Countywide grass cutting issues

I've received a considerable number of complaints and comments recently about the poor quality of grass-cutting operations in our area - many more than I've ever received in the past. All correspondence and complaints received were passed to the relevant department at DCC for their attention and comment. 

The head of service has issued an update today, setting out the reasons for the problems encountered by the clean and green teams this springtime across the whole county.

I've reproduced the full update below for information. If you have any additional comments or queries about this issue please let me know as soon as possible and I'll take your issue up with the appropriate department at the council. As ever, the best way to contact me is by email at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

This is just a short note to thank you for bearing with us through a challenging time for the clean and green services.

This is the most vigorous growing season that the team can recall – I go back in this field for 20 years, and some of the team nearly 40. The combination of an early Spring with warm and wet conditions has meant that growth started early (mid-February) and has grown heavily.

We started cutting a few weeks early (early March in many areas), and are now completing our third and onto our fourth cut across many areas. In the main season we aim to cut on a cycle of every 10 days which is for normal growing conditions. This gap of time would typically mean the grass had grown a few inches, less in the peak of summer, but this year, as you know it has grown several inches. 

The good news is that less rain is forecast and the team will have got on top of the current flush I would estimate within a week. The drier conditions will help with the clippings which are longer than usual, and I do acknowledge can be unsightly for a short while after first cut.

Whilst the environmental conditions have been the main reason for the length of grass I would also suggest the following have contributed: 

• Equipment issues.  Our mowers are of varying ages and we have a yearly replacement programme for batches. This traditionally is in the Autumn time and the replacement mowers arrive in February. This situation has now dramatically changed and the lead in time for the equipment is 60 weeks! We have therefore had to rely on our retained older tractors and mowers which are prone to breakdowns, and our fleet service are doing their best for rapid turn-around. We are pushing for early delivery, but worst case our replacements may not arrive until early 2024. I have sanctioned purchase of the next years mowers too (ie for 2024) bearing in mind these huge lead in times. I will shortly sanction the 2025 ie two years ahead.
• Wet, wet, wet. You may recall that we had several weeks where it rained most days. The grass loved it. Residents didn’t love it when we took our mowers onto those areas, as they looked like a battlefield afterwards, with ruts everywhere. We took a decision to keep off those sodden areas, and that will have interrupted our usual maintenance frequencies.
• Bank holidays and Springtime commitments. There is an increase in activity as Members approach us for spend for their projects at the end of the year – and we endeavour to meet their expectations, but it does stretch the team. Added to this is the bank holidays where the crews don’t work, and from a grounds perspective there is activity on floral beds etc.

Many other areas around the region are in a similar position, as well as private contractors or in-house teams working for social housing providers. With drier weather forecast, I do hope that with the teams continued work that we will shortly be over the worst for this year. We will then attend to shrub and flower beds as we do every June. 

There may always be the area that for whatever reason is missed and the best way of reporting this is through the on-line system https://doitonline.durham.gov.uk/MyServices (there is a grass cutting page for this).

Please know that the service is working hard to ensure our open spaces are as attractive as possible.

A181/A19 Wellfield Interchange at Castle Eden

I’ve written to the traffic management office at Durham police this morning to ask for full background details of a reported vehicle collision yesterday evening at the A19/Wellfield interchange in Castle Eden.

Once the facts are known and the cause of the accident has been established I’ll ask the authorities to consider all options and determine if any measures are required to prevent further incidents at this location.

I’ll update on progress as soon as I have more details from the police, but in the meantime please follow the link below for details of my involvement last year in related matters at the A19/Wellfield Interchange:

https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/05/traffic-issues-at-castle-eden.html

https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/05/update-on-speeding-vehicles-in-castle.html

https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2022/05/update-on-traffic-issues-in-castle-eden.html

The Seagull at Crimdon

Regular readers of these pages will know from previous articles over the years that I’ve persistently pressed the council to encourage the owners of The Seagull to bring the building and surrounding land up to an acceptable standard. 

Since the property became vacant some time ago scores of comments and complaints from local residents and visitors alike bear testament to the degree of public discontent over the poor condition of the property and the impact it has on visitors coming to our part of the world. 

Following receipt of another complaint from a resident earlier this week I’ve written to the council again to ask them to review the background to this issue and then consider all options in planning a way to bring the building and the land back up to an acceptable standard. 

Although the property is in private hands, and its maintenance is ultimately the responsibility of its owners, I think the time has come for the council to step up a gear and work alongside all agencies to make this part of Crimdon attractive again to residents and visitors alike. 

I’ll update on progress as soon as I have more information from the authorities.

Repairs to damaged steps at Crimdon in the pipeline

Earlier this week I was contacted by a visitor to Crimdon who had concerns about the poor condition of the wooden beach access steps nearest to The Dunes cafeteria and visitor centre. 

I’ve been in touch with the coast and countryside team who have confirmed that works to repair the steps are scheduled to take place soon.

I’ll update on progress as soon as I have more information, but in the meantime if there’s anything you would like me to know about this issue or any other please get in touch at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk and I’ll see what I can do to help.

Community Walkabout in Blackhall Colliery

Stacey and I took part in our latest community walkabout in Blackhall Colliery on Tuesday 2 May.

We were joined on our walk around the streets by the neighbourhood wardens, the local PCSO and officers from the safer communities team. As usual, our main focus was on private sector properties in the numbered streets in Blackhall Colliery, but we also took a look at a number of other environmental issues in the village:

The main issues we picked up included:

• Empty private sector properties in Fourth Street, Eighth Street and Tenth Street. The landlords and owners of these properties have been contacted by the private sector housing team and have been made aware of their responsibility to maintain their properties to a decent standard. Specifically, the property at the top of Tenth Street has become a priority, having been broken into a couple of weeks ago. The neighbourhood wardens and the environmental health and community protection team have been in contact with the owner to arrange for repairs to the back door and for the back yard to be cleared of fly-tipping
• The owner of the partly-repaired fence on private land just off Middle Street is being contacted to arrange for repairs to be completed. The fencing on the other side of the land, facing the library, was fully replaced a couple of months ago following intervention by the community action team, so the aim now is to have the rest of the land made secure as soon as possible
• Incidents of fly-tipping in the rear yards of a number of private dwellings have been reported to the owners and landlords with a request that their properties are cleared. This is particularly important where there has been food waste left behind - obviously a feeding source for vermin
• Finally, a number of refuse bins abandoned in the streets have been reported to the refuse and recycling team for their attention. As with food waste in back yards, bins left out in the streets indefinitely are an attraction for rats and other vermin

The local issues covered in this article are in addition to a few others we’ve raised at the latest PACT meeting held last week at the parish office in Blackhall Colliery. A link to that meeting can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/05/illegal-access-on-public-footpaths-and.html

Our next community walkabout is due to take place early next month in Hesleden. If there are any issues you would like us to know about in advance please let us know at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk or stacey.deinali@durham.gov.uk

Illegal access on public footpaths and rights of way

I've received additional complaints this week from walkers and residents about off-road bikes and quads riding along public footways and reportedly putting lives at risk.

These latest reports relate to the Haswell to Hart walkway and follow similar concerns I raised on residents' behalf at last week's PACT meeting held in the parish offices in Blackhall Colliery. 

Full details of the issues raised at last week’s PACT meeting can be found in this link: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/04/issues-from-pact-meeting-for-april.html

All the reports and complaints I've received about bikes and quads trespassing on public open spaces and footpaths have been passed to the police and the parks and countryside team for their attention. While they're considering ways of eliminating these issues the police have advised anyone with similar concerns to report them immediately on 101. Please see details below:

Thanks for the email outlining the concerns. As you are aware from our previous discussions, officers are aware of the problems that you describe. We are currently working in a multi-agency approach to attempt to alleviate this problem, looking at how we can place barriers along the walkways without breaching the current right of way protocols.

We would also suggest strongly that any and all incidents are reported to Police via 101 at the time of the occurrence. Without intelligence and reports from members of the public, we would struggle to target our limited resources to the correct areas at the correct times. 

UPDATE: In addition to the reports detailed above I’ve also issued a request for the council to consider taking any effective measures to prevent off-road bikes and quads from using the public footpath between Elizabeth Street and Mickle Hill Road in Blackhall Rocks.

The footpath is shown below in an image taken on 9 May 2023:

Proposed Local Government Boundary Changes in County Durham

The Boundary Commission for England has published its draft recommendations for proposed local authority boundary changes in County Durham. 

The Commission’s proposals are now out for public consultation until Monday 10 July 2023. Please see below for full details:

A 10-week consultation on proposed new electoral boundaries for County Durham is now underway.

The Local Government Boundary Commission wants to hear what residents and local organisations think about the proposals for the future of County Durham’s electoral divisions.

The commission, an independent body responsible for drawing boundaries, is proposing that there should be 48 divisions, including nine single-councillor divisions, 28 two-councillor divisions and 11 three-councillor divisions:

https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/29407/Consultation-on-changes-to-electoral-boundaries-launches