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.

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.”

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.

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/ .

I went to a meeting of the Young People’s Forum tonight at the Civic Centre. What a pleasure it was - even though they weren’t expecting any visitors.

They were putting together some ideas for the July 21st meeting with councillors. Unfortunately I can’t get to that one, but it was really encouraging to hear the things they wanted to promote. Of course there was plenty of banter, but underneath it were some very positive ideas.

I won’t spoil their thunder by mentioning any of their ideas here, because that’s for them to do on July 21st, but I hope they get a good turnout of councillors on the day.

It just reminds me that we’ve got to keep fighting the anti-youth culture which exists across Britain. The culture that brands youngsters as anti-social. The culture that thinks it’s impossible to get young people interested in anything important, because all they want is to be out binge drinking. The culture that will end up with us getting the young people we deserve if we’re not very careful.

The sooner we start listening to young people, the sooner we’ll start hearing what they think really is important. And we might just learn something from them!

Today the Development Control Committee of Derwentside District Council unanimously turned down the latest variation of the CVS’s many applications for Glenroyd House - and I’m pleased about it. I should be. I went to argue the case for refusal.

I have never believed that the outdated and delapidated building was the right place to house the Citizens Advice Bureau and CVS. It’s too large, access is too difficult, it’s the wrong design for the purpose - but despite all that because I value the work of the two organisations I have sought to accommodate a compromise. I suppose you could say, though, that I finally lost patience with the latest sloppy application (for the second time they applied for 24 hour working “by mistake” and the revised application was only necessary because they had applied for permission through an access that they had not actually negotiated a firm agreement on). If you’re going to bend over backwards for applicants you want to be sure they are going to be good neighbours. I stopped being convinced of that as I watched these applications pile in because good neighbours take care - and good neighbours talk to each other.

I was also mindful of the fact that in nine month’s time, when Derwentside District Council ends, there will potentially be some vacant space in the Civic Centre with proper access and extensive parking, in a building designed for a variety of office based functions.

In the event, though, the two things that finally persuaded me to speak against acceptance of the application were these;

1) the extra entrance which would have been needed next to Rosemount would have meant pedestrians (many of them children on their way to school, and others elderly) having to negotiate a width equivalent to a dual carriageway with vehicles potentially entering and leaving in different directions around them.

2) Decades ago the road was busy enough to have three side-roads blocked off to prevent entrance onto Medomsley Road. Now conditions are worse, and at this point of the road there is often double parking outside the shops, and delivery wagons abandoned in the carriageway whilst unloading.

Of course, that may not be the end of it. The applicants could appeal, though which of their three applications they’d be seeking to get approved only they could tell us. Or pehaps it will be yet another new one.

For five years we’ve been waiting for a resolution of this. I just hope this latest refusal will lead to the County Council making the hard decision. The building and its access are past their sell-by date. The site needs redeveloping in a way that enhances the area, and that means selling it and redeveloping.

The first week of the month is an opportunity for you and your councillors to get down to local issues, because on the first Tuesday of each month the Berry Edge Residents Association meets, and on the first Wednesday the Consett North partnership. Both meet in the YMCA at 7.00 pm.

Last night’s meeting of Berry Edge Residents Association heard a report from the police about crime and anti-social behaviour. The bald statistics  are that there were 194 incidents in the Consett area, with 12 of them in Berry Edge, but there was some good news in that the spate of arson and TV cable cutting seems, for the moment at least, to have stopped under intense police activity.

At the same time some people learnt for the first time that there are “Streetsafe” boxes for residents in the area to leave letters to the police with discretion and no need for direct involvement. They can post their concerns and information in boxes at Consett Community Sports College (formerly Blackfyne School) and at Tesco. Others learned the number 0845 6060365 for non emergency police response.

Ongoing issues included the Berry Edge Gardens project and the progress towards an island or other assisted way of crossing Albert Road.

Perhaps as important as the individual issues, however, is the strengthening of community that happens amongst this group of people committed to maintaining, protecting and progressing the area in which they live.

If that sounds like something worth doing, you could come to tonight’s meeting of the Consett North Partnership, also at the YMCA, at 7.00 pm. This body covers a rather wider area, defined by the district council ward boundary, but it’s still not a large community just covering most of Consett itself as well as Number One.

Readers of this site will have noticed the disappearance of three mature trees from the grounds of Glenroyd House. Certainly some of the old folk at Rosemount have, because when they lost the trees they also lost the birdsong that brightened their lives.

What people may have missed, however, is the significance of this destruction. A look at http://www.derwentside.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=8427&step=4&ref=1/2008/0329 will show you the reasons for it.

Apparently, the CVS sought planning approval for a shared entrance with Rosemount before they actually had the agreement of the owner of the land. That agreement was refused, so now they’re back to the drawing board.

There are a number of disturbing features about the new application - apart from the fact that the applicants don’t seem able to organise themselves, let alone anyone else.

• The application is for 24 hrs a day working despite the fact that a clear restriction was placed on the previous application to limit working hours to 8.30 a.m to 6.00 p.m.
• To put the parking spaces where they are on the plan three more attractive flowering trees will have to be cut down
• Despite this the application states that there are no trees adjacent to the development which are important in terms of the landscape character
• A double entrance here will double the disruption and danger to the many pedestrians along this stretch of Medomsley Road

Please have a look at it yourself and let the Planning Department know your feelings.

I have spoken with the Deputy Returning Officer who confirms that he spoke yesterday with the Labour Party Agent for these elections who had admitted the “error of fact” I complained of. The Deputy Returning Officer was unable to advise me as to what action the Labour Party will take to correct it! I promise that when (I remain an idealist) I receive their apology, I will post it here.

I spoke to a journalist to tell him of the situation. He was frank. There was nothing he could do because to publish this story ”would be seen as bias on the eve of an election”. When I countered by asking if it would therefore be foolproof to lie on the eve of an election he simply asked when an untruth becomes a lie. I hope you’ll agree with my response - it’s when you know that something is untrue but go on saying it.

With that in mind, if anyone has evidence of the “Consett’s Choice” leaflet being delivered after 1.30 yesterday I’d like to know.

 One interesting thing to note: the readership of this website has soared recently. I don’t know who you are, but if you are:

an ordinary voter in Consett; I’m pleased you’re investigating where to place your two votes

a Labour supporter; I hope you’re embarrassed about how far the once great and principled party has fallen

a Lib Dem supporter; thanks. We’ve has such terrific support throughout the last year that we are confident, with one last push, Consett will elect its first Lib Dem county councillors tomorrow.