Parish Council Report for October ‘09...

Police Report.

Officers from Durham Constabulary attended the meeting and reported that there had been theft of lead from a house in Staindrop Road, one person has been arrested for attempted theft of stone, a local youth will appear at Durham Crown Court charged with theft of lead from the Parish Church.

The recent Police action against excessive speed in Cockfield and other villages resulted in 54 warnings and one arrest for drink driving.

The Police set priority for this month is to deal with anti-social behaviour outside the Co-op Store and also tackle unlicensed use of motor cycles in Front Street and on the Fell.

Councillors asked the local officers to address two other issues; i) obstruction by cars parking near the junction of Jubilee Court with Prospect Square.

ii) Driving on footpaths in the area of Simpsons Butchers Shop.

The next meeting of the ‘Police and Community Together Programme’ is in Lipscombe Hall at 7.00pm on Monday, 2nd November and this is the residents opportunity to set policing priorities for this village!.

Community Centre.

At the September meeting of the Council, any decision on the future of the centre was delayed to give residents the time to return to the Council with a viable plan for the future: it should be noted that the Parish Council are not legally allowed to apply for grant aid or run a community association. The public at that meeting were well aware that the October meeting was the deadline as the centre was becoming a substantial drain on the councils finances.

Sadly, no member of the public turned up at the October meeting: the Councillors have now made the decision to place the Community Centre ‘up for sale’ and any funds realised would be for charitable community projects.

IT Equipment.

The Councillors agreed to donate the computers to the YMCA who have committed to providing outreach services for young people in this village - where the computers will be made available at the sessions. It should be noted that because of the age of this equipment it has little commercial value!

Football Facilities.

Members of the Council were disappointed and concerned at the dilapidated and dirty condition in which the facilities had been allowed to get into: last year (2008) the Council made a financial donation to the football team on the strict condition that the facilities were maintained and cleaned but sadly that has not happened.

The team have been informed that if urgent action is not taken to remedy this situation the Council will impose conditions in relation to their future use of the football facilities!

2010 Budgets.

It was approved that, subject to finances being available, grants will be made available to the communities of Esperley and Burnthouses to improve their areas.

Memorial.

The Council granted approval for Mrs Kathleen Armstrong to place a memorial seat on the village green in memory of her late husband, Tony. This is a fitting tribute to Tony and a very nice way for him to be remembered.

General matters.

i) Keith Quigley has resigned as a Parish Councillor.

ii) The council were pleased to confirm the appointment of Mr Max Laurie as a Councillor.

iii) Councillor Pauline Charlton advised that a new Community Warden has started work and his role is to promote a higher quality of life in the villages: a second warden will be starting work in the near future.

iv) It is disappointing to report that vandals have seriously damaged the children’s ’see-saw’ and the ‘revolving carousel’ at the play area resulting in a repair bill to the Council of several hundred pounds: unnecessary costs like this have a direct impact on the monies available for other projects in the village.

and finally………………………

Now that the grass cutting contract has ended for this year the Councillors thank the grass cutting firm (Alan Wheldon) and our litter picker (Tom Watson) for keeping the village so presentable during the year.

Litter collection will continue throughout the year.

Trevor Lewis.

Clerk to the Council.