Durham County Council
March 2012
Sheraton Wind Farm: following preliminary meetings with planners and representatives from the three affected parish councils in Monk Hesleden, Castle Eden & Hutton Henry I have arranged a public engagement event to be held in Hesleden Community Centre on 20 March 2012. The purpose of the event is to raise public awareness of the impact of the wind farm and to encourage residents to put their objections in writing to the planning section at DCC. I have forged strong links with residents in the communities affected, including in the Hartlepool area at Hart and Greatham.
Blackhall Youth Project: the youth engagement project goes from strength to strength. I arranged a meeting between representatives from One Point at DCC and the parish council clerk and manager of the Blackhall Community Association. The purpose of the meeting was to clarify the role of the One Point service in providing outreach and detached youth work in Blackhall. Good progress was made and the youth group continues to coordinate all youth work across the parish area in conjunction with the three primary schools and other providers.
Boundary Commission for England: following the first round of public consultation which ended in December 2011 the BCE has now published the initial submissions it received for further public comment. It is essential that as many people as possible write to the BCE to make clear their concerns over proposals from the main political parties to transfer the communities of the Blackhall county division into the Hartlepool constituency. The first round of consultation was disappointing in terms of the number of submissions from the Blackhall area so I think it is vital that the BCE is made aware of our position on the review proposals.
NEAS Changes: I was at a meeting of the Health Committee at Durham County Council last week at which changes were announced to ambulance services in the North East Ambulance Service area. The main proposals are built around a net loss of rapid response vehicles (RRV's) to be replaced by a net increase in intermediate tier urgent care vehicles (UCV's). I expressed my concern to NEAS representatives, suggesting that replacing RRV's with UCV's was similar in effect to closing down A&E departments and replacing them with walk-in centres. I also suggested that an increased demand for ambulances and associated response times was directly related to the A&E closure at Hartlepool and that there could be issues of safety to address. NEAS agreed that there was scope for closer attention and that the changes would be monitored closely and would remain subject to review.
Hartlepool Hospital: I have held a further meeting with senior officers and members from the Health Committee at DCC to suggest that the scrutiny function at county hall ought to intervene directly in the ongoing campaign to retain services at Hartlepool hospital (UHH). As an interim measure it was agreed that services at the One Life Centre at Hartlepool, which was set up to replace A&E, would be closely monitored and compared to the former A&E department to enable evidence to be collated with which to challenge the NHS Trust on the impact of A&E closure in Hartlepool and East Durham.
Airlie House: Durham County Council has received a planning application seeking to change the use of Airlie House to a hair and beauty salon at ground floor level with associated residential use on the first floor. If you wish to comment on the proposal the planning application number is: PL/5/2012/0035.
Blackhall Rocks Pathway: I made further contact last week with the estates section at DCC regarding the existing pathway between Elizabeth Street and Mickle Hill Road at Blackhall Rocks. Staff from the estates section will liaise with the owner of Londis shop adjacent to the path to address land ownership issues and seek to bring the pathway up to a decent standard of repair and enable safe public use. Any works or changes proposed to the pathway will be subject to full consultation with nearby residents.
Dog Fouling: there has been significant success in the initial measures taken with the wardens to address dog fouling in the area. The joint approach by me and the parish council clerk has tackled problems in the area around the primary school at Ninth Street and at West Avenue. Wardens have since moved onto the Scheme Houses and East Street areas and are now to patrol the main shopping area in Middle Street. As ever vigilance is the watchword and we must not be complacent as these problems tend to recur if ignored.
Environmental Issues: I have taken action in relation to environmental problems at
- Breathless (the former British Legion)
- Navy Club bridge
- Coleridge Avenue
- Hackworth Road trading estate (flytipping) and in relation to
- Horses tethered at the beach banks.
If you would like further information please contact me on:
07827 232 289
rob.crute@durham.gov.uk
robcruteforblackhall.blogspot.com