Our latest street walkabout took place yesterday morning in Blackhall Colliery. The intention of holding this particular event was to bring all the relevant agencies together in one place to take a look around the streets and back lanes in Blackhall Colliery to register any outstanding fly-tipping issues, and also to monitor how effective ongoing efforts to keep the back yards of private properties clear of rubbish had been.
Alongside the parish clerk, the local PCSO, neighbourhood wardens, clean and green team, the selective licensing team, officers from the PCC and other partner agencies we set off from the parish council office to see which areas had improved since our last walkabout, and also to see which parts of each individual street required more attention.
The main areas we visited yesterday were in along back lanes between First and Eleventh Streets where we reported a number of environmental issues, including fly-tipping in one or two back lanes and also accumulations of rubbish in some of the back yards of private properties. It was noted that compared to our most recent walkabout in this area there had been a significant improvement in the amount of litter and debris cleared from the yards, alongside a reduction in the overall number of yards affected. However there were four back yards that had been targeted again by fly-tippers. In almost all cases there was no gate to the property, leaving the back yard open to repeat incidents of fly-tipping.
Towards the end of the walkabout we visited the site of the recent bonfire on the corner of East Street and First Street where the last of the debris from the fire had been removed earlier in the day. The grass where successive fires had been set was completely burnt away, leaving the ground beneath it a mess of charred soil and ash. This has now been reported to the authorities with a request that every effort is made to re-seed the field and return it as soon as possible to an acceptable condition for public use.
Finally, on the way back to the parish office we stopped to take a look at the site of the vacant, privately-owned land on Middle Street where ivy bushes growing into the perimeter fence are gradually pushing it towards the public footpath. On a number of occasions in the past sections of this fence have been blown into the footpath, presenting a risk of falling onto passers-by. The concern now is that the fence will eventually fall into the pavement if the bushes aren’t cut back and the fence properly repaired. The authorities have been tasked with finding a way to work with the landowner and the local authority to repair or secure the fence and trim back the bushes behind it.
All the issues we covered during yesterday’s street walkabout have now been referred to the relevant authorities for their attention, so hopefully the yards and streets we visited will be tidied up sooner rather than later. I’ll update on progress as and when I have more information from the services involved. In the meantime if you have any similar issues you would like us to know about please get in touch with us at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk or stacey.deinali@durham.gov.uk
The next street walkabout is likely to take place in Hesleden, and over the next few months there are plans to visit other villages across the ward area too. I’ll post full details as soon as the representatives from all the partner agencies have confirmed their availability and the schedule of visits has been agreed.
