A consultation session was held yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 17 January) at St Margaret’s School on a revamp of the play equipment at the Merryoaks/Lowes Barn play area.

About £35,000 is available from a combination of what is called a Section 106 payment from the re-developers of former Cock of The North site (Roundhaven) and contributions from the neighbourhood funds of both Councillor Grenville Holland and myself.

Talking to children and parents at yesterday’s event, it was clear that  they would like something a bit more adventurous as well as equipment suitable for all ages up to 12. Readers shoudl note that the current MUGA ( multi-use games area) is to remain.

The main questions being asked yesterday were:

1. What would you like to see improved in the existing play area?
2. What types of equipment would you like to see?
3. What other play areas have you visited and what did you like about them?

There is still time to feed in your views, and to do so contact Caroline Stephens, Outdoor Sport and Leisure Officer, at the Council by e-mail at caroline.stephens@durham.gov.uk.

This morning on the 363^rd day of 2011, we generated the 3,000^th kilowatt of electricity this calendar year from the PV installation on our roof (part shown in the photo taken today – blue sky in December, fantastic).

Our installer, a very good local firm (DCC please note), had estimated that we could expect 2,820 Kw per year on average, so a 106%+ performance is very pleasing, and that was in spite of a very overcast August.

My remaining hope is that the government backtracks on its massive reduction in feed-in tariffs for PV. As an early adopter of this technology, we are doing well from the system and should break even after about 10 years.

But as I predicted, the increasing take-up was having two profound effects. Firstly, the increased demand for solar panels has been improving the technology and bringing down the prices, and secondly there was a big impact on job creation in a technology driven market.

So, while it was right and expected that the tariff level would steadily reduce in response to market take-up, the decision to slash it at very short notice was simply wrong at a time when we want to be creating jobs as well as cutting reliance on fossil fuels.

At least the High Court has upheld a judicial review of the government decision, so I hope that the government now responds graciously and has the strength to say that it got this one wrong.

The sudden removal of almost all of the play equipment at the Allergate play, having led the front page of the Northern Echo yesterday and been a leading feature on Look North, it has also got onto the Daily Mail web site: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2071105/Playground-stripped-bare-council-jobsworths-play-equipment-falls-foul-EU-health-safety-rules.html

As a local councillor, I feel very much hung out to dry by the Council on this one.

The first thing either I or my colleague, Councillor Grenville Holland, knew about this was towards the end of last week when the removal was reported to us by local residents.

On Monday I managed to speak with the council officer responsible, who did apologise for us not being told about what was going on, but then I read in the Northern Echo yesterday that the Council was “consulting local councillors on changes to individual play areas”.

I managed to contact Look North to ask them to make it clear that we had not been informed and this they did. I also wrote yesterday to the Northern Echo with a letter for publication putting our point of view. This has yet to appear. A comment from me is also on the Daily Mail web page.

Frankly, I am hopping mad about this, as this is not the first time recently that I have found out about an important issue second hand. The council is supposed to have a protocol to ensure that councillors are not left in the lurch this, but the record to date is pretty bad.

All I can promise is that we will be doing our utmost to get new play equipment installed as soon as possible and make sure that our feelings are well and truly understood in the upper echelons of County Hall …

… and is this not again an example of health and safety gone mad. After all, as far as I am aware, no users of the equipment had expressed concerns about their condition.

Following recent reports from Bearpark village of a group campaigning against the proposed Western Relief Road for Durham City, I have to say that this view is not universal by any means.

Responses to a Focus survey across the Neville’s Cross county division conducted this summer showed clear support for the road.

Of the 294 respondents, 180 (61%) were in favour of the road, 75 (26%) against and 39 (13%) unsure.

The questionnaire also asked whether the respondents lived close to the A167 and for the 236 who did, 159 (67%) were for, 50 (21%) against and 27 (11%) unsure, whereas for the remaining 58 who did not live close to the A167, 21 (36%) were for, 25 (43%) against and 12 (21%) unsure.

Those with a long memory will remember that there had been a proposal for a Western Bypass in the late 1980s that would have been built had the Conservative Government not stopped all major road building in the early 1990s. So the questionnaire also asked whether people had been for or against it 20 years ago.

This seems to show two things, first that the original western bypass proposal had considerable local support, something that my canvassing for the 1989 local elections told me at the time, and that there has been a definite swing towards relieving the pressure on the A167 since then.

One further thing to note. I do not claim this to be a scientifically constructed survey, but with the questions that were also asked about development of Mount Oswald, Aykley Heads and the green belt, it produced the largest response of anything I have done over the past 26 years.

Given that many people wanted to protest about unwanted development in these areas, the fact that they then supported the relief road proposals must be genuinely representative of local opinion.

In these times of economic difficulty and uncertainty Neville’s Cross has been leading the way for business start-ups in County Durham recently.

According to the County Durham Monthly Economic Update for November 2011, published today, Neville’s Cross saw the largest number of start-ups (18) in the County in October and the largest number (37) in the third quarter (August – October).

Congratulations and good luck to all involved.

Durham AAP is promoting the Warm Homes Campaign as part of its Clean and Green priority action area.

The Campaign has just issued its November Newsletter (click on link to view).

In particular there is information on the County Durham Home Insultation Scheme, Warm Front, Surviving Winter Campaign and a Feed-in Tariff update.

The next step on the way (hopefully) to a Durham Town Council has started with the County Council getting its Community Governance Review under way.

This is a  twelve month process which first asks for ideas on how to deal with the unparished areas of the City (Elvet, Gilesgate, Neville’s Cross and Newton Hall) and then consults on a proposal before coming to a final decision in 12 months time.

Further details are on the County’s web site at www.durham.gov.uk/communitygovernance.

All households are being written to, but I am disappointed at some of the information being presented; in particular the examples of town and parish council precepts that are listed.

It is reasonable to tell people that parish and town councils can and do levy charges on council tax, it is somewhat tendentious to lead the list of examples with places like Newton Aycliffe and Peterlee that charge over £200 a year when the average for all local councils across the county is only around £25.

The fact is that if and when a Town Council is set up in 2013, the start-up precept will be set by the Council Council, and I think this must be done at the minimum level for the new local council to operate, and that could easily be around the £10 mark. It would then be up to the people elected to it in the 2013 elections to decide what they believe the new Town Council should do, presumably having spelt that out when they were standing for election.

So when the information drops through your letterbox, please get involved and maybe we can introduce the word ‘local’ back into local government.

I was out yesterday with my wife and we took some time out to help plant some trees at the nature reserve on Aykley Heads.

This is part of a project partly funded with a contribution from my Neighbourhood Budget.

The area had had some trees planted in the past, but not many have survived due to the deer that inhabit the area. This time round, the trees being planted have deer-proof guards around them to get them off to a good start.

The project is being managed through the Durham Voluntary Countryside Ranger Service who give their time freely for these sorts of activities.

While we were there, there were about a dozen volunteers digging holes, planting trees, hammering in posts and putting the protective covers on.

This group meet every week on the site to do work to maintain the Nature Reserve which is becoming a great asset to wildlife and to the local community. If you are interested in getting involved, then there are usually helpful notices at the entrances to the site, or you can contact Coralie Niven at the Council Countryside Service

After a very successful 2010 campaign, the Council’s Civic Pride Team is asking schools and community groups to join its 2011 Bulb Planting Challenge.

Sponsored by all 14 Area Action Partnerships there are 150,000 crocus bulbs to give to community groups and schools (approximately 200 per group) across the whole of County Durham to plant in their local neighbourhoods.

To qualify to take part in the challenge, your group must also commit to plant 200 or more of your own bulbs.

The Bulb Planting Challenge was launched on Monday 10 October and will run throughout the month, giving groups and schools ample opportunity to plant the bulbs.

By taking part in the Challenge your group also has the opportunity to be entered in a free prize draw, with the chance of winning £50 to spend at a local gardening nursery.

To receive your free bulbs please contact Pauline Walker. Senior Civic Pride Officer (East) on 0191 5270501 Ext 4348.

I do hope that as many local groups as possible will take up this opportunity to make a big impact on our public spaces next spring.

As an example, last autumn, the three Rotary Clubs in Durham got together to buy and plant 15,000 crocus bulbs on the roundabout near Sainsburys at Pity Me – it sounds a lot, but actually we could have done with a couple of thousand more! They made a decent show this spring, but as they settle down they should give an increasingly impressive display as the years go by.