Last night I chaired a meeting of the Community Forum at the Resource Centre in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery.
There was a relatively low turnout from members of the public on this occasion but this can be seen in a positive light for a number of reasons.
Firstly, September is traditionally a quiet month following the summer holidays, and many residents are still on holiday of course which frequently leads to low attendances at community meetings at this time of year. Secondly, many residents come along to the Forum meetings to check on progress with issues raised at previous meetings. All of the issues raised at the Forum meetings in July and August were dealt with quickly and effectively and updates were posted on this blog site, meaning that some residents felt it unnecessary to attend last night. Finally, people recognise that if they have an issue they wish to report they don't have to wait until the next Forum meeting to do so - they often ring me up or send an email detailing their concerns and the matter can be dealt with almost immediately in most cases.
However, two issues were raised last night relating to our area:
1. Odours and flies from farmers fields and
2. The loss of telephone and internet connection in parts of the Hesledens and Castle Eden
The first issue about the farmers fields was almost inevitable given the events of the past week and updates on this matter appear elsewhere on this site (posts dated 10 &11 September). The issue of telephone and internet connection is currently in the hands of British Telecom. I received reports on Monday night and Tuesday morning this week of breaks in the BT lines in 3 separate locations: Hesleden, Castle Eden and on the A19. It would appear that the breaks were caused by attempted the theft of underground cables in these areas and BT engineers are currently at work restoring the network connection on the road between Castle Eden and Hesleden. I will update readers on this issue as and when I receive further information.
Although some people prefer to contact me direct as mentioned above, I would encourage everyone with an interest in our communities to come along to a future Forum meeting - even if it's just to keep up to date with developments or to listen to what is happening in our area. However if you do prefer to contact me direct about any issues or concerns you might have please feel free to get in touch with me at any time.