Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership
Tuesday 22 June 2004 at 6.30pm
Present:
W Bates, J Beck, J Blackburn, J Blakey, JG Bryan, R Bryan, K Calvert, P Dawe,
N Dixon, J Farley, E Fletcher, L Fletcher, LM Gay, M Jubb, R Millerchip, D Morgan, A
Richardson, Maggie Robinson, Maureen Robinson, S Robinson, M Syer, J Thompson,
S Thompson, B Tickell, R Walsh.
L Boyd & F Brettwood
Before official business started it was necessary to explain to residents that the meeting was not
specifically for the airing of tenants’ concerns. However they were most welcome to stay and
their queries would be put to the Regeneration Working Group. This would be covered in the
Reports section. At this point six residents left the meeting.
1. Apologies for absence:
O Kirby, J Robinson, B Temporal, C Thompson, M Trowles, C Whitfield, D Whittaker
2. Minutes of last meeting, 22-06-04:
Agreed as a true record.
3. Matters arising:
None.
4. Prioritising Themes Workshops:
Throughout the meeting Paul hoped to use the generic name ‘Bowburn’ to include Bowburn, Old
Quarrington, Parkhill and Tursdale, but he was asked to use the name Bowburn & Parkhill.
Fiona explained that the initial Master Plan highlighted the following areas, which were of
interest to change Bowburn & Parkhill for the better i.e. Housing, Environment, Village Heart,
Recreation/Leisure, and Traffic/Transport. Fiona asked the Partnership to give her any additional
ideas, and to prioritise the projects at the end of the meeting.
5 Correspondence:
The Unity Bank has confirmed that the Partnership is now registered with an account.
The Bowburn Community Association invited the Partnership to send a representative to its
Annual General Meeting on Thursday 8th July 2004.
It was explained that the Partnership could have one representative who must be a member of the
Community Association to vote at the AGM.
The secretary has written to The Three Rivers Housing Group inviting them to explain their role
in the regeneration of the village, to the Partnership.
Residents who have not attended any meetings of the Partnership have been asked if they would
like to continue receiving a copy of the minutes due to the cost of postage and photocopying.
6 Reports:
Treasurer: Robin explained that the partnership has a working bank account with the Unity Bank,
which can use the Co-op Bank in Durham City for transactions. Monies ‘in’ include a cash
donation of £30.00 and a cheque from the City Council for £500.00.
Regeneration Working Group (27 May 2004): Mike reported that from July the Partnership will
be a standard item on the agenda of the Regeneration Working Group, which will take place a
week after the Partnership meetings. A formal letter agreeing the SHIP bid was expected on 28
May. An update on the housing issues showed that there are 16 empty houses, with 6 more
expected in the near future and by next year at least 30 houses will be empty. It is hoped that
those houses concerned in the regeneration in David Terrace, Philip Avenue and Robert Terracewill be cleared by the end of March 2005. Andrea Ainsley, acting Housing Manager, and Fiona
will be making a plan of the empty properties. ACTION FIONA & ANDREA
The names and telephone numbers of the officers on the Regeneration Working Group will be
published in the Interchange. ACTION MIKE
Any flats to be built are not more than two stories high. The Three Rivers Housing Group could
bring drawings of the properties when they give their presentation to the Partnership. Fire alarms
and Burglar alarms will be left in the empty properties. The Regeneration Working Group was
informed that a young people’s walkabout, the industrial areas and jobs could be considered as
topics for improving the area. There will be an employer’s day on the Bowburn Industrial Estate.
The Working Group will exchange their minutes with the Partnership. The Parish Clerk is still
experiencing problems in receiving correspondence. Some positive things are beginning to
happen in Bowburn such as the new pavilion and the signage applied for by the Parish Council.
The Partnership is asking the school to design a logo. ACTION PAUL
Paul Dawe stepped down from the chair to give a report on the Resident’s Meeting and Maureen
Robinson acted as chair.
Resident’s Meeting (8 June 2004): The Housing Officers had wanted to ballot the residents on
their preferred method of Disturbance Payment (DP), but residents were very unhappy with the
options and therefore Lyn encouraged them to write down comments on the options presented to
them. Option one is for an independent valuer to assess on an individual tenant basis and
probably won’t be on a new-for-old basis. Option two is a flat-rate of £150.00 per room
depending on the size of the dwelling that’s being moved into. The Home Loss Payment (HLP)
of £3100.00 is paid to everyone before they move, and rent arrears may be deducted. Wear Valley
Council holds this money.
A tenant queried the cost of redirection of mail and Mike said that he would take it up with the
Council and get clarification on the matter.
The demolition would be sub-contracted e.g. to Thompson’s of Prudhoe. The contractor would
work with blocks of 6 to 10 houses. The first block being demolished as soon as the contract is
allocated to prevent vandalism. However Fiona explained that Transco and NEDL have to cut off
gas and electricity supplies before demolition takes place, which can take up to six months. Mike
said he would take this up with the MP. ACTION MIKE
Any unused months on a garage rental will be reimbursed.
Residents discussed bussing children to their original school whilst in a transit house. questions concerned the cleaning of transit houses and the double payment of the DP. Further
Mike and
Paul will put these issues to the working group and try to get clarification in writing for all the
residents concerned. ACTION MIKE AND PAUL
SRB6/12 Villages Rep: Jan distributed a written report on behalf of Carrie, Stan and herself. She
explained the range of courses on offer at Houghall and East Durham College. Also a variety of
courses would be run in different villages but it is hoped that neighbouring villages would join
them.
The Conference have asked the Partnership officials, councillors and 12 Villages Reps to work
with Lisa (City of Durham Display Team) to create display boards detailing projects in Bowburn,
which have been funded by SRB6. The History Group will also be providing a display.
The Women in a future Regional Assembly event on 25th June is in the Shakespeare Hall at 10am.
On July 6 there is a Shaping the Future Conference at Durham County Cricket Club. Jan had a
pack of information to apply for grants of varying amounts. Jan informed the group that 12
Villages Network had received £15 000.00 for training in the villages and she asked what courses
Bowburn & Parkhill would like. Lyn explained that one of the courses at Bowburn could be
‘Build Your Own Computer’ and Maggie said she would be happy to run this and the suggestion
was endorsed.
SRB6 are very hopeful that they will get a grant of £10 000.00 from the Nationwide Foundation.Letter Heading: Paul visited the Junior School to explain the competition for the letter heading.
A wide range of entries was whittled down to 11 and members were asked to vote for one winner.
The result was; winner 10 votes, second 4 votes, joint third & fourth 3 votes. ACTION PAUL
Venues: Paul explained that for the foreseeable future the meetings would take place at the
Community Centre. Jan gave out the information that hire of the Communal Rooms at Marlene
Avenue and Lawson Road costs £14.00 for 4 hours.
7 Formal Motion – Voting Procedures:
For up to the next six months each resident would have one vote as there were no large amounts
of money to decide on and no self-interest groups. To change the voting procedure it would
require a change to the constitution carried out at a special meeting.
8 Feedback on Priorities:
There were three other themes to add to the list, Jobs, Heritage, and Culture. Lyn reported that
the Job Centre is anxious to build local links to improve job prospects.
Members prioritised the workshops as Environment, Traffic, Recreation/Heart of the village,
Heritage/Jobs, Housing. Fiona suggested that she could hold seven workshops through the
second half of this year omitting Housing as that was being dealt with elsewhere.
Fiona is keen to involve six young people on a Walkabout to gain their views on the good and bad
points in the whole of the area. ACTION FIONA
9 Any other business:
Paul asked for nominations to represent the Partnership at the AGM of the Community Centre. It
was pointed out that the nominees must be members of the Community Centre to be able to vote.
Maureen Jubb was proposed by Maureen Robinson and seconded by Jan Blakey.
The vote was carried unanimously and Maureen Jubb was formally elected.
Robin requested membership forms for the Community Centre, which were provided.
Paul suggested that a working group should organise the events of the Centenary Celebration and
asked for names of interested people.
Joan Beck, Jan Blakey, Paul Dawe, Nicola Dixon, Maureen Jubb, Dennis Morgan, Angela
Richardson, Mike Syer volunteered.
Paul put forward that the Partnership could have a link to the Bowburn website.
This was carried unanimously 13 votes to 0. ACTION JANET
Janet suggested that a letter of thanks be sent to Glen Duckett the SRB6 Community worker for
Bowburn who is taking up a new post. Everyone was in agreement. ACTION JANET
10 Date and Time of Next Meetings:
Tuesday 27th July, at 6.30pm in Bowburn Community Centre.
Tuesday 24th August, at 6.30pm in Bowburn Community Centre.
The Partnership would welcome your attendance
at the next meeting.