Owen Temple

The police statistics for the Consett Beat team last month are heavily skewed by the weather.

Rowdy nuisance increased to 42 incidents, with a number of the calls relating to young people throwing snowballs. Similarly all 10 cases of Vehicle Nuisance arose from vehicles causing an obstruction, either parking inconsiderately on main roads or blocking access alonside the heaps of snow.

On the upside, there were no cases of street drinking. The attractions of hanging out in the bitter cold were obviously limited!

There were 8 cases of criminal damage, most relating to vehicles, and two people were charged for damage caused on Sherburn Terrace.

15 cases of theft were reported, with 6 confirmed. A number of these were of personal bags and valuables at pubs, and people are warned to be vigilant.

There was 1 burglary reported which appears to have been opportunist and may have resulted from a door left unlocked. Again, the police urge householders to take care.

Some of you may recognise the picture from a leaflet put through your door to advertise yet another consultation by your altogether consultative county council.

This time they have employed Groundwork to find out how you would like the “green space around the Belle Vue site” to be improved. I couldn’t help thinking the picture suggested rather a lot of earth movement!

The public drop-in sesion will be at Consett Community Sports College (formerly Blackfyne School) on Tuesday February 9th between 3.30 and 7.30.

I’ll be going with my own shopping list which will include:

• The green space being protected - by not giving planning permission to use the whole site for Academy and Sports Centre as is requested on the current planning application. This application puts the site boundary along the very kerbstones of Villa Real Road. Instead, how about granting Belle Vue field Village Green status?
• Provision of additional litter and dog pooh bins, together with a campaign of education and enforcement. If we all took responsibility the Belle Vue green space would be improved dramatically.
• Some sympathetic planting of shrubs and bulbs.

I’m sure you’ll have some more imaginative ideas.

I’m sure you’ll also have some difficulty in believing the county’s new found interest in our views about everything except where the academy and sports centre should be sited. Have they never heard of the elephant in the room?

Before I became a parliamentary candidate I had no idea how many different people and groups would get in touch asking my views under everything under the sun.

Sometimes there’s an “off the peg” party policy to fall back on, but many of the questions fall outside that and force you to examine what you really believe.

Take, for example, the question a constituent put to me about organ donation. “Do you support the opt out system or believe the current policy is the right one?”

Organs for transplant are currently only taken from people who made a positive decision during their lifetime to become a donor by placing their name on the NHS Organ Donor Register. The register currently holds the names of nearly 15 million people or 24% of the population. However, only a small proportion ever become donors. This is partly because of inefficencies in the organ matching system but mainly because they die in circumstances that mean their organs cannot be donated to others. Then, even where someone has placed their name on the Organ Donor Register, doctors must get their relatives’ permission before removing their organs. It is estimated that lack of family consent also means that four out of 10 organs considered suitable for transplant are not being used.

Shortages of organs available for transplants are reckoned to lead to the deaths of 400 people each year who are awaiting a transplant.

In response to this, some people, including the Prime Minister, have suggested that we should switch to a system of “presumed consent”. This would mean everyone would be regarded as a potential donor unless they had specifically registered an objection. It is believed that this could significantly increase the number of organs available for transplantation.

I’ve sent my response to the constituent, and am happy to share it with you in due course, but I’d really like to hear your views. Please leave a comment if you have a view to put.

In the meantime you may feel moved, as I did, to place your name on the Organ Donor Register. It’s possible to register online at UK Transplant or by calling 0845 60 60 400 (24 hours a day). If you do decide to register for organ donation, make sure you inform your family and friends of your wishes.

The first week of the month is a busy one for me as three local residents’ groups all meet in it - but at least they’re on different days!

It’s not always easy to get motivated to go out, what with frost and fog, but it’s always worth going because the people who make these groups function are all people who want to make a difference. So here’s a quick portrait of each.

First Tuesdays are the Berry Edge Residents’ Association meetings at the YMCA. This is a very localised group who represent the interests of the original streets in Berry Edge; Albert Road, Alexandra Street, Berryedge Road, Constance Street, Edith Street and the immediate area. They’ve seen many of the changes they have worked for take place - the latest, still under construction, is an island to help cross Albert Road - and are now considering their next project(s). If you live in the area they’d be delighted to see you and hear your ideas.

First Wednesdays are the turn of the Consett North Partnership, also in the YMCA. This partnership serves the whole area of the old district council’s Consett North ward which is roughly bounded by Sherburn Terrace, Front Street, Generation Way, Aynsley Terrace, Fairways and Villa Real Road. Their big project at the moment is work in the Blue Heaps area, and they’ve just gained funding for improvements of the path from Aynsley Terrace to Blackfyne. That’s just a start with further improvements planned. They’re also planning a Race Night to raise some much needed funds just to keep the partnership going.

First Thursdays are the turn of the newest of the three: Benfieldside, Blackhill, Bridgehill and Shotley Bridge Partnership which meets at Blackhill Baptist Church. Only a relatively small part of their “patch” falls within my county council division - Blackhill to the south of Durham Road and south east  of Pemberton Road - and those projects are the ones I know best. They include an environmental clean up and a Sunday buffet and entertainment for some older residents.

I often hear people complain about the loss of community spirit but the first week of every month reminds me that reports of its death are greatly exaggerated. Long may these groups continue. And if you want to be put in touch with any of them just let me know and I’ll do that.

The county council have sited 4 “Scamnesty” bins across the county.

The idea is that you put in these bins any suspected scam letters, emails or other approaches. They will be looked through, and investigated where possible with a view to cracking down on this nasty practice which takes somebody in every day.

Unfortunately no bin has been sited in Consett, but if you’ve received anything you want to go into a “scamnesty bin” you can let me have it and I’ll put it in the scamnesty bin at County Hall.

If you want to know more about “scamnesty” click here

The date by which comments or objections to the Planning Application for the Consett Academy and Leisure Facility should be received is getting close. It’s next Monday, February 8th.

You can see the plans here

You can check the “Saved Plans” for Derwentside which should still guide planning decisions in the district here N.B. the “Expired Plans” no longer have any relevance.

Since Durham County Council doesn’t provide one, you may wish to read the Leeds City Council fact sheet on the requirements for an application for outline planning permission. It is to be found here and provides a useful checklist against which to measure the “outline” planning application.

It can take a while to get your head round this very large application, so don’t delay. It’s important that the planners have as clear an understanding as possible of the views of local people.

Comments should be sent to:
John Byers
Planning Development Manager
Regeneration & Economic Development
County Hall
Durham DH1 5UL
or email to: planningcounty@durham.gov.uk

I was recently contacted by the Parliamentary all party working group on this subject. The statistics are apalling, and the frightening thing is how widespread the problem is throughout Britain. Over twelve thousand victims in this country alone.

Human Trafficking is one the top three most lucrative manifestations of organised crime - along with drug dealing and the arms trade.

Human Trafficking is a fundamental assault on basic human dignity. It affects millions of men, women and children throughout the world. More than twice as many people are in bondage in the world today as were taken in chains during the entire 350 years of the African Slave Trade. Over 100 000 of which are in Europe, 1 in 8 are in the United Kingdom, some British, many European.

Human Trafficking includes Debt Bondage, Domestic Slavery, Child Labour as well as the more well known Sex Industry and it takes place throughout the UK - often in peaceful looking suburbia. Cases of Human Trafficking have recently been identified in Worthing, Northampton, Ipswich, Dundee, Birmingham, Plymouth, Exeter, Colchester, Nottingham, Belfast, Edinburgh, Paignton and London.

More details about modern day slavery and the work of the All Party Working Group here

The cabinet announced today that it will raise council tax by 1.9%.

I went straight from County Hall to the office where I work and reported the fact to my colleagues , some of whom live in Darlington. They said “hard luck” as their council was proposing a nil-rate rise.

I tried to explain why we must be better off in Durham because we’ve got all those savings from scrapping district councils but they didn’t seem convinced.

I can’t think why not.

I went to the Annual General Meeting of Citizens House, Consett, tonight.

Many people don’t even know that the building opposite the gate of the Medical Centre is Citizens House. It’s the former booking office of Consett Station, but as Citizens House it now exists to provide facilities for local clubs and groups.

Fewer people still know the history of it. The original site was at the top of Front Street and was given by American Servicemen in gratitude for the part played by the people of Consett in the war effort, but it moved to Station Road when that building had to be demolished.

It’s a thriving concern with over 400 people using the facility each week, and a go-ahead committee which has made many improvement to the facilities. It is home to more than a dozen groups from choirs to theatre group, from photographers to stamp collectors. You can find out more from the website here . Amongst others, there you’ll find that it’s home to the local Liberal Democrats.

Finally, I’d like to point out that it is no longer the base for the Citizens Advice Bureau. That has moved to Glenroyd House on Medomsley Road where it holds sessions on Tuesdays (except 4th Tuesdays) and Thursdays from 10.00 till 3.00.

I spent the whole day today at Consett Community Sports College, though it felt like a return to Blackfyne as I walked the corridor to the classroom where I once taught and talked to ex colleagues and pupils.

The reason for my visit was to attend the day-long seminar the school was running in collaboration with the Anne Frank Trust.

The day was moving, harrowing, challenging and yet filled with hope. What made the day especially hopeful was the fantastic band of young teenage “peer-educators” who took us through the exhibition, elaborating on the detail and clearly having taken the subject matter completely to heart. All week they had been showing the material to classes from their own school and local primary schools, as well as the public at Christchurch Hall, but their motivation and enthusiasm was undimmed.

We also heard the account of Ruth Barnett, one of the young Jewish children who was transported to England before the war to escape the persecution, but whose whole life had so clearly been terribly affected by it. She built an excellent rapport with her large young audience who asked her lots of questions.

I came away challenged in many ways. Watching the slide that leads from “labelling” people who are different into brutality and injustice, or just indifference, was a powerful challenge to anyone involved in politics

Another challenge is to resist any stereotype that labels our young people as somehow “worse” than previous generations, or suffering from short attention spans. Not that anyone would ever do that!