I took part in a street walkabout session in the steady drizzle this morning with the parish clerk, neighbourhood wardens and officers from the private sector housing office and the community safety team. This was partly to prepare for the council's Community Action Team (CAT) carrying out their next environmental improvement scheme scheduled for later this month (please see posts dated Monday 15 June and Wednesday 24 June 2020 for background information).
The main purpose of this morning’s session was to take an informal audit of the main environmental issues affecting our village and those that the CAT team will seek to address during their project including fly-tipping in open back yards, waste and recycling bins abandoned in the street, the unacceptable state of some of the houses and a number other issues affecting our streets, properties and open public spaces.
These issues and others will be added to the list of comments, complaints and queries I've received from residents and subsequently forwarded to the relevant authorities for their attention. This will then form the basis of the CAT intervention and will also feed into other upcoming initiatives such as the town and villages programme and the proposed setting up of a residents' association for Blackhall Colliery (please see post dated Wednesday 17 June 2020 for details).
The range of issues I've been dealing with, in addition to those mentioned above, is not intended to be exhaustive and there will be an opportunity for residents themselves to shape the community programme when the CAT team carries out its own public engagement exercise before the project begins.
I'll update on progress with the CAT scheme and other issues and initiatives as and when I receive additional information, but in the meantime if there are any matters you think should be included in the CAT environmental improvement programme please get in touch with me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk and I'll make sure those ideas are passed on to the team.