With local government change going on across large areas of the country, Consett is not alone in finding its plans put under threat by the need to get approval from from Big Brother at County Hall. Students of these things may be interested in the following link: http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/News/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=edponline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED28%20Jul%202008%2020%3A36%3A13%3A657 

What this means is that those who want the proposed Consett Sports Centre to go ahead will be well advised to exert maximum pressure as soon as possible. Delay is the enemy in this matter.

I have been told that all the the information about the proposals has now been submitted to the county by the district council, and that Hilary Armstrong MP is supporting the district council’s position (and getting a pressurising post-bag from constituents). I hope that last bit is true, though I’ve yet to hear anything in public to corroborate it. Can I ask that you write to Hilary Armstrong MP to ask her position, and that she goes public on it? http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ is an effective way to get your message through and have it monitored.

I know that not everyone is convinced that the proposed Consett Sports Centre is the best that can be achieved. I can only say that the status quo is not an option because the swim centre in particular will not last long - and that a £15m bird in the local hand is a whole lot better than a a flock of as yet unthought of birds in a distant bush.

I had no idea what it meant either when I saw this on the agenda of the Highways Committee. Just exactly who do the Statutory Undertakers bury?

It turns out that it’s not “who they bury”, but “what they bury” as the statutory undertakers are the two hundred authorised bodies which dig up our roads to bury wires, pipes and so on.

Apparently they dig 17,000 holes each year in County Durham’s roads, and have to re-instate them and guarantee those reinstatements for two years (or three if particularly deep).

The county council inspects 10% of those holes whilst in progress to check that the signage is right, that danger is avoided, and that particular care is taken to protect pedestrians.

It has to inspect a further 10% on reinstatement to check that the quality is up to scratch.

Finally the county council has to inspect 10% of these repairs as they come to the end of the guarantee period.

And this is where you come in. “Many issues we can’t do anything about because we don’t know about them,” said Dave Pownall, head of Highway Network Management. So you and I can be added eyes and ears.

Please let me know (better still send me a photo) if you see a hole which is not adequately protected or signed, or which forces pedestrians into the road but with no protection.

Adopt a hole, and when it’s coming up to the end of its guarantee period, let me know if its reinstatement has failed (better still send me a photo) so I can feed it into the system for re-inspection.

You never guessed that being a councillor could be so interesting!

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.

Addiction is a terrible thing.

I’ve been suffering “cold-turkey” as I’ve been unable for days to satisfy my craving to write my blog. I rather doubt if any reader has felt quite the same!

Apparently the problem has been caused by the failure of all three of the server back ups for this website’s host. Whilst they have now manged to restore the site, it seems to be running very slowly.

Normal service will be restored very shortly.

There are no post offices scheduled for closure in Consett North ward - not that surprising given that the only Post Office in the ward is Consett Post Office. There are two, however, quite close by at Castleside and Medomsley.

Post Offices play a vital role in community life so this is important to us all.

The county council is organising three special meetings across the county;

Tuesday July 22nd: Shotton Hall, Peterlee. 6.00 p.m.

Thursday July 24th: St Patrick’s Church Hall, Consett. 6.00 p.m.

Saturday July 26th: County Hall, Durham 10.00 a.m.

Unfortunately I cannot make the first two, but will be at the Durham one. If you get to the Consett one I’d be pleased to get any feedback.

The following statements have all been issued to the local press. I publish them without comment or alteration.

Councillor Watts Stelling, Derwentside District councillor & Durham County councillor: “We are happy to support the scheme. Ideally we would have been able to accommodate even more uses with the new centre but this was simply unaffordable. The proposal is deliverable, will mean that there is no disruption to the current facilities and will provide a modern centre with lower running costs.”

Councillor Alex Watson, Leader of Derwentside District Council: “We hope that Durham County Council will agree to the delivery of the new centre. There is no doubt that we need to replace the existing facilities which are in very poor condition, as a matter of increasing urgency and the scheme that has now been agreed has the best balance between content, costs and future development potential. We have a realistic timescale set out for delivering the project but any delays would be expensive – current construction inflation means that some £60,000 would be added to the costs for every month of delay.”

Councillor Simon Henig, Leader of Durham County Council, “The proposal is something that the new unitary authority will need to look at very carefully particularly given the need to keep Council Tax levels across County Durham as low as possible.”

Councillor Bob Young, Durham County councillor, speaking on behalf of himself and County Durham councillors Clive Robson, and Jane Brown; “We have major reservations about the current proposals and believe the plan has been hastily produced as a knee-jerk reaction to the original strategy and plan being unable to be funded.”

“We consider this to be an inferior plan although we have to admit that we have not been privy to all the details as we as county councillors have not been consulted.

“Many community organisations also feel aggrieved as likewise they have never been adequately consulted. ”

What people can be assured of is that we  are committed and enthusiastic to deliver for the residents of Consett new sport and leisure facilities but they must be for all, not for a few.”

Councillor Owen Temple, Derwentside District councillor & Durham County councillor; “We have taken a great deal of trouble to ensure that we have all-party support for a project that will clearly meet the needs of the vast majority of the users of our sports centres. It is disappointing to read negative comments from local representatives that could prejudice future leisure provision at a time when our existing facilities are approaching the end of their working life and the Government is strongly advocating the health benefits of sports and leisure activities.”

I promised to update you on the situation of the trees and grassed areas around Consett Town Centre, so here it is.

Derwentside District Council’s Executive considered a report around January of this year in relation to ‘Town and Village Centres’ (or Placemakers, as the initiative was proposed to be called).  Around £800,000 of the £1.5m budget was identified to be spent on ‘off street car parking’ around the District, and the Car Parks were listed in the report.  The proposal is, generally, to take out the trees and grassed areas and provide a number of additional tarmac’d parking spaces.  Following on from that decision, a programme of work has been arranged and the projects are being picked up ‘one by one’.  So plans for the work at Albert Road and Edith Street have been drawn up and the work costed, but the council would go through the Planning process before any work was authorised.

I’ve seen the “plans” referred to above which would involve the removal of trees and grassed areas on four sites: the edges of Albert Road car park, the edges of Edith Street car park next to the parish church, the grassed mound at the junction of Front Street and Albert Road (formerly a Baptist church) and the parkland to the rear of Albert Road, Edith Street and Alexandra Street which the Residents Association have been working all year to raise money to get it landscaped as open space.

These plans would turn Consett into a grey parking lot, undoing the work of the last twenty years to build some greenery into the environment.  

The only slight encouragemt I had was the assurances I got that nothing would happen without going through Planning. This would at least give warning and enable opposition to orchestrate its approach.

If you care about this it would be good if you wrote to Peter Reynolds, Director of Environmental Services, Civic Centre Consett DH8 5JA telling him your feelings and asking for assurances that no action will be undertaken before there has been full public consultation. The more evidence there is of popular feeling the better.

I will certainly undertake to let you know if I hear anything else.

I previously reported on County Durham’s Health Statistics, and this time the information is about Derwentside. I use the same format as before, the Good News and the Bad News.

It makes grim reading with Derwentside not only worse than the nation as a whole, but also worse than County Durham in terms of physical activity in children, health of under 15s and numbers of people diagnosed with diabetes. The only area we were significantly better in  than the rest of County Durham (and still only average nationally) was in the number of over 65s suffering hip fractures. I don’t know what to make of that!

Good News

• Below average violent crime
• Below average new cases of Tuberculosis
• Below average road injuries and deaths

Bad News

• Above average deprivation
• Above average children in poverty
• Above average statutory homelessness
• Above average smoking in pregnancy
• Below average number of mothers who start breast-feeding
• Below average physically active children
• Above average numbers of teenage pregnancies
• Above average numbers of adults binge drinking
• Below average numbers of adults eating healthily
• Above average under 15s not in good health
• Above average claimants of incapacity benefits arising from mental illness
• Above average number of alcohol related hospital stays
• Above average people diagnosed with diabetes
• Below average male life expectancy
• Below average female life expectancy
• Above average deaths from smoking
• Above average early deaths from strokes, heart disease and cancer

This presents a real challenge to the unitary council when it comes into being next April. It is charged with the responsibility of working with partner agencies in the NHS, education services, leisure services and across the board to narrow the gap both within the nation and within the county. It will take vision and commitment if it is to make a difference.

For more details go to www.healthprofiles.info

If anyone has logged onto this story hoping for salacious stories of councillors making a site-visit to Consett’s lap-dancing club they will be disappointed.

In a low-key debate councillors considered a request from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport for views on the subject. In my view we came up with entirely reasonable recommendations that the Licensing Act 2003 be amended to:

1. Allow greater regard to public opinon and allow a more flexible interpretation of the “in the vicinity” rule which ruled out contributions from many interested parties when the issue arose previously.
2. Provide more specific criteria with regard to the siting of premises close to schools, churches, community and youth centres.

There was no great moral outcry or dramatic gesture politics, however.

Whilst I felt at the time of the application made two years ago that it was carelessly put together, and should have been subjected to more rigorous conditions, I have to admit that I have not been aware of particular disturbances or anti-social behaviour arising from the establishment. That being the case, I don’t see it as my, or the council’s, duty to be more heavy handed towards one person’s taste than towards another. That’s why I was happy to vote the same way as everyone in the council chamber - an unusual degree of unanimity.

As always, I’d be interested in hearing your views.

There was a time when Prime Ministers made announcements to Parliament, and then they were published in the press.

There was a time when council leaders made announcements to councillors, and then they were published in the press.

That was because there was respect for electors, and a recognition that the votes they cast for their representatives (whether for the party in power or not) counted for something.

Those days are gone. P.R. has replaced the old-fashioned notion of democracy.

Earlier this year I found out who the county council cabinet was to be from the Northern Echo. On Saturday I discovered that the new county council wanted to know how local people thought that power and influence should be passed back to them, and would be holding public consultation events - through the Northern Echo. Two days later I received the information from the leader of the council!

The Labour county council cabinet could not make it plainer that they have no respect for “back-bench” councillors. In doing so they could not make it plainer that they have no respect for their electors either.

But that’s why I love the old-fashioned notion of democracy. All parties that take the electorate for-granted get their come-uppance in due course. It can’t happen too soon for me.

I’ve spent five or six hours this weekend helping Keith English, Lib Dem district councillor for Benfieldside, put out leaflets in his ward. Keith, together with local branch members, has just about covered the ward over the week-end. We’ve been really grateful to the rain for holding off!

Meanwhile some of you in Consett North will have already received our July Focus which is only possible because of the wonderful dedicated band of volunteers who help me with it.

Those of you who haven’t received it yet can click on consett-focus-july-2008.pdf or just wait for it to come through your door.

Perhaps though, just perhaps, there’s a reader out there who values getting these newsletters and would be willing to put a few out in their immediate area. If that’s you, drop me a line. Every little helps, and the team we’re building is changing the face of local politics in Consett.

Being Chief Executive of a county council, even one of the biggest new authorities in the UK, may not be a very glamorous job - but it is a very important one. That’s why yesterday’s appointment was crucial in the progress from the old Durham county and district councils to the new unitary council.

The shape of the new council should be set by its political masters. It’s effectiveness may be down to the way in which the Chief Executive manages the staff into an effective team to carry out the council’s policies.

Of all the processes since my election two and a half months ago, this has been the most transparent and apolitical. Two Liberal Democrats were included in the selection panel, and the words of Lib Dem leader Nigel Martin tell their own story:

” This morning (yesterday) there was a meeting of the full County Council to appoint a new Chief Executive. He is George Garlick, currently Chief Executive of Stockton Borough Council.

The reason I am writing about this is reassure those who worry about these things that the appointment process was very rigorous and robust. A large number of very good candidates applied for what will be one of the top jobs in local government.

The final short list was top class and was put through a tough two and a half day selection process involving the leading members of all the political groups at all stages.

I am confident that we now have a top notch Chief Executive who can lead the Council through what will undoubtedly be a tough period while the new unitary gets going.”

I’m sure all readers of this website wish George Garlick every success in delivering a first class service to the people of the county.

It’s hard not to be paranoid.

When I tried to log on to this blog-site from my desk in County Hall, I was surprised to find I couldn’t. Perhaps there was a problem with it. I tried to log on to our group leader’s site, www.nigelmartin.mycouncillor.org.uk but I couldn’t. Nor the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC).

Was there some terrible plot to block all Liberal Democrat sites?

Actually, No. I tried to log on to the Labour Party as well, but that was blocked too. There’s no plot, it’s just that Durham County is a politics free zone. Perhaps someone could pass that message on to the cabinet.

Lib Dem Euro MEP for the North East, Fiona Hall is calling for the introduction of a European - wide child alert system for missing children.

The Liberal Democrat MEP has signed a European Parliament Written Declaration which calls on Member States to establish a missing child alert system that would be similar to the ‘Amber Alert’ program in place in America.

Fiona said: “The success rate of ‘Amber Alert’ in proves that an alert system works. That is why it is so important to support this declaration.

“The challenge for Europe is to make sure Member States work together, particularly to prevent children from being transported across country borders before disappearing entirely. The speed of response is therefore critical, as the likelihood that a child will be returned safely lessens as time goes on. A well co-ordinated approach is needed so that positive results like those in America can be repeated throughout Europe when needed.”

Take a good look. We don’t know how long this view of Consett’s beautiful listed Parish Church will be available.

Enquiries have confirmed that there are plans to “take out the trees and grassed spaces” around both Edith Street amd Albert Road car parks in favour of extra tarmac’d car parking spaces. Local councillors have yet to see the plans, but apparently there is funding for the proposed extra tarmac and we will be receiving the plans soon.

We all know that there is a problem with car parking in Consett. Many of us believe, though, that it is an issue of managing the parking rather than an outright shortage of spaces and that the first priority should be to introduce a system of time limited parking in the central car parks.

If the town centre car parks were emptied of the shop and office workers’ vehicles which choke them up all day there would be plenty of space for shoppers. The all-day parking could be a little further out at Sherburn Terrace or Hermiston Park.

The appointment of a traffic warden would look after the rest of the problem and the Town Centre would have a chance to prosper again.

That makes a lot more sense to me than creating a small number of extra spaces at the expense of the limited greenery we have around the town.

I’d be interested in your views. Just click the “comment” link at the top of the article.

The one reassuring thing is that we have been promised that these proposals will have to go through the planning process, so people will have the chance to comment or object. I’ll let you know when they come up.

The 2008 Health profile for the County makes some interesting reading. It sets the County in context nationally, so here are some highlights with the Good News and the Bad News:

Good News

• Below average violent crime
• Above average physically active children
• Below average drug misuse
• Below average new cases of Tuberculosis
• Below average road injuries and deaths

Bad News

• Above average deprivation
• Above average children in poverty
• Above average statutory homelessness
• Above average smoking in pregnancy
• Below average number of mothers who start breast-feeding
• Above average numbers of teenage pregnancies
• Above average numbers of adults binge drinking
• Below average numbers of adults eating healthily
• Above average claimants of incapacity benefits arising from mental illness
• Above average number of alcohol related hospital stays
• Above average hip fractures in over 65s
• Below average male life expectancy
• Below average female life expectancy
• Above average deaths from smoking
• Above average early deaths from strokes, heart disease and cancer

We all know that there are lies, damned lies and statistics, but would anyone doubt that as a county we’ve got a long way to go in terms of health improvement?

For more details go to www.healthprofiles.info

If the weather’s good on Sunday you couldn’t do better than Consett & Blackhill Park where the double bill features the town’s own “Consett Brass” as well as Lanchester Brass.

More details about what’s on in the park can be found at http://www.leisureworksonline.co.uk/downloads/E71B8EA9-E147-1DA3-606453F040696AF0.pdf

It’s been an interesting twenty four hours for me. I’m still not used to the slippery nature of local politics, and the fact that what’s being said to your face is almost certainly not what’s being said behind your back. If only I hadn’t lead such a sheltered life!

In the twenty four hours I received an email from a friend telling me how I was being slagged off for “doing a deal” with the Labour Group. It was news to me, but probably not to the politically motivated few in the pubs and clubs who need a good conspiracy to be going on with.

At the same time I found the Lib Dems being excluded from the District Council’s publicity machine, until it reached my ears and I “kicked off”. Then suddenly we were valued members of the Derwentside District Council team again.

Finally, I heard again some rumours which I intend to investigate. The problem is that sometimes I think rumours are as likely to be designed to walk my head into a noose as they are to provide useful information to help improve or protect our town!

So that reminds me who my friends are - the ordinary people of this town who elected me and who just want to hear the truth and be given a voice. It’s important in politics to remember who your friends are, and that the people who matter are the people you are elected to represent. That’s why it’s a real disappointment to me every time I log in to the website and find no comments. Today I’d even have appreciated an offer of dodgy pharmaceuticals or cheap motor insurance! Any communication beats the indifference of silence.

Consett’s proposed new Sports Centre has just attracted its most influential critic to date, Councillor Bob Young of Consett South. He is quoted in Thursday’s Northern Echo saying “we have reservations” about the proposals. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/misc/print.php?artid=2377218

That’s a fascinating use of “we”. It could be the “royal we”. It could be the Labour County Council Cabinet “we”.

The “we” it certainly is not is the majority of local county councillors. I know that because most of the new county councillors, like myself, are currently district councillors and voted for the proposals. And I’m confident that the “we” is not the residents of Consett who know that their old facilities are crumbling and desperately want them replaced.

It matters a great deal who the “we” is, because since the coming of the new unitary council these proposals have to be agreed by Durham County Council’s Treasurer. I don’t expect he’ll make the decision on his own. You can bet that the decision gets made in the county council cabinet, a cabinet which contains both Councillor Bob Young from Consett South, and Councillor Clive Robson from Consett North. Based on that a fair deal for Consett sports enthusiasts should be assured. But only if they raise their voices to back the proposals.

Perhaps you’d like to email Councillor Young at bob.young@durham.gov.uk or Councillor Clive Robson at  clive.robson@durham.gov.uk and let them know what you think. I am sure they’ll be interested in your views, just as I will be if you email me at owenlibdem@oltemple.f2s.com . If you’re not sure who your councillor is, or how to contact them, you can find out at http://www.writetothem.com/ .

The first week of the month is always heavy for meetings, that’s why I haven’t updated this blog, and at times it can drive you crazy. Having said that, without them nothing happens. With them, it may be slow but progress does happen.

Take Monday. The council took a step further towards the creation od Consett’s new sports facilities with an outline decision on what’s to be provided. It isn’t everything everyone wanted (I’ve already had great dissatisfaction expressed to me about the absence of a sauna in the new facilities unless some more money can be found from somewhere) but there will be as much as can be providedwith the money that can be scraped together; a new 25 metre pool with learner pool, a big Sports Hall, a smaller sports hall and enough space within the builing for a fitness suite and some ancilliary features.

I was pleased to to have accepted my amendment that the new small sports hall “be constructed with due regard to the physical requirements necessary for its effective use in the provision of indoor bowling”. The truth is there isn’t the money (£2 million) to provide “sole use” space for bowling, but it is essential that the best possible facility is provided that enables the mainly elderly indoor bowlers to get some serious bowling in during the winter months.

There’s still a long way to go with this project, though. Because of the new unitary council coming in, the project will have to be approved by the County Council Treasurer, no doubt with the say-so of the Labour cabinet. That makes it essential that the two Consett Councillors in the cabinet (Bob Young and Clive Robson) put their shoulders to the wheel to make sure that this sports centre happens. They will not be forgiven if it gets de-railed again at this late stage.

Tuesday was the Berry Edge Residents Association where the county engineer confirmed progress on the Albert Road crossings which are now going out to consultation. It’s painfully slow, but something will come of it - and who would have put money on that two years ago?

Wednesday I managed to slip in half an hour at the Scout AGM before going to another meeting. What a great atmosphere. There were about eighty beavers, cubs, scouts, leaders and parents crammed into the Scout Hut in Constance Street to recognise the group’s achievements. There was a good deal to celebrate - and especially the scouts winning a district trophy which had eluded them for thirty one years. Unfortunately I had to miss the end of it (and so never found out if the barbecue beat the rain) to go somewhere else, but it was an exciting reminder of how much goes on round and about, often largely unnoticed, and how many dedicated people it takes to make it happen. It’s a privilege to be a councillor, and so to be allowed an insight into so many different aspects of local life.