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Parish Newsletter June 2008

Your Ward Councillors

Brandon

Esh Winning & Waterhouses

Langley Moor

Meadowfield & Browney

New Brancepeth

Ushaw Moor & Broompark

Chairman 2008/2009

At the Parish Council’s Annual General Meeting on 16th May 2008 Councillor William Dowsey was elected as Chairman for the forthcoming year. Councillor Dowsey is a long serving Member of the council and has represented Ushaw Moor & Broompark ward for over 20 years. He is a well respected member of the community and is looking forward to representing the Council in his role as Chairman. Councillor Dowsey has chosen Age Concern, Ushaw Moor as his charity for the year and will be organising his charity evening in February or March. Look out for further details in forthcoming newsletters.

Councillor Nelson’s Charity

Councillor Brian Nelson presented cheques for £630 each to members of Carrside and St.Andrew’s Youth Clubs, being the proceeds from his Charity evening held in March. The children and youth workers were delighted and expressed their thanks at the April meeting of the council.

Annual Meeting of Electors

The Parish Council’s Annual Meeting of Electors was held in Brandon Community Hall on Thursday 28th May 2008. A report of the Council’s activities for the year was presented by the Parish Council.

County Durham Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted

The Council was recently approached by the Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted for financial assistance towards the production of their talking newspaper. The newspaper is circulated free of charge to over 700 blind and partially sighted listeners across County Durham. There are actually over 3,500 blind and partially sighted people in the county and the Society is aiming to reach more of these by raising its profile. The majority of these are elderly and live alone in poor economic circumstances in areas of high multiple deprivation. For many listeners, the talking newspaper is their only link with other visually impaired people who share common problems. The Parish Council believe that this is a very worthwhile service and was pleased to be able to fund one month’s issue of the newspaper. Councillor Dowsey will present the cheque to the society at the next meeting of the council on 20th June. The Mayor of Durham has selected the Society as his chosen charity for his year of office. This will hopefully raise the profile of the Society. Anyone interested in contacting the Society can reach them on 0191 3868175, email: cdsvh@aol.com or visit there website at: www.cdsbps.co.uk

Citizens Advice Bureau

The Citizens Advice Bureau’s Outreach Service has proved popular over the years, consequently the Parish Council agreed to fund the service for 2008/09. The service is well-established in the villages throughout the parish and the outreach workers deal with a wide range of issues including welfare benefits, health, housing, tax and relationship problems. Residents are able to take advantage of the service in their own villages rather than waiting to make appointments at the main branches. Details of the times and venues can be seen on the back page of this newsletter.

Unitary Councillors

The elections held on 1st May 2008 have resulted in 126 councillors being elected to a new unitary authority for County Durham. These councillors will be responsible for running Durham County Council until it ceases to exist on 31st March 2009 and the same councillors will be responsible for the implementation of the new Unitary Council during 2008/09 and following vesting day on 1st April 2009. The following councillors were elected in the parish area:

Around the Wards

Brandon Bus Shelter

The Parish Council was contacted by the City of Durham Council following a request from a resident of Brandon to install a bus shelter near the car park of the Morley Wood pub. Brandon ward was happy to contribute £500 towards the cost of the shelter, the remaining funding coming from the City Council and the village’s city councillors.

Notice Board

Assistance of £500 was given to Brandon Community Partnership in order to purchase a notice board to be located at Brandon Library. The Partnership was successful in raising the remaining funding of £1,040.

Friends of Brandon Park

Friends of Brandon Park are a new group formed within the Brandon Community who are working with various partnerships to restore the Welfare Ground back to a play area. Over £70,000 of funding has been secured so far for play equipment and the group are keen to get more people from the village involved in the meetings and show their support. The group meets on a regular basis at Brandon Cricket Club so why not go along and become part of this exciting project. For more information contact Andrea Boyd on 0191 3018759 or attend the meetings on the third Tuesday of every month.

Ushaw Moor

Fun Day

The Members of the Council would like to express their thanks to the youngsters who attended the recent fun day. Everyone appeared to have a great time.

Notice Boards

The Council assisted Ushaw Moor Together by erecting 2 notice boards at Silver Trees Primary School and the Flass Inn.

Commemorative Seat

The members were sad to hear of the death of Peter Metcalfe, an active member of the community particularly with regard to local cricket. The Parish Council has installed a seat at Ushaw Moor Cricket Club in memory of Peter which will serve as a reminder of his good work in the village.

Meadowfield

The Deric Youth Bus programme is designed to build relationships with young people and encourage their personal and social development. The youth workers enable young people to assess their needs and provide a programme of activities to meet those needs. Meadowfield Ward recently assisted with the financing of the project.

New Brancepeth

Residents of New Brancepeth who are interested in getting involved with issues relating to the village are encouraged to attend meetings of New Brancepeth Residents Association. Meetings of the group are held every 2 months on the 2nd Monday of the month. The next 2 meetings will be held on 11th August and 13th October.

Esh Winning

Easter Egg Competition

Members of Esh Winning enjoyed judging the Easter Egg Painting Competition at the library which is sponsored annually by the Parish Council. The entries were of the usual high standard and the Members were amazed at the imagination shown by the children in creating their designs.
There were 4 categories namely age 5 & under, 6-8 years, 9-11 years & 12-14 years for both boys and girls. The winners were as follows: Ben Turnbull, Chloe Kirkup, Drew Watson, Shannon Bainbridge, Paul Holmes, Sarah Messenger and Ryan Emmerson.

Waterhouses Community Association.

It’s just over a year since the people of Waterhouses regained the use of their Village Hall which had been decimated by fire. All the Clubs are now up and running with the addition of classes in Yoga, Tai Chi and Line Dancing. The Cinema Club is showing films weekly: 25th June Enchanted, 2nd July Juno. For full details check out www.waterhouses.info.
The Association was recently invited to Buckingham Palace in recognition of the work they have done as a voluntary group. Two representatives of the group, Rhona Foster and Suzy Liddle attended a reception at the Palace and received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service on behalf of the group.

Langley Moor

The Langley Moor and Brandon Family Centre was opened to the public on 24th May. The centre is a welcome addition to the village and will provide play facilities for young children aged 5-11 years. The centre also has a large TV screen and family café. Opening hours are as follows: Mon-Wed and Fri 4pm-7pm, Sat. 11am-7pm, Sun. 1.30pm-5.30pm. The cost of entry is £2.50. The official opening takes place on 28th June and will be attended by parish council ward Councillors.

Summary of Annual Report

The Parish Council’s annual report 2007/08 has just been published and is available at Brandon and Esh Winning Libraries, Meadowfield Info Centre, Langley Moor Post Office, New Brancepeth Village Hall, Deerness Leisure Centre and various other public places throughout the parish. A brief summary is set out below:
Allotments - Maintenance of all sites within the parish
Environmental Services - Grasscutting, floral containers, community highways worker, public rights of way maintenance programme.
Schools Painting Competition
Provision of seats
Provision of bus shelters
Contribution to Ushaw Moor Improvement Scheme
Consultee on planning applications for the area

Summary of accounts

Citizens Advice Bureau Outreach Sessions
Brandon Community Hall
11 am-12noon- second Thursday of month

Brandon House
11 am-12noon- fourth Thursday

Esh Winning Community Centre
2-3pm-first & third Tuesdays

New Brancepeth Village Hall
10-11am-first Wednesday

Sure Start, Ushaw Moor
10-11am-second Wednesday

Credit Union
Every Tuesday 2p.m.-3p.m. in Esh Winning Community Centre

Vacant Allotments
The Parish Council currently has vacant allotments for rent at Alder Park, Brandon. Anyone interested contact Mrs. Howe.

Clerk to the Council: Mrs Susan Carmedy
Administrative Assistant: Mrs Susan Howe
6 Goatbeck Terrace
Langley Moor
Co Durham, DH7 8JJ
Office Hours Monday-Friday 9.30am to 11.30am
Tel/Fax:   0191 3789947
Email:      info@brandonandbyshottlesparishcouncil.gov.uk
or at:        www.brandonandbyshottlesparishcouncil.gov.uk
Chairman: Councillor William Dowsey

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