Residents disappointed by police no-show at Blackhall PACT meeting for September

There was a disappointing turn out for the Blackhall PACT meeting scheduled to be held last night (Wednesday) in the Parish Offices on Middle Street.

The residents were there as usual. I was there as usual. But unfortunately for some reason the police didn't attend. Given the whole purpose of the PACT (Police and Communities Together) which is to bring the community and the police together (obviously) the absence of the police last night was particularly annoying for residents.

However, although residents were disappointed, it's probably fair to acknowledge there might have been an emergency call-out last night which would have taken officers elsewhere. So to give them the benefit of the doubt I've contacted Peterlee Police this morning to ask for a reason why the PACT meeting was cancelled without notice, and also to ask for a commitment that they improve communications with our communities in promoting the Blackhall PACT meetings better and also let me and residents know as soon as possible if there's any reason for them to cancel meetings in future.

I'll update on the outcome as soon as I have a response from the police, but in the meantime details of the scheduled PACT meetings for this year can be found in the post I published on this site back in January: Blackhalls & Hesledens: PACT meeting dates for 2026