For many years I’ve sat down every month with the parish clerk and members of the parish council’s environmental committee to talk about whatever environmental issues are going on in our patch, and also to look at ways of working together to make our villages better places to live and work.
On Wednesday evening we met as usual in the Resource Centre and reviewed progress made since our last meeting and also looked ahead to addressing some of the issues raised by the public recently through either me, Stacey or parish members. Some of the specific issues we focused on this month were:
Durham County Council’s Towns & Villages programme: as regular readers will know there was a change of council leadership at county hall following the local elections last May. Although I’ve been told that the council’s Towns & Villages (T&V) programme will still go ahead under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition now in control I’m trying to find out if there have been any revisions to the target areas and funding allocations set aside for each particular area. Having come so far in developing the programme in recent years it would be a hard blow if our area was now to lose out to settlements elsewhere in the county.
In the meantime Stacey and I met last week with housing officers to look at ways of addressing a number of housing issues in Blackhall Colliery as part of a Targeted Delivery Plan (TDP) for a strictly defined part of Blackhall Colliery. The main outcome from that meeting was the planning enforcement team pursuing an enforcement issue with the owner of the derelict land in Middle Street (please see item below for background details), but we also looked at ways the Community Action Team, who were last in Blackhall Colliery in 2020, will follow up on some of the initiatives they carried out. We have additional meetings lined up and will report on progress. Background information on the Towns & Villages programme can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2021/02/towns-and-villages-programme.html
Highways issues at Leaholme Terrace and Meadow Avenue: despite reporting pot holes in this location a number of times the highways section at county hall has persistently refused to accept that the road surface is sufficiently damaged to warrant repair. I am persisting with this issue and will report on progress as soon as there are developments.
Update on storm damage repairs: an update was given on works to repair damage caused by recent storms in November (Arwen) and January (Malik & Corrie). Repair works have been carried out to boundary fencing at residential areas in both Blackhall Colliery and Blackhall Rocks, and works to repair the damaged trees next to the railway lines at Blackhall Rocks are in the pipeline. I wrote about the background to this issue here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/01/update-on-storm-damaged-trees-at.html
Housing development at Blackhall Colliery: residents had reported a number of issues relating to the ongoing housing development next to the B1281 in Blackhall Colliery. These relate specifically to the damaged highway surface, which will be addressed before the road fully re-opens, and also damage to a roadside post and adjacent pathway earlier this week.
Potholes at East Terrace, Hesleden: potholes at the top of East Terrace (at the bottom of Church Street) had now been reported, but there were now concerns about potholes in the back lane and at the bottom of the street heading towards the lines. These will be reported for repair.
Derelict land in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery: Background details about the derelict land in Middle Street currently under investigation by the council’s planning enforcement team can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/01/derelict-land-on-middle-street.html
Street lighting issues at the Bluebell, Daffodil, Primrose and Orchid area: residents had reported confusion about which street lights were owned and maintained by Durham County Council and which were the responsibility of other organisations. This issue will be taken up with the relevant authorities.
Fly-tipping reports at Blackhall Colliery: as reported on my blog pages earlier this week residents had reported a number of fly-tipping incidents in Blackhall Colliery. Following a series of walkabouts in the area these matters are now being addressed by the authorities. In addition, plans are being put in place to reinstate regular formal street walkabouts with the police, parish council clerk, neighbourhood wardens and the county council’s clean and green team. Further details here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/01/incidents-of-fly-tipping.html
Dog Fouling in Blackhall Colliery: residents had reported an increase in incidents of dog fouling in two separate locations in Blackhall Colliery. Details can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/01/reporting-incidents-of-dog-fouling.html
For details of the latest Crimdon issues please follow the link here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/02/developments-at-crimdon.html