COUNTY PLAN UPDATE

Councillors in Durham City area received an update this morning on the next stage of consultation on the County Durham Plan – Greenbelt and Bypasses.

I am waiting for a copy of the presentation so I can upload it.

Key proposals for consultation from the Council are as follows. I did get some estimates on housing numbers:

Three main housing sites proposed, plus development of Mount Oswald and Aykley Heads.

Sherburn Road – Est. 500 houses on land to East of Sherburn Road.

Hag House (North of Arnison Centre) – Est. 500-800 houses, including possibly land running from Red House to Newton Grange  (before going into Brasside)

Sniperley – Area increased considerably in size (more than previously consulted on), going across the Potterhouse Lane boundary formerly suggested, with est.  2000-2800 potential houses, as well as a possible community hub/centre.

Aykley Heads – Mainly redeveloped for commercial buildings, but with some housing around current police headquarters area.

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Routes of bypasses (North and Western) more clearly defined with details of potentially sensitive areas along their routes.

Northern bypass running between Brasside and Newton Hall, but closer to Newton Hall side than perhaps previously outlined. With route crossing River Wear roughly 1km south of Belmont Viaduct and joining the A690.

Western Bypass route from Sniperley Roundabout area, crossing Bearpark Road and coming out between Stonebridge and Broompark.

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INITIAL VIEW:

The increase in the size of the land to the West/North of Sniperley on the way to Witton Gilbert/Sacriston brings into question the initial rounds of consultation which did not include a big chunk of this land. Clearly if all the area being proposed was developed it would encroach even more on Sacriston.

The reduction in the proposed housing numbers on Hag House area from 2186 to 500-800 estimate appears to be partly due to the topography of the area.

The question still remains as to whether any of these sites  should be opened up for development at all.

The two bypasses will pass through some very sensitive areas of countryside and the Northern Bypass will require a substantial bridge structure visible from the World heritage Site.

Plans can be viewed at Framwellgate Moor Community Centre on 17th October from 4pm to 8pm.

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I made it very clear at this mornings meeting that increasing the area of land on the Sniperley site makes a mockery of the initial rounds of consultation. I also made it clear that any development must be contingent on improvements to the existing Pity Me, Framwellgate Moor, Newton Hall and Brasside areas including such things as regeneration of existing communities, improvements to highways and footpaths and upgrading of unadopted roads, more parkland and open spaces and improvements to infrastructure (schools, doctors, etc).

The Community Infrastructure levy which could be imposed as part of these plans is capable of including this, though clearly it is time to find out what local residents feel overall about whether any development should go ahead based on these new proposals and what residents would expect to see if this did go ahead.

What it is important to remember in all of this is that it is proposals for the next 20 years, although it was mentioned that the Western Bypass would have to go ahead within 3-5 years for the rest of the development to occur.

SHERBURN CENTRE SAVED – PUSHING FOR YOUTH PROVISION AT ABBEY

Well done to everyone in Sherburn for pulling together a proposal through the Parish Council to stop Labour from bulldozing the Leisure Centre!

In Pity Me we are looking forward to more investment following discussions with the Council, so whilst the opening hours are being reduced, we are confident the centre can be turned around. I had a meeting yesterday with council youth and leisure officers to work towards getting more investment in the Newton Hall and Framwellgate Moor/Pity Me area for youth provision, as it is clear that the area doesn’t get its fair share at the moment.

In the coming months we should be able to announce some positive news following consultation with young people in the area.

ANOTHER DAY – MORE LABOUR WASTE

So now the NHS computer system is to be scrapped because it doesn’t work after Labour spent £12bn on it – more than double the original planned figure – and some say it could be even higher.

Another clear reason for not letting Labour ever touch our economy or the NHS again. Down at County Hall, the Council has already overspent by around £2m on IT and I believe they aren’t even using the right approach here in Durham.

On top of this the Private Finance Initiatives they used to fund new hospitals are bankrupting NHS Trusts across the country – how much more is there to be told about 13 years of Labour profligacy?

LABOUR FIRE CENTRE WASTE IS DISGUSTING

The waste of money by the last Labour government was truly staggering. Labour MPs in the North East should hang their heads in shame for allowing nearly half a billion pounds to be spent on Fire Control Centres which remain empty.

And no apology for her party’s failure from Durham’s MP – there’s a surprise!

Northern Echo Report:

FLAGSHIP plans to replace fire control rooms with regional command centres ended in “complete failure”, costing the taxpayer nearly half-a-billion pounds, MPs claimed today.

In a damning report, the influential Public Accounts Committee said the “FiRe- Control” shake-up, launched by the Labour government in 2004, was one of the worst project failures it had seen in many years and was “flawed from the outset”.

The redundant North-East Fire Control Centre, in Belmont, Durham City, is costing the taxpayer about £1.1m a year. Because of various legal agreements, the final bill could reach £27m.

The centre has stood idle since plans to merge the fire services of County Durham, Teesside, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland were scrapped last December.

Proposals to axe North Yorkshire’s control room, in Northallerton, for a regional centre in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, were also dropped, along with the national project.

Fire chiefs are in urgent talks with Whitehall to find a future emergency service use for the Belmont centre, but no deal has yet been reached.

A County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said FiRe- Control’s failure was disappointing, but it was preparing a funding bid for a new control system and was in dialogue over the future of the Belmont centre, to see if it could be used for the benefit of local people.

Redcar’s Liberal Democrat MP, Ian Swales, a Public Accounts Committee member who asked the panel to investigate FiReControl, said the project had been a “monumental waste of money” and it was “ludicrous” the North- East centre had been built three times as big as needed.

But he said its best future use could be “something completely different”.

Peter Wilcox, of the Fire Brigades Union in the North- East, said the project had been a “debacle of unimaginable scale with escalating budgets and worthless contracts” and a use should be found for the Belmont centre, recouping some of the public money wasted.

Bob Neill, the Conservative Fire Minister, said taxpayers were paying for Labour’s inability to manage risks and control costs.

However, Roberta Blackman- Woods, Labour MP for Durham City, said there were important lessons to be learned by everybody and it was vital that the Government took on board the report’s recommendations when considering all future projects.

She called for a “constructive use” to be found for the Belmont centre, in consultation with the local community.

Nationally, today’s report suggested that only five of the nine regional centres would eventually be used by fire services.

MPs also said at least £469m had been wasted and eight of the centres remained empty, costing the taxpayer £4m a month to maintain.

They slammed the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for excluding “reluctant” fire services from helping plan the centres and said consultants made up half the management team, costing £69m by 2010.

The Government has earmarked £84.8m to meet the project’s original aim to improve efficiency, but MPs questioned this and called for a review of the nation’s emergency services to find the best uses for the redundant facilities.

They also said no one had been held responsible, despite an “extraordinary failure of leadership”.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, the committee’s chairman, said: “The department’s ambitious vision of abolishing 46 local fire and rescue control rooms around the country and replacing them with nine state-of-the-art regional control centres ended in complete failure.

“The taxpayer has lost nearly half-a-billion pounds and eight of the completed regional control centres remain as empty and costly white elephants.”

In July, a National Audit Office report branded the project a “comprehensive failure”.

NEW PATHS IN FRAM MOOR STARTED

Work has started on two new paths I requested last year as part of work to upgrade the area near Bridgemere Drive. At the time there wasn’t enough money to complete all the work, but fortunately much perseverence has paid off. The unofficial grass/mud path at the bottom of Alexandra Close and one running from Bridgemere Drive to the New college path will be built over the next few weeks, improving access to the College for students and for residents in the area cycling and walking.

This comes after getting the path from New College to Hudspeth Crescent upgraded last year which has made a huge difference.

COUNTY DURHAM PLAN UPDATE

FURTHER TO WEDS BLOG, Dates for Drop-in events are as follows:

· Monday 17th October – 4pm – 8pm – Framwellgate Moor Community Centre

· Tuesday 18th October – 4pm – 8pm – Durham Town Hall & St. John’s Church Nevilles Cross

· Thursday 20th October – 4pm – 8pm – Belmont Community Centre

COUNTY DURHAM PLAN UPDATE

FURTHER TO WEDS BLOG, Dates for Drop-in events are as follows:

·         Monday 17th October – 4pm – 8pm – Framwellgate Moor Community Centre

·         Tuesday 18th October – 4pm – 8pm – Durham Town Hall  &  St. John’s Church Nevilles Cross

·         Thursday 20th October – 4pm – 8pm – Belmont Community Centre

Councillors in the Durham City area recevied the following email today.

I will update further when I have more info:

The County Durham Plan and its potential implications for Durham City

Given the issues raised through the development of the County Durham Plan in regards to Durham City, the Planning Policy Team will be providing an update with drop-in events for the week commencing 17th October 2011.

Purpose

-We will be providing more detail in regards to:
o Aykley Heads;
o the three preferred possible Green Belt deletions (Sniperley, North of Arnison, Sherburn Road); and,
o the possible routes of the Relief Roads.

Events

-We will be holding 4 drop-in sessions ( 4 til 8 ) in the week commencing 17th October (exact dates & venues to be confirmed) at:
• Framwellgate
• Belmont
• Durham Town Hall
• Nevilles Cross
These will be for members of the public and other interested parties

Document

-We will also produce an accompanying Briefing Paper for information.

Having regards to the above we are seeking to hold a Briefing on Monday 11.30am, 26th September 2011 in the Council Chamber at Durham County Hall for those County Council Members whose wards are located within Durham City and those who have wards adjoining Durham City.
The aim of this briefing will be to raise awareness that the above public events are to take place and bring Members up to date in regards to possible implications of the County Durham Plan for the City.

The Lead Officer for these events will be Stuart Timmiss: Head of Planning and Assets.
We anticipate that the Briefing should not last more than an hour and a half.

EMERGENCY ROAD CLOSURE

C12a Cocken Road, East of Plawsworth, Durham
Temporary Road Closure Notice

Owing to an unsafe tree it has been necessary to temporarily close to vehicular traffic a 2370 metre length of C12a Cocken Road between its junctions with C12 Howlhill Lane and Cocken Lane, east of Plawsworth.

The closure, which is being effected by means of Notice under Section 14(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 is necessary by reason of likelihood of danger to the public and to permit works to be carried out to remove the tree.

The alternative route for vehicular traffic is from the western side of the closure north along C12 Howlhill Lane to the junction with A167 turning left to and around A167 Chester Moor Roundabout and north eastwards along A167 to Ropery Lane roundabout then eastwards along B1284 Rotary Way and continuing on Lumley New Road and turning southerly along Scorers Lane to Great Lumley then easterly and southerly along C8a Pit House Lane, Leamisde to the junction with C12a Cocken Road leading westerly to the eastern side of the closure and vice versa.

The maximum duration of the closure under this Notice is 21 days. However, it is anticipated that the closure will be effective from 10.00am on Wednesday 14 September 2011 for an anticipated period of two hours.

ABBEY LEISURE CENTRE UPDATE

For months we have been in negotiations with the Council over the future of the Leisure centre.

I can now confirm the way forwards.

The current opening hours will continue past the previous deadline of 1st October to allow time for improvement works to take place.

New opening hours will come into force on 1st November as follows:

Mon-Thur 8.30am-10.30am, 2pm-8pm

Fri 8.30am-10.30am, 2pm-7pm

Sat 9.30am-2.30pm

Sun – closed

This is an increase on the Councils original plans of at least 7 hours per week.

Investment in the Centre:

The Council say they have no money for investment but will be carrying out a full deep clean of the Centre.

Local Lib Dem Councillors from Newton Hall, Mamie Simmons and Amanda Hopgood along with myself have agreed that Neighbourhood budget money can be used to improve the centre. The current conference rooms upstairs will be improved and a new fitness suite with airconditioning, new flooring and extra equipment will be installed, with an aim of this being done before the changes to opening hours.

All along I have believed that we could have continued with the centre being open right through the day, however the Council disagreed. That said, this is far far better than we had originally expected.

I have insisted that an improved youth service is made available in the Newton Hall, Fram Moor, Pity Me and Brasside area as part of the Centre improvements and will commit funding to this once full consultation had happened with local youngsters. We will be making sure that we are part of these discussions too.

Finally, to make sure that everything runs properly and the centre is maintained and improved I have joined the gym/centre – will also help to get me fit.

I would urge local residents to call into the centre to see what is on or visit the Council website at www.durham.gov.uk/sports

I am confident that if we keep a steel eye on this we can make sure the Council sticks to its commitments and that the Centre is improved.

Will update when have anything more.