paperwork here:
http://democracy.durham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=154&MId=6668&Ver=4
Having returned from holiday yesterday I found the rose beds at the Memorial Garden in Framwellgate Moor still had not been weeded and were several feet high in weeds in places making the whole area look a real mess.
Why this had really annoyed me is because I had asked for this to be done months ago, even though I shouldn’t have to because it should be on a cycle, and it wasn’t touched.
Then just before going on holiday two weeks ago I showed the area to the Head of Service along with numerous other areas of uncut grass, unstrimmed areas etc across the villages.
Having threatened to put the picture of the area on this blog yesterday morning, it was done yesterday afternoon. So thank you to the Head of Service, but must I become the adviser to the council on where it has to cut its grass, strim areas and cut back trees?
If there is anywhere in a poor condition which needs work doing please let me know, but be aware I can’t promise it will get done, unless perhaps you send me a photo of it!
Labour’s wonderful unitary Council!
Labour plans to slash library opening hours is a disgrace. As I said in the Northern Echo this week on how Labour is running the Council:
“They refused to cut the cost of councillors, refused to scrap their publicity rag, are paying millions to directors and over £200,000 to the chief executive. Yet they can’t find the money to protect library opening hours – quite simply shameful.”
We must end decades of Labour running our County and Council into the ground.
Have been out tonight helping in Brasside where a number of properties have been flooded, managed to get some sandbags out but there are clearly some long term issues which must be sorted out to do with water coming of fields. It was literally a river of water.
Head of Service gave the following update about the rest of the County earlier:
The extreme rainfall we experienced has affected a number of properties across the County (in particular the North- Consett, Chester le Street, Stanley), and has of course resulted in a large number of calls. We have had teams out on the ground throughout this period from across building, streetscene and highway services and are coordinating our activities with the Police and other emergency services through a silver command. The teams have been working hard to do drainage where possible, provide sandbags and advise motorists of unpassable roads. In some instances our own efforts have been hampered by the unpassable roads.
The only good news is that the rain has stopped, and the forecast is that it will clear. Our teams will be out right through the evening however, and are responding to requests prioritising where possible vulnerable people and property.
The public advice is to only journey if it is absolutely necessary, and to not attempt to take a vehicle through a flooded area if unsure about its depth. Furthermore, whilst we are responding to requests for sandbags we would ask residents and Members to focus on those areas where there is the immediate need, rather than purely as a precaution. This will help our teams to focus on the areas that most need it.
We will provide further updates to members, including information on the website. The overall summary of the position to date is as follows:
Weather Conditions
The rain has stopped for the time being and the water levels are receding fairly quickly. The radar shows that the heavy rain fall has cleared the County into the North Sea. No further rain is forecast until tomorrow morning and it appears to be light to moderate.
The North appears to have been affected the worse with particularly problems reported around Consett and Lanchester.
Highways
· Widespread problems many of which will have been attended to directly by Highway Inspectors and Emergency Action Team’s
· A689 East of Wolsingham has cars stuck in water, passable with care
· C75 west of Frosterley, land slip – road open half width
· Footpath collapsed on the approach into Lanchester
· Hole in road due to drain collapse – Lanchester Main St
· Footpath has lifted at Hillside Road (Gardens) Stanley
· A690 Stockley Grange was closed by floods producing tailbacks
· Landslide just outside of Burnhopefield from Busty Bank – obstructing the road.
· Highway inspector are reporting that floods have subsided very quickly once intense rain has passed but traffic still slow
Private Buildings
A number of private dwellings have been flooded in the North and the Durham area (Brasside).
Streetscene have responded to numerous requests for sandbags. There are still a number of outstanding service requests. If water levels continue to fall in the North area they will be able to get to the calls that are outstanding.
Council Buildings
Timothy Hackworth Primary school flooded – staff on site
Lanchester front street flooded with elderly and disabled people trapped – staff on site
Comelion House roof collapsed and building flooded – cleaners and staff on site to limit damage (note the building will be unusable tomorrow for ICT staff)
Consett CAP power outage but the building has been secured (NEEB have indicated 3 hours before power restored
County Hall several areas flooded including Occupational Health and the Boiler Room
Evacuation Centres
Clearly a number of these exist through the County, further information relating to these for residents in affected areas will follow.