RESIDENTS of a council estate in a small County Durham village came together to discuss its future at the weekend.

The future of Lily Gardens housing estate, Dipton, near Stanley, was on everyone's lips at the Planning for Real Day in the village.

With the help of the environmental agency, Groundwork West Durham, local children constructed a 3-D model of the troubled estate, which was used to help people pinpoint specific problems.

Housed in St Patrick's RC Church Hall on Saturday, the model was the focal point of a day of activities, which also included a children's fun day.

Groundwork coordinator Cath Bibby, explained the idea behind the event.

She said: "Lily Gardens is a council estate which is fairly run down and the residents' association approached us to see if we could help.

"The children from the estate worked really hard over the half-term holidays to make the 3-D model, so that everyone who came along to the event could see their own doorstep.

"We then invited people to pick suggestion cards, which they then placed on the model at places were they thought it was relevant.

"The cards came in different categories - environment, crime, health and community facilities - which enabled us to pinpoint the real problems.

"This way, it gave everybody the chance to have their say without having to speak up at a public meeting.

"When we have collated the results we should have a fairly good record of people's suggestions for the area," said Ms Bibby