Pavements and Streetlights at Dene Road, Blackhall Colliery

I was contacted last night (Wednesday) by residents from Dene Road reporting that the streetlights at the top of the street had been unlit for a couple of weeks. They also raised concerns about the poor condition of the footpath about halfway down the street.

I called down to Dene Road earlier today and noticed that while all the streetlights on Dene Road itself (129-131) were in full working order the streetlight (366) outside Emmerson Court, opposite Thornton Terrace and the Dene Road/Coast Road junction, was out.

I've reported the damaged pavement for inspection and repair (CRM Reference: FS 3743 40307) and I've also reported the streetlight at Emmerson Court for repair (CRM Reference: FS 3743 39774).

Station Town to Sedgefield Bus Services

I've received an update on a replacement bus service connecting Station Town to Sedgefield scheduled to take place from Monday 1 November.

Please see below for details:

Dear Councillor,

As you will be aware local bus service 239 that operates in the evening between Easington Colliery, Peterlee and Sedgefield has been suspended  between Station Town and Sedgefield in recent weeks due to anti-social behaviour including abuse of drivers and missiles being thrown at the bus.

The police have been involved throughout but operator Go North East feel they have not received sufficient reassurance from that engagement to ask the Unite union to recommend to its members they return to the route.

Furthermore, Go North East’s contract with the Council to operate the service expires on 31^st October and they indicated they did not wish to extend the contract for a further 12 months, as is being done with other contracts, and the consequential retendering exercise produced no bids for the service in its current form.

In the light of this we have been exploring what other options are available and I am pleased to be able to confirm we have been able to find a local minibus operator – John Crake of Trimdon – who will be providing an hourly service in the evening. Unfortunately due to prior commitments he is unable to start until Monday 1^st November.

The service has been revised to operate in two sections, with John Crake operating between Sedgefield and Wingate, connecting at Station Town Newhouse Estate bus stop with a revised Go North East service that will operate Station Town – Peterlee. Through fares will be available between the two sections, with all fares at a simple flat rate of £1. (This reflects the current offer on all GNE evening services.) Arriva and Go North East season tickets and return fares will be accepted.

John Crake will be using a 16 seater minibus. That does mean boarding and alighting will include a step, so will be less convenient for some passengers and it will not be able to carry passengers using wheelchair, but I’m afraid that we have had no other option at present.

The Go North East part of the service will no longer operate between Easington Village and Peterlee via Easington Colliery and Horden as this is duplicated by Go North East’s relatively new service 62 though we have arranged for an additional journey on the 62 to run north from Peterlee at 2116 to provide a service slightly later than present. The full timetable for the 62 can be found here https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/services/GNE/62?date=2021-10-30&direction=outbound 

Roadworks on the B1281 at Blackhall Colliery

Roadworks have begun on the B1281 to enable the construction of a roundabout at the entrance to the housing development currently taking place on land adjacent to the 'new' Hesleden Road. I have received additional detail about the extent and duration of the works and I've published it below for information:

B1281 off Coast Road, Blackhall Colliery 

Temporary Speed Restriction Order 

I refer to the application dated 21 August 2021 relating to the above. The closure will be effected by an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The Order has been authorised by the Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Climate Change to commence from Monday 18 October 2021 for an anticipated period of 10 weeks. 

It will be necessary to comply with the provisions of the Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Procedure Regulations 1992 which require that:- 

(i) A notice be displayed in a prominent position at each end of the length of the road to which the Order relates and at the points at which it will be necessary to diverge from the road, stating the effect of the Order and, where applicable, the alternative route or routes available for vehicular traffic. 

(ii) Each such notice shall be displayed throughout the period during which the Order is in force and all reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that the notices remain in a legible condition and continue to be so displayed for so long as the Order remains in force, and are promptly replaced as often as occasion requires during that period. 

Notices for use in complying with the aforementioned Regulations are enclosed. In addition you must provide and maintain at each end of the length of road the subject of closure, and at suitable points along the diversionary route for vehicular traffic, appropriate closure and diversion signs which accord with Chapter 8 of the Department of Transport Traffic Signs Manual. The provision of the signs and their maintenance should be undertaken by a reputable traffic management company. 

For information it is County Council practice to recover the advertising costs incurred in the making of the Order. Your Purchase Order Number WC002 refers. You must ensure that prior notification of the closure / prohibition is given to those residents and premises directly affected by the restrictions. 

Find attached confirmation of the approved temporary 40 mph speed restriction for B1281, Blackhall Colliery from 18/10/21 for new roundabout construction works for approx 10 weeks:

Additional info can be found at https://one.network/?tmi=GB21272767

	03000 267 095
	temporaryroadclosures@durham.gov.uk
	http://www.durham.gov.uk/
	County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UQ

Full details of the planning application can be found at: http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/8276/Find-a-planning-application using the planning code DM/19/01230/FPA

Private-sector property in Fourth Street

Following complaints some time ago from residents about the poor condition of a private property in Fourth Street I asked the Neighbourhood Wardens and the private-sector office at county hall to contact the landlord with a request that the property be brought back to a decent standard.

Earlier this month I received an update confirming that the property owner was proving reluctant to engage with the council in its attempts to hold him accountable for the condition of his property, despite the guttering hanging dangerously low towards the street as shown in the image above. 

As regular readers of these pages will know this is a common reaction from absent landlords who know only too well that the council has only strictly limited powers to compel them to take responsibility for the condition of their properties (please see posts dated Thursday 25 June 2020 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/06/housing-issues-in-blackhall-colliery.html, Monday 15 June 2020 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2020/06/community-action-team-and-private.html and Friday 17 May 2019 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2019/05/selective-licensing-scheme-update.html for more details about private sector housing issues).

This is the latest response received from private sector officers at Durham County Council regarding the property on Fourth Street:

Good evening Cllr Crute,

Unfortunately there has been no engagement with our team from the owner, following my initial letter.

Any immediate concerns such as flytipping/waste, open to access and dangerous/falling elements, will be referred to the relevant department.  Either from my review visits or whenever new reports come in.

I will be writing to the owner again, giving them a final 14 days to respond.   The case will remain open as a high priority and further actions reviewed should there continue to be a lack of engagement complaints.

I’ve contacted the private-sector office again this morning for an update on this particular property in Fourth Street and I’ll report on progress as soon as I have more information. `

There are a few similar private sector housing cases in the system at the moment and I’m continuing to press the council to use whichever powers it has at its disposal to contact landlords/owners to address local concerns and bring these complaints to a satisfactory conclusion.

Covid-19 Vaccination Details - Peterlee

I've been notified of Covid-19 vaccination walk-in clinics scheduled to take place in Peterlee over the next few days. Please see full details below:

Wednesday 20^th October, Peterlee, Peterlee Community Hospital Hub, SR8 5UQ

1pm – 6pm

First & second doses of Pfizer & boosters for over 50s

Thursday 21^st October, Peterlee, Peterlee Community Hospital Hub, SR8 5UQ

10am – 4pm

First & second doses of Pfizer & boosters for over 50s

Friday 22^nd October, Peterlee, Peterlee Community Hospital Hub, SR8 5UQ

10am – 3pm

First & second doses of Pfizer & boosters for over 50s

NEW* Wednesday 27^th October, Peterlee, Peterlee Community Hospital Hub, SR8 5UQ

9am – 6pm

First & second jabs for age 16+

Boosters available for

• Age 50 & over

• Frontline health & social care workers

• Age 16 to 49 years in at-risk group for COVID

• Adult carers

• Adult household contacts of at-risk groups

• Must be min 6 months (182 days) since second dose

No appointment needed

NEW* Thursday 28^th October, Peterlee, Peterlee Community Hospital Hub, SR8 5UQ

10am – 6pm

First & second jabs for age 16+

Boosters available for

• Age 50 & over

• Frontline health & social care workers

• Age 16 to 49 years in at-risk group for COVID

• Adult carers

• Adult household contacts of at-risk groups

• Must be min 6 months (182 days) since second dose

No appointment needed

Damaged streetlights at Hesleden

I received a report from a resident last night that a series of streetlights between the Myra Avenue junction in Hesleden and the B1281 are damaged and out of order.

I’ve visited the site this morning and the streetlight number 784 appears to have been struck causing the pole to lean slightly. It has also damaged the remaining lights leading to the B1281 junction.

All streetlights have now been reported for inspection and repair. The CRM reference number is: FS 3722 27094.

Access to appointments at Blackhall Medical Centre

There has been considerable coverage lately in both the national and local media about access to appointments at GPs' surgeries, with many members of the public understandably concerned that there is a diminishing prospect of seeing their local doctor when they want to.

I was contacted recently by concerned residents in the Blackhall area asking about the current position at the Blackhall Community Health Centre - and specifically with regard to the availablility of patient appointments at the GP practice on Hesleden Road in Blackhall Colliery.

I raised residents' concerns with the Director of Commissioning (Primary Care) at the County Durham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) last week and in response I received this explanation of the current position:

I have met with the Practice Manager today from Blackhall. She has given me a very detailed position on the practice access and resources. 

She agrees that demand is greater than their capacity so they are working extra to keep up and putting on locum cover to give additional capacity. But she believes that is true of the whole country at the moment and likely to worsen.

Today they had four GPs and one Nurse practitioner all day . That is the staffing I would expect in a practice of this size. In addition as they are a teaching practice they have two GP registrars which also helps with workload.

They operate a telephone triage model but for any patient that clinically requires they offer face to face also

As a partnership they are reviewing the position, monitoring demand and reviewing whether the current model of access is broadly meeting patient demand.

The duty doctor is dealing with 70 patients per day which is significantly excessive. Most of the associated paperwork that follows patient care is being done on an evening or weekends to maximise time for patient contact.

As suggested in the response above, it would appear that this is a nation-wide issue with a complex range of factors involved - not least the ongoing prevalence of Covid-19 and the risk of infection in enclosed public spaces like waiting rooms in doctors' surgeries where members of the public are expected to gather in close proximity. 

In addition it appears unlikely that this position will be resolved any time soon so I'll maintain contact with the CCG and update on progress in due course.