Hesleden monthly surgery cancelled

Unfortunately, because of the school holidays during Whit week, we have had to cancel this month's ward surgery in Hesleden.

We will be back to normal with our usual monthly ward surgery routine after Friday. Our next Hesleden ward surgery will be held on Thursday 25 June 2015 in the usual place, at the usual time. (Please note that we hold monthly ward surgeries in other venues and all details are included in our article on this site dated Tuesday 12 May 2015).

We have reproduced below a poster which we will distribute throughout the area. Please note the contact details should you wish to contact us.

We apologise sincerely for any inconvenience caused.

NOTICE:

THE HESLEDEN WARD SURGERY

DUE TO BE HELD AT

HESLEDEN METHODISTS’CHAPEL THURSDAY 28 MAY

HAS BEEN

CANCELLED

IF YOU HAVE ANY URGENT MATTERS YOU WOULD LIKE TO RAISE WITH EITHER ROB OR LYNN PLEASE CONTACT:

ROB CRUTE on rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

LYNN POUNDER on lynn.pounder@durham.gov.uk 

robandlynn-blackhall.blogspot.com

Blackhall miners' commemoration plaque unveiled

We were delighted to accept an invitation to formally welcome guests to Blackhall Community Centre this morning for a ceremony to unveil a plaque to commemorate those men who lost their lives at Blackhall Colliery (please see posts dated 22 April and 15 May 2015 for background details).

The plaque was researched and installed by the Blackhall Local History Group and lists the names of the 69 men who were either accidentally killed or who lost their lives as a result of their injuries at the pit between the start of production in 1913 and its end in 1981.

The turn out at Blackhall Community Centre was tremendous and included representatives from the Durham Area NUM, CISWO, Blackhall Labour Party, Blackhall library, members of the local business community and many others. 

For us though the highlight of the event was the individual naming of each of the men by 69 children from our local primary schools, Hesleden, Blackhall Colliery and St Joseph's RC. The children performed their tasks in an exemplary manner and were a credit to their respective schools.

Our particular thanks must go to the Blackhall Local History Group and its members for their commitment and dedication in working to provide a fitting tribute to the bold men of our village who gave everything.

Update on Hillcrest Place, Hesleden

At a ward surgery in Hesleden last month we received reports from residents concerned about the safety of a boundary wall at the former garage site at Hillcrest Place in the village (please see post dated 2 May 2015 for background details):

Residents have reported concerns about the safety of the boundary wall at Hillcrest Place

Following an interim inspection carried out by engineers from Durham County Council we have now received notification that the land and structures at Hillcrest Place have recently been transferred to the new County Durham Housing Group (CDHG) as part of a large-scale land and assets transfer from the county to the new housing group.

We have contacted CDHG today to request that they take urgent action to assess the condition of the boundary wall and then take whichever ever measures are required to ensure the safety of the site for public use.

Broad Road tree branches to be cut back

Residents at Blackhall Rocks have reported to us that several overhanging tree branches are obscuring the view of passengers waiting at the bus stop opposite the junction of Broad Road with Belmonte Avenue.

We have asked that the tree branches be cut back sufficiently to enable passengers to see oncoming buses.

Please let us know of any trees, hedges or grass verges in our area which are in need of cutting back and we'll make the necessary arrangements.

Our councils and communities cannot withstand further cuts!

For years now we've both been saying to anyone prepared to listen that further cuts to local authority budgets will have devastating and irreversible consequences for public services in our communities. The past five years under the coalition government have been extremely difficult but we have been successful in keeping our heads above water - just. 

Our fears now though are that the newly elected Tory government will slash local council budgets even further and deeper. We believe that this will put our libraries, schools, community centres and other public services at real and imminent risk of closure. 

We are not alone in this thinking. In advance of the chancellor's emergency budget announcement we find that even the Tory-led Local Government Association (LGA) has come to agree with our position (please click on the link below for full details in today's Observer/Guardian):

http://gu.com/p/49xbb/sbl

Our task for the months and years ahead is to campaign for an end to savage and unnecessary cuts to local council budgets and also to galvanise the support we have in our communities to organise a fight back. 

Make no mistake, these cuts are nothing to do with savings or paying back the debt. They are at the very heart of a spiteful and vengeful Tory ideology which is hell-bent on crippling Labour-run councils and the communities they represent.

We have pledged to fight back - but we all need to stand together as a community if we are to be successful!

Blackhall library, just one of the local services we will have to fight to retain

Blackhall miners' memorial plaque to be unveiled next week

We are both delighted to have been able to support the Blackhall Local History Group with its project to erect a memorial plaque in the Welfare Hall to commemorate those men who were accidentally killed or who died as a result of their injuries at Blackhall Colliery.

We are looking forward to unveiling the remembrance plaque at the Welfare Hall next Thursday morning (21 May) and we very much hope that you will be able to come along to support the event, which is due to begin at 10.00am.

Please click on the link below for further details and for a little background information on the event:

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/northdurham/peterlee/12953495.Remembering_the_miners_who_died_at_Blackhall_Colliery/?ref=erec

Blackhall Colliery

Advance notice of roadworks in and around the Blackhall area

We have been notified of the following roadworks to be carried out soon in and around the Blackhall area:

A1086 / C81

Coast Road / Micklehill Road, Blackhall Rocks

Pole replacement

3 way lights

20 May

20 May

IUS

A19

Easington - Wellfield

Carriageway works

Southbound closure (8:00pm - 6:00am)

5 July

17 July

AutoLink

PACT Report: Off-road bikes in Blackhall Colliery and Blackhall Rocks

The May meeting of the Blackhall PACT (Police and Communities Together) was held at the Resource Centre in Blackhall Colliery last night.

Most of the complaints reported at the meeting related to the ongoing problem of off-road bikes in the streets of Blackhall Colliery and Blackhall Rocks, and also on the beach and in the fields around our villages, including at Crimdon.

Problems with off-road bikes are reported at the approach to Deneholme, seen here from the Navy Club bridge

We are aware that this issue has been a PACT priority for three months in a row yet public reports of the problem are growing rather than receding.

With that in mind we wrote this morning to the Police & Crime Commissioner for County Durham to request his help in bringing the county-based police off-road bike team to our area to tackle the persistent problem of off-road bikes causing fear and nuisance on our streets and in our countryside.

We await the commissioners response and we will publish an update on progress on this site.

Hesleden & Blackhall ward surgery details

Although we publicise details of our monthly ward surgeries as widely as possible people do occasionally turn up to see us on days that a surgery isn't due to take place.

Naturally we don't like the idea that someone has made the effort to come and see us only to be let down so we have decided to promote the dates, times and venues of our surgeries again.

All details are as indicated below. We will be displaying this poster in a number of key locations around our villages soon but in the meantime please feel free to share this information wherever you wish:

Request for safety fencing at landslip site

Last year a comprehensive and time consuming programme of works was carried out to correct the effects of a landslip just off the A1086 between Blackhall Colliery and Horden.

The former council compound opposite Blackhall steps

Once the works had been completed we asked for the site, a former council compound, to be fenced off to make it secure against trespass. We had previously contacted the council to express our concerns about the risk of accidents at the site of the landslip, which is now essentially a sheer drop into the dene.

We have also reported to the council that incidents of fly-tipping are increasing at the compound, which is directly opposite Blackhall steps. We have asked that the council restore the boundary fence behind the north-bound bus shelter and also install gates to make the site secure against unauthorised access.

The newly installed bus shelter with the site of the landslip to the left of the image

Because of our concerns about the potential risk to public safety at this site we will continue to press the council's assets and highways departments until adequate security works have been carried out. In the meantime we would discourage anyone from entering the site without appropriate authorisation. 

As ever, we will update on progress through the pages of this site.

Progress on drainage problem at Blackhall Welfare Park gates

Recently we contacted the highways drainage department of Durham County Council to report persistent flooding at the road junction near to Blackhall Welfare Park gates on Eleventh Street.

We have now received the latest update on investigatory works to identify the problem and we have reproduced the engineer's correspondence in full below:

In relation to the service request re: flooding on the highway at Blackhall Colliery Welfare Park, our gully motor attended on 30/4/15, cleaned and jetted the gully. However, they were unable to get it running, it is suspected there is a broken pipe so we will need to do a camera survey to identify the problem and make a repair from there.

We will continue to monitor progress with this matter and we'll keep you up to date with developments as they arise.

Walk4Life: Blackhall Rocks to Crimdon on Sunday 10 May

We are pleased to promote the Walk4Life Coast & Country walk from Blackhall Rocks to Crimdon which will take place this Sunday, 10 May 2015.

Please see further details below:

Hesleden: Ward surgery issues

We had a very busy time at Hesleden Methodists' chapel on Thursday morning when we held our monthly (and on this occasion, informal) ward surgery.

The following matters were raised with us:

Residents reported concerns about the condition of the boundary wall at the western edge of the former garage site at Hillcrest Place. A couple of years ago we had the land graded and the long wall reduced in height to prevent children falling and also to make the area look a little better (please see post dated 24 April 2013 for further details). This scheme made a real difference but there are reports now that the higher wall at the edge is unsightly and unsafe. We have contacted the county council and, because this is used as an informal play area for children, we have asked for urgent repairs to be carried out to make the wall safe.

The unsafe and unsightly wall at the former garage site at Hillcrest Place

We also had reports of a damaged and unsafe manhole cover on the corner of the green at Hillcrest Place and Station Road. This has also been reported to the county council who will identify the owners of the manhole cover and ask them to arrange for repairs to be carried out as soon as possible.

The broken manhole cover on the corner of Hillcrest Place and Station Road

Residents also reported a number of environmental issues ranging from the missing litter bin on Front Street to the unsightly condition of some, mainly privately-owned, parts of the village. We have reported these matters to the relevant sections at the county council and we will monitor progress and update you as soon as we have news.

The Hesleden ward surgery is held at Hesleden Methodists' chapel hall on the last Thursday of each month from 9.30 am to 11.00 am.