Fly tipping reported for collection

From regular contact with residents and update reports at monthly PACT meetings I've been aware of a number of incidents of fly tipping over the past few weeks in a specific location in Blackhall Colliery. On each occasion residents have reported it and it's been cleared away the same day.

However a street walkabout earlier today revealed the extent of the problem. Most of the fly tipping was in the back lanes between First and Second and Second and Third Streets and consisted of a mix of abandoned furniture, bags stuffed full of household waste and other bags filled with sawdust which was spilling into the street. In addition a mattress had been dumped in the back lane behind East Street at the bottom of Third Street.

Although much reduced in volume there were additional incidents elsewhere in the village, including another mattress abandoned in the lane behind Middle Street at the bottom of Park Avenue.

All incidents were reported this morning for clearance and the neighbourhood wardens team has been asked to sift through the abandoned bags of household waste to see if there is anything that might identify those responsible for the fly tipping.

From the incidents reported above it would appear that some of the individual streets are becoming a target for fly tippers. This is always a difficult issue to tackle without hard evidence of who is responsible on each occasion. So for this reason I will be asking for CCTV to be installed at critical locations (residents may remember that frequent and persistent fly tipping in the back lane between Fourth and Fifth Streets was put to an end when discreet CCTV cameras were fitted).

Last week I reported that a new Anti Social & Crime Initiative had just been established in Blackhall Colliery. In that article I confirmed that a bid had been submitted to the PCVC's Safer Streets fund for a number of measures (including CCTV) which would be effective in tackling issues like fly tipping and anti social behaviour in our community. Full details can be found in this link: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/new-anti-social-behaviour-crime.html

I'll update on progress as soon as I have more information about the funding bid, but in the meantime please get in touch with me if there are any issues you would like me to know about: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

Deliberate littering incident in Blackhall

A group of people with nothing else better to do, and clearly with no respect for our community, thought it would be a good idea to tip waste bins over last night** at Thornton Terrace and again on the B1281 heading out of the village.

Thankfully a community-spirited resident from Thornton Terrace was already busy clearing the rubbish away from the bus stop by the time I got there earlier this morning. However the rubbish along the B1281, although much less in volume, has become strewn across a bend at the bottom of the road leaving it too much of a risk to clear away immediately.

I’ve reported these incidents to the authorities this morning for their attention and with a request that the rubbish is removed as soon as possible. 

**I’m told by neighbours that the incidents occurred at around 10.45 last night.

Latest weekly update on local issues

Just in case you missed them first time around I’ve re-published below a few selected articles covering some of the issues I’ve been dealing with over the past week or so in county hall and in our community.

They range from a new local Anti Social Behaviour and Crime Initiative established in Blackhall to a looming public service funding crisis and a police update on reports of motorists breaking the speed limit at Blackhall Rocks. 

1. New multi-agency Anti Social Behaviour & Crime Initiative established in Blackhall: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/new-anti-social-behaviour-crime.html

2. Police response to reports of motorists breaking the speed limit at Blackhall Rocks: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/police-safety-camera-survey-at_19.html

3. Continuing government austerity risks collapse in council and public services: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/basic-services-are-at-risk-as.html

4. Council’s unacceptable response to concerns about a damaged and dangerous footpath: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/unacceptable-response-to-footpath.html

**Get in touch with me direct please if you have any comments or queries about these or any other local issues: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

Details of monthly Blackhall PACT Meetings for 2023

I published an article on these pages yesterday giving details of a new multi-agency Anti Social Behaviour and Crime Initiative that had been established earlier in the week in Blackhall Colliery.

An integral part of the new initiative is the long-standing **PACT meeting format, which is a series of scheduled monthly open meetings held for members of the public to meet directly with the police on a regular basis to talk about any crime or anti social behaviour issues in their community. This public-facing process will feed directly into the new initiative and inform its approach to dealing with reports of crime and anti social behaviour in our community.

For full details of the new initiative and how it came about, please follow the link below: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/new-anti-social-behaviour-crime.html

To promote the PACT meetings further I’ve published below details of its remaining monthly meetings for the rest of 2023. All meetings are held in the Parish Office (formerly the Resource Centre) on Middle Street in Blackhall Colliery. All welcome.

**PACT (Police & Communities Together) meetings are additional aspect of the Neighbourhood Policing format and as the name suggests they provide a regular monthly community/police contact point. In between meetings members of the public should continue to report any crime/ASB issues to the police on 101, or in the event of an emergency 999.

Anti Social Behaviour & Crime Initiative established in Blackhall

Over the past couple of weeks I've published articles on these pages setting out how I intended to establish a formal local community initiative to address the fear of crime and anti social behaviour in the community. Please follow the separate links here for full background details: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/07/responding-to-community-fears-of-crime.html 

https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/next-steps-in-tackling-community.html

The need for a new initiative and a fresh approach came about after a number of residents had contacted me recently to tell me about their concerns about a sudden spike in reports of crime and anti social behaviour in their area - issues that were backed-up by similar incidents that had also been reported at a monthly Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting held in Blackhall Colliery around the same time.

To get the ball rolling I initially brought together a number of local and countywide organisations and agencies and then invited them along to a meeting I hosted in Blackhall Colliery on Wednesday 23 August. The meeting was attended by senior representatives from Durham Constabulary, the Safer Communities Team, the local Police Community Support Officer, the Neighbourhood Wardens, the Parish clerk and officers from the county council's Private-Sector Housing Team amongst others - all of them key personnel with many years of experience tackling crime and anti social behaviour at street level. 

As described in the articles I've referred to above, the intention of the meeting was to use up to date comparative data to determine the real extent of reported crime and anti social behaviour in the community and then identify those locations most affected. Once these factors had been established we would then be able to assess their overall impact in the community, consider which resources were available to us and then coordinate an evidence-based, multi-agency response to tackle the issues reported to us by residents' and businesses in the area. 

The primary focus of this initial meeting was to set out a clear route by which we aimed to do this and then make arrangements to meet on a regular basis to monitor progress and act as a conduit for any additional complaints or concerns received by the agencies and individuals involved. Reports received direct from the public at monthly PACT meetings, which are designed specifically for the purpose, could then be fed into the process enabling the group to gather up to date information on where and when issues might be developing. For background information my update reports from recent PACT meetings can be found here: 

July 2023: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/07/update-from-july-pact-meeting.html

August 2023: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/update-from-monthly-blackhall-pact.html

At the start of the meeting held on Wednesday the police inspector gave an update on reported incidents of crime and anti social behaviour and compared the current figures with those from the previous year. This showed that reported incidents were actually following a downward trend at the moment. However it was recognised that figures can sometimes be misleading, especially in the way they're recorded, but also because some incidents are never reported in the first place.

From those reported incidents it became apparent that the main issues currently affecting the village (separate to those isolated crime figures reported last month) were related largely to anti social behaviour and the fear of crime. Residents' reports to the police about those anti social behaviour incidents were varied but tended to focus in the main on fly-tipping, rowdy behaviour by neighbours, vehicle disturbances during the night and issues associated with empty private-sector properties amongst others. There was also a significant uplift in reports of quads and off-road bikes riding dangerously on the roads in and between our villages, trespassing on private land and causing disruption in public open spaces and footpaths - an issue that is widespread across the county and the rest of the country. 

In addition a few businesses had previously reported a worrying rise in shoplifting incidents. This is an issue currently being addressed by an initiative agreed at a recent meeting I attended between shopkeepers and the police. This is an ongoing project in its early stages which up to now is having an immediate impact. Please go to this article for background details to the initiative as reported at the July PACT meeting: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/update-from-monthly-blackhall-pact.html

Once the extent of reported crime and ASB incidents had been identified attention turned to potential solutions, and the funding sources available to support them. In this regard it was generally agreed that some short-term measures were necessary if the initiative was to have a visible impact, and that these should be considered against the background of medium- to longer-term measures to tackle the more deep-seated issues beyond the immediate scope of those present at the meeting. Amongst these longer-term issues concerns raised by residents suggested that housing tenure and conditions in some parts of the community were considered to be a major factor in driving ASB and environmental problems.

Examples of short-term measures to address local concerns as quickly as possible include installing anti-bike gates at specific locations, such as the entry points to the Black Path and the pedestrian pathway linking Mickle Hill Road and Elizabeth Street adjacent to the Londis store in Blackhall Rocks. Reports of similar concerns about illegal access to the coast and the beach at Crimdon will be picked up immediately, but any proposed schemes to mitigate these problems are likely be fully dealt with in the longer-term, working alongside those different agencies with direct responsibility for the SSSI along the coast and associated access points.

There are also options under consideration to install CCTV (either fixed or mobile/temporary) to address some of the ASB and environmental issues outlined above. This could be supported by providing affected residents and neighbours with doorbell cameras and remote interior lighting devices in properties where necessary and where there are persistent problems.

In addition, as mentioned above, a scheme to tackle shoplifting is already established and is having an immediate impact with police reporting the arrests of a number of repeat offenders recently.

To support the initiatives and schemes described above a number of funding opportunities have been identified, including the Safer Streets (5) Fund, the Small Grants Fund and Neighbourhood Budget, MAPS Area funding, the council's Towns & Villages programme and supporting Targeted Delivery Plans, amongst others. 

Separately the parish clerk has already been in touch with Joy Allen, the Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham, to secure funding for deployable CCTV cameras and anti-bike barriers similar to the ones installed at both sides of Chicken's Green a few years ago, and which have proved effective in preventing illegal access by off-road bikes to the green and children's play area.

With a view to longer-term measures it was considered that a major driver of crime and anti social behaviour in some parts of the community was the tenure and condition of some of the housing stock, with unregulated private-rented sector properties reported by residents to be at the heart of the problem. 

A particular issue in this regard is the impact that empty and unsecured properties are having in generating an increase in fly-tipping incidents and associated fire risks. As reported in articles elsewhere on these pages the council's ongoing Selective Licensing Scheme was designed to bring much needed regulation to a sector beset with problems created and sustained largely by absentee landlords who live many miles away and who have no interest in our communities beyond making money (this in no way projects blame onto the many responsible private-sector landlords locally who provide an essential housing service and who react immediately when they’re made aware of any issues relating to their properties and/or tenants). However, I've raised concerns in the past that the licensing scheme is moving far too slowly to have an immediate impact, with fewer than one third of eligible landlords registered to date, despite the programme running for the past 16 months. Background details can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/06/ongoing-private-sector-housing-issues.html

Finally, after I'd raised concerns that communications and local engagement in the community needed to improve, the group is considering a leaflet-drop in specific locations soon to keep residents and businesses up to date with developments. This will be supported by the return of our regular street walkabouts where Stacey and I take the opportunity to talk with residents and identify any ongoing issues causing problems on the streets - with most of these being focused on environmental issues such as fly-tipping in unsecured back yards of empty properties and the issues these create further down the line such as fire risk and vermin.

The group established this week will meet on a regular basis to monitor progress with different aspects of the new initiative. In order to gather information and coordinate an effective response it will also act as a conduit for reports of incidents of crime and anti social behaviour in the community. In this regard a vital function of the group will be to coordinate feedback and reports from residents and businesses at monthly PACT meetings. 

As regular attendees will acknowledge, PACT meetings will be an integral element of the new initiative in that they're perfectly placed to identify trends in crime and anti social behaviour incidents based on regular reports and updates from the police, neighbourhood wardens and members of the public. Essentially they serve as a permanent, scheduled forum for public/police interface and are held every month in the Parish Offices (formerly the Resource Centre) in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery. 

Details of the PACT meeting schedule for the rest of this year can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/details-of-monthly-blackhall-pact.html

I'll update on progress with the initiative in due course, but in the meantime the police continue to urge residents to call 101 to report incidents of anti social behaviour or criminal activity, or 999 where there is a risk of immediate danger. 

If you have any comments or queries about this matter please contact me direct at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk 

Unacceptable response to footpath repairs query at Blackhall Rocks

Last year I requested footpath repairs to be carried out at Station Road in Blackhall Rocks. This followed concerns expressed by residents that the footpath surface had become worn and, in my opinion, dangerously unsafe. I was assured at the time that repair works would be added to the council's work programme for the coming financial year.

However, I've now been told that repair works to all footpaths across the county have been stopped for up to 4 years because internet companies are intent on digging the pavements up to install fibre optic cables. I find this unacceptable, especially when residents are having to contend with dangerously damaged footpaths. In no way should they have to endure unsafe walking conditions because someone wants to repeatedly dig up their street.

To make matters worse, I've been contacted again by residents in Station Road concerned about a letter received from the council recently demanding that they install dropped kerbs outside their properties at their own expense - the assumption being that somehow they're solely to blame for the damaged footpath. Furthermore, it makes no sense to force residents to carry out dropped kerb works now only for the pavements to be dug up again, either when the internet companies install their cables or when footpath reconstruction works are eventually carried out by the council.

I've been in touch with the highways engineer who circulated the letter to raise the issue on behalf of residents and I've since received the most appalling response I've ever received in which the engineer appears to be blaming residents in Station Road for the damage caused by their vehicles half-parked on the pavement.

For a start the whole tone of the letter is completely unacceptable. Further, the engineer appears to assume that all residents have vehicles which is demonstrably not the case. To round this all off he accuses residents of being 'angry' and 'VERY stubborn'. Clearly his perception is misguided. What he seems to mistake for anger is simply an expression of alarm and bewilderment from residents in the middle of a cost of living crisis who have just received what they see as a demand from the council that they themselves should stump up for repair works, when all they'd asked for is for a dangerously damaged public footpath to be made safe again.

Finally, the engineer doesn't appear to understand that if residents on both sides of Station Road parked their vehicles fully on the road as instructed there'd be chaos in the street with cars and vans blocked from going in and coming back out again. There seems to be no recognition that Station Road is the only highway access to a very busy picnic area on the coast at the bottom of the street, nor is there any acknowledgement that the bin motor would no longer be able to access properties to empty the bins in either Station Road or Railway Cottages.

I've published the response below so you can judge for yourself whether or not you think this is appalling conduct from a local authority that really ought to know better how to deal with the residents it is meant to serve.

I'll continue to pursue this matter until residents get the service they deserve. 

Hi Rob,

You are the one who created the CRNs 2384 & 3206 because your residents said the paths were in a very bad condition and present a stumbling hazard for elderly residents. The elderly residents have caused the issues themselves unfortunately.

As you know, the pavement at the vehicle crossing areas are becoming quite bad now, and are getting worse with each pass.

All of these properties should have had vehicle accesses at the time and should have obtained planning permission and Social housing permission when the drives were installed.

We cannot enforce residents the create a dropped kerb and strengthened path if no damage is occurring.

The highways inspector was going to do a slurry seal repair to the footways, but would not do it until all strengthened driveway accesses had a dropped kerb installed to them first. The HI said Letters were sent in May 21, with no reply.

Unfortunately, damage is now occurring to the extent that a slurry seal repair is now not viable.

People visiting the houses are also causing damage by parking on the path also.

[a highways engineer] was going to do a full scheme on the proviso that letters would be sent to those residents, and they could have a discounted price to create vehicle accesses during our works.

[The highways engineer's] scheme has been pulled, so it wont happen for at least 4 years now.

I also doubt that these elderly residents would pay the contribution fee anyway, as they have been quite angry towards me since my letter (one of which is a disabled resident who has caused the most damage).

Some residents have done illegal dropped kerbs which are substandard, so they have wasted more of their money anyway.

I'm waiting for a reply from Believe Housing to ask why permission hasn’t been granted by them.

I recently sent the letters to both sides of the road.

The residents of the ODD numbers are all complying with my request and have appointed a contractor to do the work very shortly.

All residents of the EVEN numbers have said that they will not comply, so I'm afraid I will have to go to the second letter stage once I receive a response from Believe.

The ODD numbers were not as bad as the paths on the EVEN numbers, but they have mostly complied. Only the ones with no damage are not going to have the work done until defects appear, or the houses are sold on, then the solicitors should pick up the fact that they have no access to the classified C81 road.

Only 1 person in that whole street, both sides, have obtained any permissions for planning and dropped kerb works since 2000 (when I began doing dropped kerbs in the Highways section).

Those EVEN numbers are VERY stubborn people that I have spoken to.

Regards

Vital public services at risk as government pulls the plug on council funding

A report in the Northern Echo shows that councils across the North East are facing a financial black hole of more than £200m, amid fears a £5bn nationwide shortfall could leave basic services at risk.

North East councils facing £200m black hole in budgets | The Northern Echo

Police safety camera survey at Blackhall Rocks

Following two separate queries from residents reporting drivers exceeding the speed limit on the A1086 Coast Road at Blackhall Rocks I raised the issue with the traffic management office at Durham police.

The police agreed to deploy a safety camera at the location and have now supplied the outcome of the survey:

As promised below the A1086 was placed on my July list for attention by our mobile safety cameras.

During the visits to the site in July I would advise that only 37 drivers triggered the safety cameras:

0 drivers fell within our Process Level (Court action)

8 drivers fell within our Conditional offer level (fine and points)

29 drivers fell within our Speed Awareness Course level.

Update from the monthly Blackhall PACT meeting for August

The monthly Blackhall PACT meeting for August took place earlier this week in the Parish Office in Middle Street, Blackhall Colliery. 

As in recent months it was encouraging to see such a good turnout by residents and businesses who came along to either report their individual concerns or simply listen to what's going on in our villages at the moment and comment on those issues that interest them the most. The issues reported this month ranged from general antisocial behaviour in a couple of the streets in Blackhall Colliery to concerns about off-road bikes and quads in and between our villages and along the coast. 

First, the neighbourhood police gave an update on what could be done to address residents' concerns about the persistent problem of off-road bikes speeding through the streets and riding along public footpaths and open spaces. There are options available to physically prevent bikes gaining access to public spaces like children's play areas, the Haswell to Hart Walkway and the Black Path linking Blackhall Colliery and High Hesleden, and the police have confirmed that they're still looking into all the options. If physical measures are required, such as the ones currently in place at Chicken's Green, I've offered the assistance of both me and Stacey in seeking funding for a workable scheme. 

The police did however, report that the main problem associated with speeding bikes and quads is actually stopping them in the streets and on the roads. Following recent incidents elsewhere, in which young people have sadly lost their lives, the police are under strict instructions not to pursue any bikes through the streets, especially in built-up areas where there's an additional risk of harm to other road users and pedestrians.

The antisocial behaviour issues reported by residents at the PACT meeting tended to be isolated to a handful of privately rented properties. There were also additional reports of rear yards of properties being used by fly-tippers, with the obvious fire risk if accumulations of rubbish abandoned in back yards is set alight. I've suggested that if particular properties could be identified I would contact the council's private sector housing office with a request that the owners or landlords are traced and urged to clear their yards of rubbish - and critically secure their properties against any further incidents of fly-tipping and trespass.

On a related theme I also gave an update on latest developments with the Selective Licensing Scheme in which private landlords are required to register their properties with the local authority. Although the council's scheme is making only painfully slow progress at the moment (since the scheme was launched 16 months ago fewer than a third of the private sector properties in identified areas have been registered) when it is completed it will bring much-needed regulation to an otherwise unregulated private housing sector. By way of clarity, it was pointed out that the social housing sector (formalised and structured groups such as believe housing) is already regulated by central government. From some of the housing-related incidents and issues reported in the village over the years it's clear that the private sector needs to be brought up to a similar level of regulation as their counterparts in the social sector. Full background details on the Selective Licensing Scheme can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/06/ongoing-private-sector-housing-issues.html

I also gave a very brief update on a proposed drop-in session for residents and businesses to comment on the design of a scheme to restrict parking and eliminate dangerous driving on the public footpath in Middle Street. Background details can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/07/parking-safety-measures-on-middle.html

Finally I updated on progress with the meeting I've arranged with a number of local and countywide agencies and organisations to take a closer look at how the causes of crime and antisocial behaviour can be tackled at source by adopting a collective approach built on facts and focused on affected areas most in need of attention. Full background details can be found in an article I published last week on these pages: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/08/next-steps-in-tackling-community.html

I'll update on progress after next weeks meeting, but in the meantime please get in touch with me direct if you have any comments or queries about the issues raised in this article: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

**For background information notes from the Blackhall PACT meeting for July can be found here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/07/update-from-july-pact-meeting.html

Working together to tackle the causes of crime and antisocial behaviour

Last month I published an article about how I’d pulled together a range of local and countywide agencies to prepare a response to concerns raised with me by residents and businesses about a rise in reported crime and antisocial behaviour in the Blackhall Colliery area. Arrangements are now in place to move to the next steps.

Background details can be found in the link here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/07/responding-to-community-fears-of-crime.html

Earlier this week I took part in a follow-up interview with a local newspaper reporter who showed an interest in how reports of crime and antisocial behaviour were being tackled, and also what arrangements had been put in place to address local concerns.

When I spoke to the reporter I first set out the context to the issues we face as a community. At the moment of course they’re expressed in terms of the latest sudden spike in reports of antisocial behaviour a few weeks ago. However, the background to today’s issues are rooted in the past and are the product of years of deliberate underfunding where communities like ours have been all but abandoned by central government in their crusade to make rich areas richer at our expense.

For the past 13 years our communities and local councils have been subjected to a prolonged period of unnecessary political austerity designed deliberately to undermine our public services - including the police force, the criminal justice system, local and national health services and our local authority services. Cuts to our public services on this scale cannot be sustained without some level of breakdown in our communities. Whether that manifests itself in terms of crime and antisocial behaviour, unemployment, health inequalities or reduced numbers of police on the beat there’s no doubt that we’re worse off now than we’ve ever been before.

Perhaps the most devastating impact has been the chaos created in the housing sector over the past few decades. Years ago houses for rent in our communities were overwhelmingly owned and maintained by either the local council or the colliery. Although things weren’t always perfect back then at least if tenants stepped out of line they had the authorities to answer to. As a result of a series of poor policy decisions by government since then the housing sector has now changed beyond recognition.

Former council and colliery housing has now largely been transferred to the private-rented sector in which a significant number of absentee landlords rent out their properties without a care for the impact on our communities or the conduct of their tenants. 

Given the nature of the housing stock this has hit Blackhall Colliery and other former pit villages particularly hard. It goes without saying that the dire condition of many of these properties is a blight on the street scene, and the conduct of some of the tenants coming into our villages on short-term tenancies has had an unsettling effect on an otherwise settled community.

This indicates to me that in the immediate-term more regulation is required in the private-rented sector, and in the longer-term we need to look at how we can bring any persistently problematic elements of the private-housing sector into public control. To put this into perspective I’ve never met anyone who argues that housing is generally in a better condition under the private sector - or that bus services have improved since they were handed over to private companies after deregulation back in the 1980’s. 

However, understandably, residents want to see action now to address their immediate concerns about the issues facing our village - and at the moment that’s all about the latest spike in incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour (residents who have regularly attended the monthly PACT meetings for a long time will have noticed trends in reported cases of crime and antisocial behaviour over the years, and will be aware that these incidents tend to be sporadic - coming to a head every now and again). 

This latest spike in incidents is the reason I’ve brought together a range of agencies to establish a first response and then pass the reins over to the community to decide how they wish to continue. Once the basic structure is in place one idea would be to hold an open-day or drop-in event in the village at which residents and businesses can come along to speak with police and local representatives to talk about any specific issues they have, and also have their say on how together we can improve community safety in our communities. As an alternative however this could be better facilitated through the existing PACT meetings held in the village every month. This approach would provide a regular and permanent monthly forum for residents and businesses alike to come along each month to raise their concerns direct with the police and neighbourhood wardens.

I told the newspaper reporter about the meeting I've arranged with local and countywide partner organisations to take place later this month to set out the next steps. The agencies coming along to the meeting include the police, community safety officers, neighbourhood wardens, regeneration and housing officers, the parish clerk and other partners who all have years of experience in the field and are well positioned to tackle the issues I’ve been told about by residents and businesses during regular street walkabouts, at ward surgeries, monthly PACT meetings and in daily calls and correspondence as one of the local elected councillors for the area.

I then suggested that as a collective group we would adopt a dual approach to consider immediate short-term measures and then set out a medium- to long-term plan to sustain the changes made during the first phase.

The initial objective is to assess the true extent of reported issues in our village at the moment. This includes analysing up to date figures on crime and antisocial behaviour, comparing them to previous figures to determine whether there’s a trend developing. The agencies can then direct their attention where it’s most needed. In addition, when the group maps out the profile of the community they can look at installing those measures deemed most effective and appropriate to tackle residents concerns. This will ensure that the issues we face will be addressed in proportion to their impact on the community.

At the heart of this approach must be improved local communication and engagement with the community. This includes making reporting crime easier, and crucially worthwhile. For too long now people have made the effort to report crime and antisocial behaviour incidents, only for the system to breakdown, meaning that nothing seems to be done.

Following the first, short-term phase the intention is to consider those longer-term measures that would bring real change and a make a positive and lasting difference to our village. 

As set out above this includes looking at how we can bring the housing sector back under local control (recognising of course that there is room for local private-sector landlords who respond when there are issues to address and who provide a vital service in the housing supply chain). 

We also need to lobby government to reverse the devastating impact of austerity. Our own local authority, Durham County Council, has its funding reduced by £280m a year, every year, so central government must be forced to recognise the damage their policies have on our communities and begin to fund local services properly.

In addition the number of police officers has to be reinstated as a matter of urgency. If our residents are to feel safer our communities they need to see a visible, responsive presence on the ground. And when residents report issues to the authorities they deserve a better service than the one they receive now. 

Many issues like this are beyond the control of the community of course, but that doesn’t mean we should sit back and endure the impact locally of decisions made centrally by people who will never understand the lives we lead in former pit villages like Blackhall Colliery and elsewhere in East Durham.

By building on the strong community spirit that still exists in Blackhall Colliery, and developing a clear understanding of the continuing issues we face as a community, we can work together with the right people, in the right places to make a positive and lasting difference.

The newspaper report on our plans is scheduled to be published within the next week or so, and I’ll report on progress on these pages in due course, but in the meantime if you have any issues you would like me to know about please get in touch with me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk

Call to remove sex offender from the community

Early this morning I was made aware that a resident had concerns about an individual in their street who was reported to be a sex offender. 

I immediately contacted the police to ask them to verify the facts and confirm this claim. I also urged the police to remove this individual without delay given the potential risks to the community and in the interests of public safety.

I find it staggering that a convicted sex offender can be relocated to a street just minutes away from two primary schools and I’m sure that residents will share my concerns.

For information there is a way you can contact the police to find out if a sex offender lives in your neighbourhood. It’s known as Sarah’s Law and more details can be found in this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-sex-offender-disclosure-scheme-guidance/child-sex-offender-disclosure-scheme-police-guidance-accessible

I’ll update progress when there are any significant developments.