www.durham.gov.uk DURHAM Autumn 2017 County News The magazine for people in County Durham Local people at centre of light creations Lumiere to brighten up What do you love Durham for about our county? the fifth time Win! Theatre and museum tickets The summer may be nearly over but there’s WELCOME plenty to look forward to in the coming to the autumn edition of months including Lumiere and the Durham Book Festival. Durham County News Lumiere is returning for its fifth outing this November and once again we’re working with leading arts charity, Artichoke, to Councillor Simon Henig, produce a festival that will again illuminate Leader of the Council Durham in spectacular and delightful ways. Getting people from across the county involved is fundamental to Lumiere’s success and one of the many reasons it is so special. We are passionate about making art accessible for all and in 2015, 860 children and young people took part in the festival’s community outreach programme – something we hope to build on even further in 2017. It is also particularly pleasing that this year will see an installation which illuminates the people behind so many of our vital services. You can read more about Lumiere’s community projects in our four page pull out. In this issue, we are also launching an exciting new campaign, Celebrating Durham, that will help us shine a light on what an extraordinary and enlightening place Durham is. Over the next 12 months we will celebrate the people, places, stories, history and heritage that make our county a Place of Light – a fantastic place to live, work and visit. Find out more on pages 20 and 21. I hope you enjoy reading the magazine and you can find more stories and videos online at www.durham.gov.uk/dcn Simon Henig How to enter our competitions Inside... Enter online at www.durham.gov.uk/dcn. Page 4-8 Page 20-21 Or write the answer, along with your name, address, telephone number and email on News Celebrating Durham a piece of paper. Pop your entries into one envelope (don’t forget the stamp) and post to Durham County News, Durham County Council, County Hall DH1 5UF, Page 9 Page 22 or drop them into reception at any of our Wedding venues Libraries access points. Entry closes on Friday 6 October 2017. Durham County News is written and designed by Page 10-11 Page 23 Durham County Council, printed by Acorn Web Offset Ltd and distributed by The National Leaflet Green living Book Festival Company and Royal Mail. It costs 16p a copy. To contact the editorial team, call 03000 268 059 or email [email protected] Page 12-14 Page 24-25 Children and young Halloween fun Please ask us if you would like this document people summarised in another language or format. Braille Audio Large print Page 15-18 Page 26-30 [email protected] Lumiere four page special What’s on 03000 268 059 When you have finished with this magazine, please recycle it. Front cover: Harry Dobson enjoying the Supercube, by artist Stéphane Masson, at Lumiere 2015. Making a splash in our swimming pools As we leave the summer behind, look forward to new pool sessions that are guaranteed to brighten up the darker days and nights. New sessions for families and those wanting to get fit will be available in four of our swimming pools – Chester-le-Street, Newton Aycliffe, Peterlee and Woodhouse Close in Bishop Auckland. For adults Brand new water based fitness sessions will be available later this year. The sessions will feature state of the art equipment including hydrorider aqua bikes (like spinning bikes) and trampolines and we’re one of the first in the region to introduce this type of session. Angela Humble, aqua instructor at Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex said: “We’re really looking forward to leading the new sessions. They provide a fun, different and low impact way to get fit and will appeal to a broad range of our customers and fitness levels.” For families The summer holidays saw the introduction of three new or improved family sessions at the same pools including aquafun, pool inflatables and ‘Ready, Sett, Splash’ our new water-based games featuring our early years character Brock the Badger and his friends. Investment The new activities are all part of a £2m investment programme funded by us and Sport England that will also see improvements being made to the changing facilities at Chester-le-Street and Peterlee. Find more details about all the activities and what’s on offer at your local pool at: www.durham.gov.uk/swimming Facebook/DurhamThriveActive Swimming 3 Contact us: News You can get lots of information, and apply online for council New book celebrates services via www.durham.gov.uk sketches of much loved painter Save time do it online Report Apply Book Pay Comment The work of Spennymoor’s beloved painter Norman Report Pay If you Aneedpply to Book phone us, callComment Cornish will be celebrated Customer Services in a new book. 03000 26 0000 Behind The Scenes - The Norman Cornish Sketchbooks is a collection of 8.30am-5pm (Monday-Thursday) sketches taken from the 269 sketchbooks uncovered in his studios. The Garden Waste Missed Bin Generic Bin Street Litter 8.30am-4.30pm (Friday) portfolio will launch at Durham Book Festival next month and shows a Out of hours emergency service range of photographs of his sketches, which were used as the foundations available.Fly Tipping Pest Control Recycle Concessionary Travel for his acclaimed townscapes, bar scenes and iconic people. If you have a specific query, use The book is available from www.normancornish.com and will also be oneWaste Permi tof ourCouncil dedicated Tax Large Wa stnumbers:e Registrars available at the new Mining Art Gallery when it opens at Auckland Castle in Streetscene, Highways and Bishop Auckland later in the year. Street Lighting Enquiries Sandbags / Flood Planning School Admission Graffiti Durham Book Festival will also be paying tribute to Norman with a guided 03000 26 1000 walk around Spennymoor and an event looking at his work. There will also Includes rubbish and recycling, street be two days of events for local schools, with events from Mick Manning, lighting faults, potholes, commercial Street Lighting Road Problems Dog Fouling Gritting Brita Granstrom waste, neighbourhood wardens, stray and picture dogs, abandoned vehicles, pest control, street cleaning, litter and dog fouling, book maker grafSalt Binsfiti, fly-tippBlue Badgesing, fly-posting,ASB parks,Calendar Tim Hopgood, open spaces and cemeteries maintenance. amongst others. Benefit Enquiries For more 03000S ave26 time 2000 do it online information on Report Apply Book Pay Comment Durham Book Council Tax Enquiries Festival see 03000 26 4000 page 23. Social Care Direct/Children’s First Contact Service 03000 26 79 79 Families Information Service 03000 26 99 95 Improved play facilities for Newton Aycliffe @DurhamCouncil Young people in Newton Aycliffe will soon benefit from improved play /durhamcouncil facilities in the Cobblers Hall area. The new improved facility will cater for children aged 6-14 years of age and include new play equipment, a small linkedin.com/company/ durham-county-council multi-use games area (MUGA), improved access paths and landscaping. /DurhamCouncil It is expected the park, which is being developed and funded by GAMP, Great Aycliffe Town Council and ourselves, will be open next year. /durham_county_council 4 News Key to symbols: C Central Durham N North Durham S South Durham E East Durham Expansion begins at science park Work has begun to expand a North East science park. Construction has started on a new 1km road which will allow access to a further 26 acres of development land at the North East Technology Park (NETPark) in Sedgefield. NETPark is already home to some of the world’s most innovative companies and this latest expansion could lead to the creation of around 1,400 jobs. This £12.6m expansion, set to be completed by the end of the year, will allow additional space for research and development companies. Watch a video at A ten year strategy for NETPark hopes to see a total of 3,000 jobs www.durham.gov.uk/dcn brought to the area adding £400m to the region’s economy. Boost for grassroots sport We’ve contributed towards a £600,000 project to create a new community sports hub in Chester-le-Street. A refurbished artificial turf pitch, new clubroom and new changing facilities have transformed the former Roseberry Sports and Community College site at Newfield in Pelton. The project also received a £293,000 grant from the Premier League and FA Facilities Fund, Three cheers for volunteers! which is funded by the Premier League, The FA Volunteers across County Durham came together and the Government through Sport England to celebrate their hard work and successes over the and delivered by the Football Foundation, the last year, at the County Durham Volunteering country’s largest sports charity. Celebration. The event, which took place at Beamish Museum, recognised around 200 volunteers, showcasing the achievements of individuals and groups from across the county. The event was organised by Durham Community Action and sponsored by the council, Banks Group, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, Lloyds Bank, Office of Durham Police, Crime and Victims Commissioner and Beamish Museum. To find out more visit www.durhamcommunityaction.org.uk News 5 News Victoria Cross hero remembered with day of commemoration Hundreds of people turned out to celebrate the homecoming of a Victoria Cross hero from our county, 100 years after he returned to his home town from the First World War.