TRUSTEES of a respected conservation group have criticised a newly-established council planning system.

In their 67th annual report, trustees of the City of Durham Trust say the unitary Durham County Council has left Durham “a shrunken city – a head with only half a body”.

They say the council’s Area Action Partnerships (AAPs) serve neither local nor natural communities and hardly deserve the title “action”

as they have nothing to do with planning, housing, transport, employment or economic policy.

The report also slates the new central and east Durham planning committee, pointing out decisions affecting Durham will be taken by a majority of councillors from outside the former Durham City district.

However, Councillor Simon Henig, the council’s Labour leader, called on people, whatever they thought of the local government shake-up, to make it work.

He said: “I think the trust has misunderstood the AAPs. These bodies are about local people getting involved in setting priorities, not about acting in the way the district councils used to.”

Coun Henig also said having seven planning committees, each covering a former district area, was never an option.

The trust report will be presented to its annual meeting, to be held in room 141 of Elvet Riverside 1, New Elvet, Durham, on Wednesday, May 13, from 7.15pm.

At 8pm, Seif El Rashidi, co-ordinator of the Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site, will give a lecture called: The Challenge of Durham’s World Heritage Site.