Temporary road closure at Hurworth Burn Bridge

As detailed below the council has been asked to process a temporary road closure at the C24 at Hurworth Burn Bridge next month to allow for repair works following a road accident:

Request to process a temporary road closure at Hurworth Burn Bridge for safety barrier repairs from Monday 22 January 2018 for 3 days, 7.30am to 4.30 pm per day.

A diversion route will be signposted from Trimdon Village via Trimdon Grange and Deaf Hill.

Update on street lighting in the East Street area

The council has received further information from Northern Power Grid (NPG) to the effect that the street lighting faults in the East Street area of Blackhall Colliery, between Aspatria Avenue and Third Street, have now been corrected. 

This information appears to be corroborated by residents who have been in touch to confirm that the streets are now lit again.

Having asked the council to contact NPG to express its dismay at the unacceptable quality of works carried out in the village so far, the following holding response has been received:

**** **** has rang to confirm light number 616 has now been reconnected by NPG and is working again.

**** also wanted to let you know they have contacted NPG again to say how disappointed they are with the NPG schemes in Blackhall Colliery. They have also asked for further information with regards to timescales for when the new lights will be connected.

Updates on this issue will be published here as and when received from NPG.

Changes to refuse and recycling collections over the Christmas period

Please note below details of waste and recycling collections over the Christmas and New Year period:

Refuse and recycling collections 

Bins will be emptied as normal up to and including Friday, 22 December. However, all collections during the week beginning Monday, 25 December will be a day later than normal.

This means that anyone whose rubbish or recycling is due to be collected on Tuesday, 26 December, for example, should put their bin out the following day, Wednesday, 27 December.

Collections due to take place on Friday, 29 December will be carried out on Saturday, 30 December.

Normal collections will resume on Tuesday, 2 January, 2018.

Christmas tree recycling

The last day for bulky waste and white goods collections will be Friday, 22 December, with the service resuming on Tuesday, 2 January. To book a collection online, visit Large items (bulky waste) collections

We will once again be offering a collection service for real Christmas trees. Bookings, for collection in the New Year, can be made using our real Christmas tree removal form or calling 03000 260 000 between Monday, 18 December and Sunday, 7 January.

Real Christmas trees can also be taken to any of our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC). To check opening times, visit Recycling centres (tips)

Anyone visiting a HWRC in a van, pick-up, mini-bus or towing a trailer will need to apply for a permit in advance by calling 03000 260 000 or visiting Garden and mixed waste permits
If you require a waste permit for use over the Christmas and New Year period, you must apply before 12 noon on Wednesday 20 December. Permits applied for by this deadline will either be sent by post or can be collected up until 4.00pm on Friday 22 December. Permits applied for after the deadline will not be processed until the new year.

Bin it Right

Residents are also reminded to Bin it Right in order to reduce recycling contamination. Check which items should be placed in which bin by visiting What goes in which bin?

And if you're getting new furniture in time for Christmas or buying electrical appliances in the sales, remember to dispose of old items responsibly.

Don't leave them in your yard, garden or street for a 'man with a van' to collect as they may end up being flytipped.

Items can be taken to any HWRC or donated to charity. Details of furniture reuse charities can be found at Reusing furniture and household items

Council services over the Christmas period

The council has released detailed information about its service provision over the Christmas and New Year period:

Christmas and New Year services/closures

Customer Access Points and most other county council buildings in County Durham will be closed over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

They will close at 4.30pm on Friday, 22 December and reopen at 8.30am on Tuesday, 2 January 2018.

In the event of an emergency, residents can still contact the council on 03000 260 000 or use the 24/7 automated payments line on 0300 456 2771.

Online services will still be accessible over the festive period but requests will not be processed until council offices reopen on Tuesday, 2 January.

Leisure centres will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. They will also close early at 4pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Riverside Sports Complex, Chester-le-Street, will close on Friday, 22 December and reopen on Tuesday, 2 January.

Library opening times vary. Visitors are advised to contact their local library or visit the council’s website to check times.

Day centres for adults will be closed on Bank Holidays, including Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Children’s centres, meanwhile, will close or have restricted opening times over the Christmas period. Users are advised to contact their local centre or One Point hub to check whether it is open.

Register offices will be closed on all Bank Holidays - Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day. Offices in Bishop Auckland, Barnard Castle and Aykley Heads, in Durham, will be open between Christmas and New Year but will operate on an appointments basis only. To make an appointment, call 03000 266 000.

Sevenhills DLI research and study centre, in Spennymoor, will close at 3pm on Thursday, 21 December and reopen at 10am on Tuesday, 2 January.

Durham County Record Office has now closed for collections management and will reopen at 8.45am on Tuesday, 2 January.

The Park and Ride service will not operate during any of the bank holidays, including Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. It will operate as normal, from 7am to 7pm, on all other days.

Bin collections will take place as normal up to and including Friday, 22 December. Collections during the week beginning Monday, 25 December will be one day later than usual.

Normal collections will resume on Tuesday, 2 January.

The council will again be offering a collection service for real Christmas trees. Bookings, for collection in the New Year, can be made by calling 03000 260 000 between Monday, 18 December and Sunday, 7 January.

Visit www.durham.gov.uk/festive for more information and updates on Durham County Council services during the festive period.

Council agrees to retain all lighting on the A1086 between Blackhall and Horden

Last year we published our objections to the council's proposals to remove street lighting along the A1086 Coast Road between Blackhall Colliery and Horden as part of its ongoing Street Lighting & Energy Reduction Policy (please see posts dated Sunday 23 October 2016 & Tuesday 18 October 2016 for full background details and a copy of our letter of objection).

We are pleased to report that last week the clerk to Monk Hesleden Parish Council received confirmation that the county council had acceded to our request to retain all lighting along this stretch of road. Reproduced below is a press release issued by the clerk to the parish council:

Over the past few years the Parish Council, together with County Councillors Rob Crute and Lynn Pounder, has challenged Durham County Council over its proposals to remove street lighting on some stretches of highway between our villages. 

Most recently objections have been raised about the removal of lighting on the on the B1281 Hesleden Road near to Hardwicke Manor Hotel and the A1086, linking Blackhall with Horden.

As a result of our representations the council has now agreed to leave four street lights in place near to the Hardwicke Hall Manor Hotel which we have insisted is a particularly dangerous stretch of road, especially during hours of darkness.

In relation to the proposals to remove all street lighting along the A1086 connecting Blackhall with Horden we argued that because of a number of factors including road layout, frequent pedestrian use and surrounding high trees and hedges such measures would represent an unacceptable level of risk to walkers and motorists alike.

We are grateful that the council has listened to our concerns and have confirmed to us that street lighting along this stretch of road will not now be removed.

Our objections to the proposed removal of street lighting along other stretches of highway between our villages have been published elsewhere on this site.

When compared to other parts of the county we have enjoyed a considerable measure of success in a number of cases, but unfortunately in others we have not been able to persuade the council of our position.

Update on street lighting issues at East Street

Earlier this week we reported street light defects in the area around the bottom end of East Street in Blackhall Colliery (please see post dated Monday 11 December for background details).

We note that most street lighting in this area was restored by Northern Power Grid (NPG) on Wednesday evening as arranged.

However, residents in and around that area have reported that there are still some street lights out in the lane along the back of East Street from Aspatria Avenue and along past First, Second and Third Streets.

Following further contact this morning with NPG at our request the council has now received the following response:

Street Lighting have been in touch with regards to the issues with the work NPG is carrying out in Blackhall Colliery. They are arranging for the standby officer to visit the area this evening and undertake a night survey to ascertain exactly which lights are not working.

They will then map the lights to see if any temporary fixes can be made or at least have the number of lights to chase Northern Powergrid with next week.

Street lighting engineers have also chased NPG with regards to the repair to these light this week.

We will continue to monitor progress with this matter and update on any significant developments as they arise.

Proposed safety measures along the beach between Blackhall and Horden

Earlier this year we contacted officers at the county council to ask them to take whichever measures were necessary to mitigate as far as possible the potential danger posed by the high ridge stretching along the beach from Blackhall Colliery to Horden (please see post dated Sunday 8 October 2017 for background details).

Both the Durham Heritage Coast officer and the Environment & Design manager from the planning and assets section at county hall have been back in touch with us to confirm that a mechanical digger will be deployed soon to carry out remedial works to create exit points through the ridge at this location and thereby enhance the safety of people using the beach.

We will monitor progress with this scheme and update on any significant developments.

Street light faults in Blackhall Colliery

Street lighting faults have again been reported along East Street and in the rear lanes of First, Second and Third Streets in Blackhall Colliery.

There have been a number of long-term issues with street lighting faults in this area over the past year or so, due mainly to major structural problems which are the responsibility of Northern Power Grid (NPG) rather than Durham County Council.

It would appear that the latest outage at this location has been caused inadvertently by NPG who intend to remedy the problem by Wednesday. The update requested from the council is reproduced below:

I have spoken to Street Lighting with regards to the below. They have explained this is a NPG project and the company made a mistake last week by disconnecting the old lights before the new lights were ready to be connected.

The company has promised to go back on Wednesday of this week and re-connect the old lights as the underground cable for the new lights are not ready yet. This should resolve the issue until the new lights are ready.

Unfortunately this is a NPG project and DCC are not involved in the work that is being carried out.

Our objections to proposed parliamentary boundary changes

As reported on this blog in October the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is conducting a review of parliamentary constituencies and is now proposing to create a new parliamentary constituency for Hartlepool which will include all the villages in the Blackhalls Division of Durham County Council (ie, Blackhall Colliery, Blackhall Rocks, Crimdon, The Hesledens, Castle Eden, Station Town and Hutton Henry).

This is a complete revision of its initial proposals set out in a public consultation document last year (please see post dated Wednesday 14 September 2016 for details).

By following the link below you can view the Boundary Commission's revised proposals, make comments, see what other people have said and learn more about the BCE and the review:
www.bce2018.org.uk

We have strong objections to these proposals and we have written to the Boundary Commission to tell them so. We have published our representations below:

BCE revised proposals for new parliamentary constituency boundaries

Comments by Cllr Rob Crute and Cllr Lynn Pounder, Blackhalls Division, Durham County Council

Thursday 7 December 2017

We have considered closely the proposals set out by the Boundary Commission for England as they relate specifically to the villages in the Blackhalls Division of Durham Council and we would like to make the following comments:

We object in the strongest terms to the proposal to remove the communities of the Blackhalls Division from their current parliamentary constituency (Easington), and include them as part of a revised Hartlepool constituency.

We note that the BCE in its initial proposals suggested removing the Hart and De Bruce (Brus) wards from the current Hartlepool constituency and placing them in a revised East Durham constituency, which included much of the southern part of the existing Easington constituency. Following representations from residents in the Hart and De Bruce wards the BCE agreed to scrap this proposal on the grounds that it “made orphans” of those two Hartlepool wards when viewed in the context of a revised East Durham constituency. It was posited that the two Hartlepool wards had nothing whatsoever in common with East Durham and we agree with that position entirely.

Equally however, we would argue that removing the Blackhalls division from the Easington constituency, and placing it within a revised Hartlepool constituency, would have precisely the same effect in that it would be “made an orphan” in a constituency in which there was no shared community identity or any social links.

In addition it should be noted that the communities and the people of the Blackhalls division have no historical or heritage-related ties with the town of Hartlepool. Indeed, the villages of the Blackhalls division (and the wider Easington constituency) are physically separated from Hartlepool by the natural ravine at Crimdon Dene on the Durham and Hartlepool border. We note that geographic factors must be considered as part of any revised boundary proposals.

We have discussed the BCE’s revised proposals with many members of the public at our frequent and regular ward surgeries. We can confirm that without exception they concur with our views as expressed here.

With those comments we would strongly urge that the communities of the Blackhalls division be left entirely within the existing Easington constituency.

Cllr Rob Crute and Cllr Lynn Pounder

Blackhalls Division

Durham County Council

Durham County Council has also submitted its objections to the BCE proposals in their entirety and we have published their representations below in full:

Review of Parliamentary Constituency boundaries – 2018 Response to Boundary Commission for England’ Revised Proposals

The Council’s Constitution Working Group (CWG), an all-party group, has discussed BCE’s revised proposals for new Parliamentary Constituency boundaries as they affect County Durham. The CWG’s deliberations of BCE’s revised proposals boundaries were reported to a meeting of the Council on 6 December 2017, where the CWGs concerns and comments were endorsed.

Members were highly critical of, and would object in the strongest possible terms, to the BCE revised proposals for the county area.

It is noted with concern that we are not considering minor re-alignments here. It is inconceivable that the electorates concerned, and all those other interested individuals/parties can effectively consider and meaningfully respond to the revised proposals before the consultation closes on 11 December 2017.

The revised proposals are a complete across-the-board change to BCE’s initial proposals with significant changes for the electorate of the County. Members are particularly concerned with the proposals to divide the existing “City of Durham” constituency between 5 revised constituencies and the existing “Easington” constituency between 3 revised constituencies and 3 local authority areas.

I can confirm that this Council categorically rejects BCEs revised proposals for new Parliamentary Constituency boundaries as they might apply to County Durham.

The Hesleden Christmas tree lighting service

After the Christmas tree lights were switched on in Blackhall Colliery last night it was Hesleden's turn this evening to light up their tree, and once more the people of Hesleden did the village proud with another fantastic turnout.

 

The chairman of the parish council, Cllr Gaynor Crute, welcomed everyone to the event by introducing the staff and pupils from Hesleden Primary School who, despite the cold weather, turned out in their numbers to entertain residents gathered around the tree. A selection of Christmas carols was closely followed by the countdown to the tree lighting.

As ever, thanks go to the clerk, staff and members of Monk Hesleden Parish Council for organising the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 

However a special thank you is reserved for the staff and pupils of Hesleden Primary School for their magnificent carol singing, which once more got the festive season underway in great style!

Blackhall lights up its Christmas tree

The residents of Blackhall turned out in their numbers again this evening to the ceremony to light up the parish council Christmas tree at Chicken's Green in Blackhall Colliery.

As ever the children of Blackhall Colliery primary school and St Joseph's RCVA primary school were at this popular annual event to sing a selection of Christmas carols with their usual enthusiasm. Fr Jackson then blessed the tree before leading the children in a countdown to its lighting.

Many thanks go to the clerk, chairman, staff and members of Monk Hesleden Parish Council for their efforts in pulling the event together, and particular thanks go to the pupils and staff from both Blackhall Colliery and St Joseph's primary schools for adding something special to a ceremony which continues to grow each year in popularity.

Road works on the B1281 between Hesleden and Castle Eden

We have received notification from the council's highways department of road works scheduled to take place soon on the B1281 between Hesleden and Castle Eden:

B1281

Castle Eden to Hesleden

Telecom duct repairs and cabling work

2 way rolling lights (9:30am - 3:30pm, manual control)

2 December

6 December

British Telecom

Highways winter maintenance update for the next few days

Although the heavy snowfall and its impact on the roads in our area appear to be behind us for now, we thought it might be useful to publish the latest weather forecast and winter maintenance update from the council's highways services department:

After a busy day yesterday with continual winter maintenance action throughout the day in all domains following heavy snow the forecast has improved today and into tomorrow with only a slight threat of snow in the High Pennines but sub-zero temperatures across all domains.

Gritting activity in all domains completed this morning around 09:00 hours with the exception of the High Pennines where we had requirements to deploy the snow blower and had some final clearance works to do on some of the worst effected high routes

Please find below a summary of the attached winter maintenance planned action.  

Date 01.12.17pm

All High Pennines priority 1 routes	Standby 1600 hrs
All Low Pennines priority 1 routes	Standby 1600 hrs
All Central priority 1 routes	Standby 1600 hrs
All Coastal priority 1 routes	Standby 1600 hrs

Date 02.12.17am

All High Pennines priority 1 routes	Standby 0400 hrs
All Low Pennines priority 1 routes	Standby 0400 hrs
All Central priority 1 routes	Standby 0400 hrs
All Coastal priority 1 routes	Standby 0400 hrs

Today’s Forecast

Cold and windy today with sunny intervals and showers for a time, these wintry for a time in places. Cloudier later though with patchy light rain and perhaps a little sleet or wet snow on high ground.

Staying cloudy and damp this evening and for a time tonight with patchy light rain and a little upland sleet or wet snow. Drier later though with one or two clear spells. Not as cold as last night.

Tomorrow looks set to be mostly cloudy with the chance of a few spots of rain at first. However, a few bright or sunny interludes are possible too. Feeling less cold.

A chilly night - cloud amounts will be variable, and as such, confidence is low on the min RSTs and hazard risk as depicted in the tables.

Sunday is expected to be a dry day, perhaps with some bright spells. There may be the odd spot of drizzle or light rain on Sunday night, but this should have cleared by Monday, which will be a breezy but largely dry day. Monday night will be dry with clear periods, and the dry weather will continue into

Tuesday which will should have sunny intervals.

Wednesday is likely to be a mild and mostly dry day but with a chance of wetter and windier conditions spreading from the west later on. An unsettled spell of weather is then expected for a time around

Thursday next week with the potential for widespread rain and strong winds. It is then favoured to become chillier from the north-west for the end of next week as the rain clears eastwards. However, confidence in the forecast falls rather low by then.