Some of you have noticed the academy site straw poll to the left. Join in and you’ll see what the rest of Consett thinks.

Durham County Council took a small first step along the road to a meaningful consultation with local people over the academy site. The consultation will now run until July 17th, giving people a further two weeks to respond.

I welcome this small step, but no-one should get too carried away. In Iran they extended the voting by six hours. Who trusts the result that produced?

The step people really need to see is the county holding a public meeting in which they debate the pros and cons of each site. Following that, with the necessary information in their hands, let the people have their say.

I have put the following question down for the leader of the Council tomorrow:

“The trust deed of the Project Genesis Trust, a multi-million pound public-private partnership set up to develop the extensive former steelworks site in Consett, specifically nominates the leader and deputy leader of Durham County Council (successor council to Derwentside District Council) as trustees of the trust, together with the Chief Executive of Durham County Council.

In the light of this, and the site’s key role in the regeneration of North West Durham, what steps have the leader and deputy leader taken to ensure their understanding of the trust and its role, and to take part in its proceedings?”

I know it sounds really dry, but it’s critical to the future development of this town.

No-one has been a more vociferous critic of the secrecy that has surrounded the Project Genesis Trust than I have, but that doesn’t mean that you throw the baby out with the bath water.

The gift of the site by BSC put 700 acres at the disposal of the council. The Project Genesis Trust arrangement, for good or ill, means that it can now only be developed through active cooperation between the county council and Project Genesis Limited. The simple choice is - seek co-operation or see the site goe to waste.

The people of North West Durham will not forget or forgive if the Leader of the Council sits on his hands.

One of the disadvantages of being a local councillor can be a tendency to let your world narrow.

You’ll be impressed, therefore, that I have been reading up on Macon in Georgia, USA. It’s a city I’d never heard of, and don’t expect to visit.

If you want to know what led me to Macon, click here

OK, so perhaps my world has narrowed a bit!

There used to be a poster outside churches which said “If you’re too busy for God, you’re too busy”.

I certainly wouldn’t see blogging on a par with that message, but there is some paralell because as you blog you think through what’s important to you. Not blogging may therefore be a sign of not thinking. So here goes.

It’s been an enormously frustrating, annoying, stressful week. That’s ranged from computers that have let me down, through traffic chaos, to a county council which behaves with such breath-taking arrogance that you wonder if you’re imagining things. I mean, could there really be a democratic institution that would make a decision vital to residents’ interests behind closed doors, keep it secret for five months, and then offer people a “pretend choice” to make in ten days? It’s the sort of “choice” that used to be commonplace behind the Iron Curtain.

At the same time it’s been an enormously exciting week as local people have taken up the challenge and driven events at the breakneck speed required to meet the county machine head on. My phone, doorbell and email has never been so busy. Today on Middle Street there were people from different politcal parties and none seeking petition signatures. Two thousand leaflets have been put out by people who probably wouldn’t have dreamed of doing it a week ago. And what was their revolutionary demand. Just that the people who claim to be their council come and talk to them - discuss, explain, argue, justify and do all the things good democrats do for their own people.

British politics is a pale thing. Look around the world at people in Iran, in Zimbabwe, in Myanmar (that’s to test you) and you’ll realise how little our democracy costs us. Often it seems we aren’t even willing to pay that price. Apathy comes cheap.

We’d all better hope that we never need the kind of courage politics takes in some countries. We could hope for a bit of the passion, though.

Let’s stop just managing people. How about enthusing, involving, encouraging, and even possibly one day inspiring them to want them make their world a better place.

The green space of Consett is not to die for. It is worth fighting for, though. And just as much worth fighting for is a political scene which is full of busy people grafting, talking, thinking and striving. And full of people who believe they can make a difference.

I know the site for Consett’s proposed Academy is not on everyone’s mind - but it’s been on the mind of most of the people who’ve communicated with me in the last two days. One of them asked me if we should get Hilary Armstrong MP involved. My answer was that of course we should. She’s our MP, whichever party we voted for.

It set me wondering.

Hilary Armstrong was actually one of the original trustees, and a signatory to the Genesis Trust. I wonder how she feels as she watches Durham County Council studiously ignoring the trust - and with it the opportunities it offers the town to develop the land we were given. Does she see their behaviour as a betrayal of the project she signed up for? Or was it a loss of faith in the Genesis project that led her to leave the trustees?

The absurd aspect of this laughable two week consultation is that the Genesis site is not even under consideration. As the Northern Echo put it, the Genesis site is the elephant in the room. It pays to be wary of elephants, they’re scary when roused.

Recent events are giving me concern.

The failure of the cabinet to consider the “Business as Usual” proposal for Consett Sports Centre, planned and financed for the Berry Edge site, concerns me. The elimination of the Berry Edge site from the possible Academy sites concerns me.

It’s not that I’m sure that that is the right site for either, but that the county doesn’t seem to understand that it owns the site or seem very interested in engaging with the Project Genesis Trust. It seems just to have abandoned the idea of a site which brought the possibility of having college, school and sports facilities in one tight knit area which would enable children to benefit from the facilities during school hours.

It’s hard to imagine on what basis anyone would want to ignore this site. It’s huge. It’s valuable. It was given to the people of Derwentside (yes, that’s right, not just the people of Consett) and that’s a legacy which we should make the most of.

I used to complain about the lack of transparency of the project - and justifiably so.

Now what we’ve got is even worse - invisibility.

If the new county council is serious about being for all the county they’ll have to get a grip of the opportunities in this part of it. If they don’t the voters will take their revenge.

If you want to see the two sites that the county council is choosing to offer you for the new academy in Consett, please click here

Since there are only two sites, no doubt you’ll have no problem making your mind up and sending in your views to the county in the nine days available to the ludicrously short deadline of July 3rd.

If however you want the list of the six sites considered, which were apparently reported to cabinet in January, though not discussed in public or clarified to the public academy consultation meetings in February and March, please read on.

My apologies for the length of what follows, but this is an important issue and you deserve to know the facts.

Option 1: Existing Consett Community Sports College
The existing school site is large enough to accommodate the proposed development, measuring approximately 172,800 m². This figure includes the cricket field (approximately 28,384 m²) currently let on a lease and the detached playing field (25,580m²) not currently used by the school.

It would appear that the only area suitable for the building of a new academy would be on the playing field to the rear of the existing building. However access to this part of the site is very difficult due to the topography of the site, in particular the severe slope on its eastern boundary. Access for construction vehicles would need to be carefully considered to avoid impact on the operational school and local residents.

Option 2: Existing Moorside Community Technology College
The existing school site is large enough to accommodate the proposed development, however it is distant from the main area of population. This would impact on the travel distances required for those living outside the Moorside area.
Although the slope of the site is not excessive there are a number of changes in level that mean both the existing school buildings and playing fields are terraced. In addition the site is with an area of high landscape value which could make development on another part of the site more difficult. There could be potential to use an area to the east of the site, owned by DDC but this also slopes quite steeply from the highway.

Option 3: Project Genesis site
The site is more than large enough to accommodate a proposed development but acquisition would be needed. A single developer agreement exists on the site which could present problems in terms of cost and the extent to which their rights affect development by others. The whole area was formerly the site of the Consett Steelworks which will lead to some contamination issues that would require further investigation and may prove costly to remedy.

Option 4: Land at Belle Vue, Consett
This site presents a viable option but is not large enough to accommodate a proposed development without the demolition of the existing structures on the site, which includes the football ground and the rugby clubhouse. The levels across the site do vary with a significant slope downwards inside the football ground, earthworks would be required. The potential exists to share facilities with the neighbouring Consett Junior School if required.
It is likely that the facilities used by the football and rugby clubs would have to be reprovided elsewhere in Consett which would have a cost associated with it. In addition it appears that a number of quarries were present across the site which would require further investigation to determine if any contamination exists.

Option 5: Land at Crookhall, Consett
Land at Crookhall extends to approximately 140,000 m² which would meet the statutory requirements for a new academy and presents a viable option. The site is within the ownership of Durham County Council and Derwentside District Council so no acquisition would be required. However OS maps show that the site was subject to past industrial activity and as a result contamination may be present. In addition the football pitches are well used by the local community and it is likely facilities would need to be made available as part of the academy development.

Option 6: Land at Leadgate
The existing site is not large enough to accommodate the statutory requirements needed to support an academy in this area. A mixture of reclamation land and grazing land off Leadgate Road extending to approximately 93,000 m². The minimum statutory requirement for the academy is 99,800m² which would mean land acquisition would be required in order to meet these requirements which may affect the timescale.
The land has been subject to past industrial use and as a result contamination may be present. Access is a major issue on this site which appears difficult and costly to remedy. With this and the acquisition that would be required to meet the statutory minimum it does not appear to be a viable site.

So there you have it.

The really intriguing bit is why the Project Genesis site was ruled out. And what does that say about the plans for the Sports Centre?

I’ll turn to that theme tomorrow, but in the meantime please let me know what you think of the two sites offered by the county - Belle Vue and Crookhall - and how you think they compare with the Genesis and other sites.

“All councillors are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Well, that’s almost what George Orwell wrote, except that he wrote about animals rather than councillors.

Figures recently supplied to me about what Durham County Councillors are being paid for being councillors show clearly that Labour councillors are the “more equal ones”, averaging over £3,000 per head more than opposition councillors. That’s more than a quarter as much again as opposition councillors. You might say that’s not surprising – after all they include the cabinet – but the fact is that of 54 positions which carry extra payments they have taken 47 for themselves. They probably would have liked to snaffle more, but even this controlling group would find it hard to justify claiming the role of “leader of the opposition”!

The crude fact is that seven out of ten Labour councillors have an additional role attracting additional pay – and funnily enough so do the small independent group of four who always vote with Labour – whilst only one out of ten councillors from other the parties will hold such a role.

I hope that when the independent committee sits to decide what councillors in the new unitary council are worth, they’ll recognise what an absurd position this is and brush away lots of these extra payments. Then we’ll find out who really wants to do the jobs for their own sake rather than the waters being muddied by extra payments in the gift of the ruling group.

Consett Library is looking forward to its 50th birthday at the start of July. As a well loved servant of local people it wants to welcome as many people as possible to its celebrations which will include a number of talks and a coffee morning for all comers on July 11th.

In order that you can get them into your diary early here are some of the talks that are planned, all at 6.00 p.m.:

Monday July 6th   John Milburn on Family History

Tuesday July 7th  Kevin McManara on the history of “The Company” - the works that dominated the first half of the library’s lifetime

Thursday July 9th  Michael Ball about Beamish, with some of the historical items for you to handle.

On Saturday July 11th there will be the coffee morning. July 11th is definitely going to be a day to stay in Consett with theee daytime events I know of taking place - and all of them free as far as I know. More of that later!

This week I, and fifteen other councillors, found ourselves called first to a planning committee “site visit” in Chester le Street on Wednesday, and then on Thursday to a meeting to decide the application. It took around fifteen minutes on each occasion.

For me that was probably a couple of hours driving, some hanging around, and two days organised around these meetings. For other councillors it may have been more time consuming as they could have come from as far away as Easington. There were probably half a dozen council officers involved too, and on average their time may be more expensive than councillors’ time.

Don’t get me wrong - if a decision is important enough, democracy is worth paying for. And this was a particularly short agenda.

As it happens, in my view, this particular decision was not that difficult and could have been properly taken by officers, but I know that at this stage in the new council we are still feeling our way, sucking and seeing as they say. It will be vital however, that after a few months we sit down together to find out what’s working and what isn’t. What’s necessary, and what we can safely short-cut.

The trick is going to be looking at things as a whole team, forgetting political parties, and making honest judgements about what we need to do to make sure people who need to be heard are heard, that sound judgements are made, and that people’s rights protected. If that’s expensive, so be it.

If on the other hand we can find ways to reduce costs without undermining democracy, I’m all for it.

Yesterday’s Cabinet confirmed that they are to go ahead with a Dog Control Order so that owners of dogs fouling public land can be fined £80 (£50 if paid within 14 days).

I welcome this harmonisation across the county and the idea of enforcement. I hope they will also run a campaign to change hearts and minds, however. Street Wardens can’t be everywhere and we need people to take the issue on board themselves.

Promoting Civic Pride will work with some people. Educating people about the real effects on health, particularly children’s health, will work best with others.

There will always be some people who take no notice of such campaigns. There will always be people who have no consideration for anyone but themselves. They’re the ones I want to see fined, but punishment by itself has never been enough to improve the world.

If you’re interested in this area have a look at the Keep Britain Tidy education campaign on dog fouling. They claim that an effectively run campaign can cut the problem by 40%. That would be a good start.

Take a look at this . Perhaps it will inspire you to lead the campaign.

Consett’s first experience of a county council cabinet meeting today was pretty astonishing. As a spectacle of political hand-washing it will take some beating.

“Not me, guv”, said the cabinet, looking the other way.

The issue in question was the contract for the Durham Park and Ride bus service, a service well used by Consett Residents. You probably know that there has been a lot of criticism in the press and from councillors about the process which will result in a change of provider from Scarlet Band (who claim a 98% satisfaction rating from customers) to Arriva. This is despite the fact that Scarlet Band would have cost the council taxpayers less.

In the face of a good deal of hostile comment, the cabinet’s response was simultaneously to disclaim any responsibility (blaming any inadequacies in the process on the officers who had designed it) whilst approving the award of the contract to Arriva.

From my point of view the problem with the process was that the “quality criteria” the county included in the process were all paper based theoretical statements. They didn’t include the most obvious element that you or I would have wanted to know: What is there in the track records of the applicants to prove that they have provided good services in the past, here or elsewhere, and are capable of doing so again?

I got no denial of my view that the cabinet believes that the tender process had followed the letter of the law, but that the cabinet has no confidence that it has delivered the right result.

In response to my charge that it was madness to disregard companies’ track records, I was told that it would not be “fair” to take them into account. I was also told it was impossible to compare “like for like” in such things. Perhaps the whole nonsense was summed up by one cabinet member’s comment that “this is where common sense meets the real world”. So in the “real world” of County Durham there is no room for common sense.

Just when I thought that we were going to have to put up with the result because the process was legal, Mr Martin Harris (Commercial Director of Go North East) threw in a claim that could rock the county council’s position. He stated quite clearly that on three occasions during the tender process the “weightings” between price and quality had been changed. He also stated that one of the criteria had been removed from the scoring process after the tenders had been submitted.

If the matter ever came to court, I guess the county could find itself in the embarrassing position of explaining how shifting goalposts comply with the rules for tendering.

I wouldn’t hold your breath, though. Which company hoping to get a County Durham contract in the future is going to take it to court today? The result will all too likely be that residents will again pay the price for the cabinet’s failure to take control.

My rather more famous and talented namesake from Austin Texas has released a new album, “Dollars and Dimes”.

Since he’s been kind enough to send me a copy I can do no less than recommend you to try it at http://www.owentemple.com/ 

I don’t know how hard the other Owen Temple is working at introducing Austin to Liberal Democracy, but I’ll do my best to introduce Consett to his Texas brand of country music.

Tonight I attended Tow Law Town Council, and I’m grateful to them for allowing me to do so.

It was interesting on a number of levels. Read the rest of this entry.

Tonight I was asked whether, following the creation of the unitary concil, I thought things had improved or worsened in terms of the council communicating with people at a local level.

It’s early days yet, so any judgement has to be tempered by that, and there’s still a powerful legacy of distrust from those who never wanted a single unitary council (around three quarters of those of you who voted).

Having said that, there are signs of the council wanting to get out and about. Cabinet meeting in Consett this week is one example. The neighbourhood team coming up to Consett for their management team meeting last week was another - even if only 3 of your 22 Derwentside local councillors turned up for it (yes, I was one of them). I don’t know if I ever saw a county officer venturing into Consett Civic Centre under the old regime.

 The AAP inaugural meetings were positive - but the absence of anything from them since undermines that initial enthusiasm.

Also on the downside Consett Sports Centre remains on the drawing board, but no-one knows whose office the drawing board is in, and the vast Project Genesis potential seems to have gone largely unnoticed at County Hall. You can’t miss the site if you live here - you can if you don’t know the area.

That’s my initial experience. What’s yours? Please let me know. Email me direct, or leave me a comment - whichever you prefer.

Local people may not yet relate to the “cabinet” of the county council in quite the same way that they do to the Cabinet at Westminster. People may well struggle to name the county cabinet members, but they have very powerful roles in the county. They are responsible for making most of the county’s decisions.

That’s why I’m pleased they will be coming to Consett’s Civic Centre on Wednesday to hold their cabinet meeting here. Read the rest of this entry.

Today’s full council meeting was a rather different one. The county was determining its submission to the boundary commission on future ward boundaries.

 Across the county, in about two thirds of the area, we had hammered out agreements so that we could present a united front. In the remaining third there were variations which stretched from the tiny and insignificant disagreements (10 farm houses to be allocated to a different ward - or not) to major disagreements with charges of gerrymandering, arrogance and complacency.

In some ways it was emblematic of the real world of the county council. There are quite big swathes where there is little disagreement between councillors in different parties. There are other issues and niggles which raise emotions ranging from fury to irritation.

Finally there are issues where no really good solution can be found - just the least worst. That’s where Durham City finds itself.

Fortunately for Consett, however, there was broad agreement across the members of three parties.

Delves Lane and Consett South is currently massively too big. We think that could be cured by creating a new single member ward for Moorside and the Grove, leaving Delves Lane, Crookhall and Templetown around the right number of voters for two members.

Leadgate and Medomsley has to lose a few voters, which we reckoned could be done by puting Elm Park into Benfieldside (which is where it used to be and where it belongs) and a couple of other tweaks.

Benfieldside, which was too low in numbers, in addition to including Elm Park as above, would sensibly take in more of Blackhill up towards the carriageway (or old railway line) which in turn would reduce the over-large number of voters in Consett North.

It makes sense.

In fact it makes sense for all council business that we agree where we genuinely can, and battle it out only when we really have to. 

I feel a new era of sweetness and light coming on - until the next bust up!

The Headline isn’t mine. It those revolutionaries at the North East Chamber of Commerce who have accused the government of spending a third less on the North East’s transport than they spend in the rest of the country.

Not that it’s evenly spread, of course. According to the NECC government spends more than three times as much per head on transport in London than they do in the North East. That will have surprised you!

What struck me was the NECC’s complaint that the neglect of transport in the North East is being allowed to go unnoticed by the very people who are meant to be representing us. How else can you interpret their chief executive’s statement: “It is time for everyone, particularly the people who represent the North East, to say that this simply is not good enough and that the imbalance must be redressed.”

He went on to say, “The Government has to recognise that allocating this region over a third less in funding than the national average is unacceptable and is letting down the people who live and work here. NECC will be taking this issue up both with MPs in the region and with the Treasury at the earliest possible opportunity.”

I hope the NECC does. We get a third less spent on our transport needs, and roads which residents often describe to me as “third world”.

You can read the full story here. Like they say at the end of Crimewatch - “Don’t have nightmares!”

In my work I come across social security and other benefits quite a bit. They’re fantastically complicated, and on a bad day I think the system has been designed like a terrorist cell - no-one has all the information because that way you can never find your way to the core of the system.

It’s a minefield. And to get through a minefield the best way is to have a map and a mine detector. Read the rest of this entry.

100 years of continuous service is worth celebrating. Do you know who was celebrating 100 years of service in Consett this year? Read the rest of this entry.

Great news for Liberal Democrats in the North East tonight as Fiona Hall is re-elected as a Member of the European Parliament. She’s worked really hard, and Derwentside Lib Dems have been delighted to campaign alongside her in both Stanley and Consett.

Party                                                      Total                      %
Labour                                                147,338                  25.0
                                                                                         (-9.1)
Conservative                                     116,911                   19.8
                                                                                        (+1.2)
Liberal Democrats                              103,644                   17.6
                                                                                         (-0.2)
UK Independence Party                      90,700                   15.4
                                                                                          (+3.2)
British National Party                         52,700                        8.9
                                                                                         (+2.5)
Green Party                                         34,081                      5.8
                                                                                          (+1.0)
English Democrat                                 13,007                      2.2
                                                                                          (+2.2)
Socialist Labour Party                          10,238                       1.7
                                                                                          (+1.7)
No2EU                                                     8,066                    1.4
                                                                                         (+1.4)
Christian Party-Christian People’s
Alliance                                                   7,263                     1.2
                                                                                         (+1.2)
Libertas                                                   3,010                    0.5
                                                                                         (+0.5)
Jury Team                                                2,904                    0.5
                                                                                         (+0.5)

I have now had the response to my questions about when Durham County Council provided to the Information Commissioner the correct data notifications about the April 1st change to unitary status. The original story (and reader comments) are here .

I can’t help noticing that the contacts were made a week after my initial approach (and the same day that I put the issue on this website.)

I print the questions and answers here so you can judge for yourselves:

1. Please can you confirm to me the date on which the county’s notification of change took place following its accession to unitary status?

I contacted the ICO via telephone on Wed 27th May and following their advice I confirmed their actions in an email to them. They stated that they would amalgamate the councils and create a unitary authority registration for Durham. I telephoned them this morning to check and they confirmed that this had been done on 27th May. The registration number is z6199693.

2. Please can you confirm to me what steps have been taken and when with regard to notifying the cessation and removal of the district councils from the register?

The telephone call and email of the 27th May also notified the ICO of the cessation of the District councils and asked for them to be removed from the register. They have confirmed by telephone today, that all Districts were finally removed from the data protection register by 29th May and Wear Valley District was removed on 1 April 2009

3. Please can you confirm to me whether (and if so when) the Electoral Registration Officer for Durham County Council was registered as a data controller?

The Electoral Registration Officer registration number for the new authority is PZ1768703 and after contacting the ICO today to check, they stated that although it will not show on their public website for a couple of days, we are registered as of today 3rd June 2009

To further alay any fears we might have, the ICO also confirmed today that there would have been no problem associated with any of the registrations, and that even if we had forgotten to register or remove information, the action they would have taken would have been to send us a letter asking us to register.

I’m pleased to know that the registration is now in order - and that I have been able to play a part in putting the county council of which I am a member on the right side of the law. Just in time for the Euro election on June 4th.

Focus readers will know that there is a meeting tomorrow night (Weds June 3rd.) at Blackhill Community Centre to discuss the county’s plans for some environmental improvements in the area of Durham Road and Derwent Street.

It will be run in a workshop style and starts at 6.00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend and put in their ideas. It’s important that as many people as possible are there. The county planners can only know what you would like to see if you are there to tell them.

One of the things we get at the Berry Edge Residents meeting is a regular report from the police, keeping us in touch with what’s going on locally. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

The hardest bit about politics is not deciding where you’d like to spend money, but deciding what gets priority.

I was shocked to find that the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre was under threat following the end of three year funding pledges from VISA and the NSPCC. Yes, you read that right - a credit card company and a charity underpinning what “The Independent” describes as an organisation credited with breaking up or disrupting 166 paedophile networks, 82 of them in the past twelve months.

According to the same report CEOP has been temporarily bailed-out by a £500,000 Home Office contribution, but its long term fate is still not secure.

Government deserves congratulations for setting up this agency. It will, however, deserve castigation it it allows it to fail for lack of resources.

If you want to know more about the work of CEOP click here. To my way of thinking this sort of relatively low cost, intelligence led, targetted policing is a much better way to spend scarce resources than a multi-bilion pound national database.