Following on from the new outdoor gym being installed at Witton Gilbert, Fulforth Park, I have managed to get the County Council to agree to some repair work and full repainting of the existing play equipment on the site. The painting should be done within the next week and will make the site look great, a number of repairs including new swings may take a little longer.

A167 Pity Me to Sniperley Park and Ride, Durham
Temporary Prohibition of Driving Southbound Notice

The County Council intend to prohibit vehicular traffic, from 8.00am on Sunday 4 March 2012, from travelling southbound along a 1.56km length of A167 Pity Me to the A167 Sniperley Park and Ride Roundabout, Durham.

The closure, which is being effected by means of Notice under Section 14(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, is necessary to enable cats eye and white lining works which will probably take some 12 hours to complete, to be carried out to that length of road.

Throughout the period of closure an alternative route will be available to vehicular traffic from the northern side of the closure from A167 Pity Me Roundabout via C100 Front Street, Pity Me and Framwellgate Moor to Sniperley Roundabout to the southern side of the closure and vice versa.

Comrade Henig, your Labour council leader is set to benefit from the current austerity measures by getting three part time chauffeurs, each paid up to £15,000 plus pension costs, even if they do zero hours. Of course we are all in it together aren’t we? Given they also apparently have a new limousine, perhaps they can start to give residents a lift.  Last week Labour refused to reduce the amount councillors can claim for travel expenses and refused to cut special responsibility allowances that councillors also get. The day after the advert for 3 chauffeurs appeared – talk about making a sore point even more inflamed.

So last week labour refused to accept and changes to the Council budget put forward by three different opposition groups.

They refused to cut back on CountNews – the publicity rag.

They refused to cut the number of directors – but strangely implied they’d like to.

They refused to merge communications teams to save money.

They refused to spend the money they have lined up for election year on frontline services.

They refused to protect neighbourhood warden and other frontline jobs.

They refused to protect library opening hours or put more money into our roads and footpaths.

I know one thing for sure, residents would rather the council spent less on directors, publicity rags and councillros and more on protecting frontline services.

Shame on Labour at DCC for continuing to waste money.

The Community Buildings report of the County Council was released today. Cabinet will consider it next week. Fram Community Centre had previously not been in the invest category and there was the risk of closure.

The hard work put in by the community and the committee as well as the investment in the new carpark and windows in the last few years seems to have paid off . We have been moved up into the invest category with lower repair costs and higher usage the reasons.

BEARPARK COMMUNITY CENTRE

Bearpark Community Centre has also moved into the invest category with much lower costs compared to Fram for improvements of around £28,000 and more users.

FLAMBARD ROAD COMMUNAL HALL

Flambard Road is now being used by mental health charity Mind who have managed after a long wait to get a long lease on the building so they can improve it and allow it to be used by the community as well.

FYNDOUNE COMMUNAL HALL in Witton Gilbert is still in the do not invest category because of little use but it is possible this could be transfered to Durham City Homes to either be converted or protected for community use.

The same applies to BEAUREPAIRE COMMUNAL HALL in Beapark, though there are still discussions about the possibility of a community group taking it over.

WOODBINE ROAD COMMUNAL HALL in Pity Me is in the same situation as Fyndoune due to low use but we wait to see what will happen with Durham City Homes.

So right now it looks like Fram and Bearpark Community Centres are saved, Flambard is saved, and the remaining small centres are still up in the air but hope is not lost.

Not bad considering Labour wsas threatening to close all of them at one point. Amazing what a bit of community spirit and hard work can achieve.

Its the budget meeting tomorrow and we hope to get Labour to agree to investing in apprenticeships, protecting Libraries, protecting frontline neighbourhood jobs, investing in roads and putting in more money to save those community centres not currently safe.

Paid for by cutting directors, cutting councillor costs, reducing communications budgets and using the money we have in better ways.

So Labour run Council installs bus shelter in Framwellgate Moor that no buses stop at. Yet another example of our incompetent Labour-run council. Interesting though as both I and the Parish Council told them that no buses stopped here. In fact an officer even emailed me and told me that no buses stopped here. The sooner we get the control of this council out of Labour hands the better.

There are currently 19 job vacancies for the council. View on their website at:
http://nd.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/vacancy.nsf/vrd?openview&count=999

Compass has a petition going with nearly 6000 names fighting to get action against the big six energy companies.

You can sign the petition here: http://action.compassonline.org.uk/page/s/end-the-big-six-energy-fix

The Lib Dems in Govt have managed to get action for the poorest in society with energy companies paying £120 to those pensioners and low income households which are eligible, however for everyone else, we are still paying the Big Six Huge profits.

Lets get the petition up to 10000 before the budget.

Key aims of the petition:

1) Impose a levy on the Big Six, with funds raised ring-fenced to help people with their energy costs, prioritizing those living in fuel poverty, by making homes more energy efficient.

2) Give the regulator new powers to cap prices and eliminate excess profit.

3) Launch an independent public inquiry into the Big Six so that everyone knows the measures needed to create an energy market that serves the people before profit.

Raised a number of issues about the state of litter in Witton Gilbert and the roads to the village following another walk around over the weekend.

Areas I reported in January are still waiting to be tidied up, particularly the road from Sacriston to Witton and Potterhouse Lane. Hopefully this will get sorted soon, but generally there were a number of areas of the village with bad littering. I only hope that Labour listens to us and cuts Directors and Communications budgets instead of the frontline guys who do all the hard work! Also concerned as to whether the council has already cut back on the litter clearances which used to/usually take place after recycling collection days.

NEW REFUSE COLLECTIONS

Got told before the weekend that Witton Gilbert will get the new recycling wheelie bins before other parts of Durham due to having different collection routes. You can find out more information about the changes here: http://www.durham.gov.uk/pages/service.aspx?ServiceId=524

Just been told that the Parking Shop on North Road is moving to a new location: (It is on Pit Lane, opposite St Godrics School just after the Bek Road/Finchale Road junction). This should make it much easier for parking for residents, particularly disabled customers, though it is a bit farther to travel if you live on the East side of Durham.

Email from Parking Shop:

We would like to inform you that the Parking Shop will be moving to a new location on Monday 12 March 2012.

Our new premises at Suite 1, Forster House, Forster Business Centre, Framwellgate Moor, DH1 5HL will not only give us a spacious and modern working environment but will also allow us to provide you with a better service and improved facilities.

We are making every effort to minimise any disruption for our customers and are keeping our current telephone number of 0191 384 6633.

We know parking was difficult in Durham city centre and that is why our new premises will provide free off street parking and dedicated disabled bays.

In addition we will be making the following changes to reduce the number of times you need to visit us:

• Scratchcard Applicants – You will now be able to purchase up to 3 months worth of Resident Visitor Scratchcards in one go (subject to your allowance).  In addition, if you haven’t moved house you can pay for your scratch cards by telephone and take advantage of our free postal service.  This service applies to repeat customers only (new customers will still need to apply in person and provide proof of residence).

• Permit Applicants – As above, if you haven’t moved house (and you haven’t changed your vehicle) you can pay for your permit by telephone and take advantage of our free postal service.  This service applies to repeat customers only – new customers will still need to apply in person and provide proof of residence.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the Parking Shop on 0191 384 6633 or visit us from Monday 12 March at the location shown on the map overleaf

We look forward to hearing from you soon.