Owen Temple

One of the big challenges for the new unitary Durham County Council (under whatever name) will be to provide equal services in all districts. In the jargon of the bid, to provide “Consistent service levels across County Durham, driven up through common standards, more effective management and greater local influence over service provision.”

Conversations around Consett suggest that most people doubt that we’ll get any benefit from the change, but a couple of things which passed over my desk recently reminded me of the possibilities as well as the pitfalls.

The pocket guide ”Durham - your guide to Durham City and County” almost had a black hole where Consett is. There was no mention of our place in the Coast to Coast route, or our position at the centre of a web of railway walks. The restaurants didn’t include any in the town despite the growing range and undoubted excellence of some. The Glass Gallery, English Tourist Board approved, was nowhere to be seen.

I was just getting ready to feel annoyed at our exclusion when I read that Derwentside was the only council in the county not included in the tourism partnership - presumably therefore the only council not to have contributed to it. So perhaps the new unitary council will see Consett taking its place in the development of tourism in the county.

The Citizens Advice Bureau also sent me a leaflet seeking recognition of its role in the new county, and outlining its place in the current system. Again, variations across the county suggest that we can be gainers rather than losers when you look at this table:

District                                  No of advice centres                     £££s support

Chester le Street                                     2                                             £38,800

Derwentside                                             2                                             £63,680

Durham City                                           10                                             £79,210

Easington                                                 13                                           £122,500

Sedgefield                                                  9                                           £147,000

Teesdale                                                    4                                             £25,000

Wear Valley                                              7                                              £64,000

Of course there’s no simple connection between these things. Not all advice centres are open for the same length of time or have the same capacity, but clearly there are variances across the county in many different areas of provision, and there’s no reason why the current Derwentside district should not seek to benefit from “Consistent service levels across County Durham, driven up through common standards”.

We’ll need to be on our toes.