Town and Parish Council Submissions to the Durham County Council Electoral Review
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Town and parish council submissions to the Durham County Council electoral review This PDF document contains 34 submissions from town and parish councils in County Durham. Some versions of Adobe Acrobat allow the viewer to move quickly between bookmarks. Click on the submission you would like to view. If you are not taken to that page, please scroll through the document. From: Marion Wilson Sent: 21 July 2011 14:28 To: Reviews@ Subject: Co. Durham Boundary Changes/ Bearpark RE: CO.DURHAM BOUNDARY CHANGES. BEARPARK Dear Sir, Bearpark Parish Council would welcome a change in the electoral arrangements whereby Bearpark would be incorporated into the Deerness Ward as local amenities and services (such as schools and bus routes) and strong community links are shared by residents within the electoral division. Yours Sincerely Mrs. Marion Wilson Chair Bearpark Parish Council From: JOHN IRVINE Sent: 04 July 2011 00:01 To: Reviews@ Subject: Suggested boundary changes-Fishburn, Co Durham Hello, I have been asked to write on behalf of Fishburn Parish Council, but I also write as a resident of Fishburn myself, to object strongly to the proposals that link Fishburn in with Sedgefield as opposed to the Trimdons. In the first draft of proposed changes, no suggestion was made that Fishburn would be affected. As a result of Bishop Middleham and West Cornforth wanting change, Fishburn suddenly gets moved, as it has on several occasions in the past. Fishburn people are generally unaware that this change is about to happen, and I notice no-one from Fishburn commented on the first or second draft of proposals. This is probably because the amount of publicity in the village has been negligible, and I myself received no notification whatsoever about the second draft proposal, either by e-mail or letter, hence no comment from the Parish Council before now. Fishburn people associate themselves with the Trimdons, as they generally feel they have more in common with them than with Sedgefield. Many of the residents of Fishburn are from Trimdon and still have family there. Fishburn is the 'poor' neighbour when it is compared with Sedgefield in terms of housing, shops and community groups. We have been extremely well represented by our councillors from Trimdon in the past 3 or 4 years and would like this situation to continue. To see that Ludworth is linked with Trimdon and we are not makes very little sense in terms of the distance between the villages. We are about 1 and a half miles from Trimdon Village and nearly 3 from Sedgefield. Ludworth is about 5 or 6 miles the other side of Trimdon. On a second point, we notice that the Sedgefield Parliamentary constituency could be dissolved, and Fishburn could find itself in with Stockton North, which is not even in the same county!! Fishburn people always think that this village is the last to be considered for anything, and moves like those proposed just go to show that we are a moveable commodity that can be shifted to suit others. This is just not good enough, and I urge you to reconsider. At the very least you should have publicised these proposals more and taken the opportunity to seek more views. Fishburn has only recently published its first newsletter, which was distributed before this news had a chance to go in. I can imagine that there would be many more people objecting if they knew what was about to happen. John F Irvine Parish Clerk Fishburn Parish Council From: Lucy Stephenson Sent: 27 July 2011 20:28 To: Reviews@ Subject: Review of Boundaries in County Durham - Healeyfield Parish Council Dear Sir / Madam, Following debate at a recent Parish Council meeting, Members were pleased to learn that there were no proposed changes to the boundaries or County Council representation of the Lanchester Division of which Healeyfield Parish Council and Castleside form part of. Therefore I would be most grateful if you would please accept this email as formal acknowledgement of the Parish Council's agreement to the 'no change' proposal for this area. The Parish Council feel that the present boundary as it exists takes care of the interests of the communities in which our two local County Councillors represent, both of which have our communities interests high on their agenda. Kindest Regards Lucy Stephenson Clerk to Healeyfield Parish Council. From: Mickleton Pc Sent: 29 July 2011 13:46 To: Reviews@ Subject: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL Dear Sirs BOUNDARY COMMISSION'S PROPOSALS FOR DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL DIVISIONAL (WARD) BOUNDARIES With reference to the Boundary Commissions recommendations for Durham County Council, Mickleton Parish Council agrees with the draft recommendations for Barnard Castle East and West for Durham County Council's proposal for two twomember divisions with an East/West split of Teesdale at Barnard Castle. Yours faithfully Mickleton Parish Council Northh Lodgeo e ParishPa s Councilou Clerk: Mr D Murrell, e-mail: [email protected] 19th July 2011 Durham County Council Electoral Boundary Review North Lodge Parish Council [NLPC] response to the Local Government of England Boundary Commission [LGBCE] Further Draft Recommendations for Chester-le-Street. After appropriate consideration at its June and July meetings, North Lodge Parish Council resolved to support the Commission’s further draft recommendations for the formation of the three single-councillor electoral divisions of Chester-le-Street East, Chester-le-Street North and North Lodge, except in that NLPC proposes that Northlands, with its electorate of 119 [2011 figure] should be transferred from North Lodge ED to Chester-le-Street North ED, thus acknowledging Northlands’ integral position and community links within Polling Division NDLA and retaining Northlands’ community links with South Pelaw in Polling Division NDLB. The reasons and evidence for the proposed transfer of Northlands to Chester-le-Street North ED are: 1. Electoral Equality The following is evidence that the transfer of Northlands’ electorate of 119 (2011) to Chester-le-Street North ED from North Lodge ED distinctly improves electoral equality in making Chester-le-Street North ED and North Lodge ED each within 1% variance from the Durham County average number of electors by 2016. Position with Northlands electorate of 119 transferred to Chester-le-Street North ED from North Lodge ED Number of Variance Number of Variance Number of Electorate electors per from Electorate electors per from Division Name councillors (2011) councillor average % (2016) councillor average % Chester-le- 15 Street North 1 3225 3225 0% 3294 3294 1% 41 North Lodge 1 2985 2985 -8% 3237 3237 -1% 2. Community Links The following extract from the “euVue Chester-le-Street” website is evidence that: • Residents of the major housing development extension to Highfield Rise, carried out by Miller Homes on the former Highfield Hospital site, have an abiding community interest in the new Northlands play area, through the Section 106 funding of £33,000 for the public artwork. • Residents in the South Pelaw area, in which the two schools mentioned sit side by side, have an abiding community interest in the new Northlands play area. • Residents of Northlands, with some of its housing shown in the background to the photograph, have an abiding community interest in the new Northlands play area. From www.euvuechester-le-street.co.uk/ ____________________________________________________________________ Throwing a party for playtime in Chester-le-Street (4 July 2011) Chester-le-Street’s Roman past is helping put the fun back into playtime at the new Northlands play area. The revamped facility now incorporates 16 giant dice carved from stone boulders to represent Roman dice, reflecting the history of the town and the theme of play. Vice chair of Durham County Council, Linda Marshall, joined youngsters and local residents to celebrate the completion of the public artwork created by North East artist Andrew Mckeown, To help the party go with a swing there was a musical performance by Black Bottom Brass, a seven-piece brass band from Japan visiting County Durham as part of Durham County Council’s international festival – BRASS. Artist Andrew began work on the project last year, running design workshops with pupils at South Pelaw Infant School and Chester-le-Street Junior School followed by a series of consultation events with local residents. He said: “After visiting the Northlands site and consulting with the local community, I felt that a large number of smaller, randomly-placed sculptures would work better than one large sculpture in the middle of the playing field. “The dice are designed to look old and worn, like those that would have been used in games played by Roman soldiers stationed at Congangis or passing through on their way to Hadrian’s Wall. “Their informal arrangement spread over the play area is intended as a kind of visual pun to invoke the impression of the sculptures having been cast into position as if they had been rolled.” The project, which has cost a total of £33,000, has been paid for by Miller Homes, which set the money aside as a condition of planning permission for a housing development on the former Highfield Hospital site. ____________________________________________________________________ It follows from the above evidence that Northlands is best transferred to Chester- le-Street North ED so that community links through the Northlands play area are preserved with respect to Highfield Rise and South Pelaw in particular. -----Original Message----- From: Alan Wake Sent: 25 June 2011 21:51 To: Reviews@ Subject: County Durham electoral review Re: consultation Dear Sir/Madam, I wish to express my dismay that Ouston has been absorbed into a district entitled "Pelton ED". I and the council wish to support Cllr Colin Carr's suggestion that the district instead be named "Beamish ED" which is a badge the electors of Ouston can wear with pride.