Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership
Bowburn & Parkhill Community Partnership
Thursday 4 November, 2004 at 6.30pm.
Present:
J Beck, J Blackburn, J Blakey, K Calvert, P Dawe, N Dixon, J Geyer, J Gray, Judith Kane,
R Millerchip, D Morgan, P Peaden, C Prince, Maureen Robinson, A Shutt,
M Syer (from 7.15pm), W Temporal, C Thompson, J Thompson, S H Thompson, C Whitfield,
D Whittaker
In attendance: L Boyd, B Cockburn, M Ridley, J Taylor
1. Apologies for absence:
A Blakey, F Brettwood, C Brown, L Hinton, M Jubb, A Richardson, Maggie Robinson,
S Robinson, G Stoker, S Thackeray
Maureen Robinson has taken Maggie an arrangement of flowers from the Partnership to wish her
a speedy recovery from her illness.
2. Minutes of the last meeting, 28 September, 2004:
Under those ‘Present’ it was necessary to include W Temporal. The amended minutes were
agreed.
3. Matters arising from the September minutes:
a) W Temporal noted that Linda Hinton’s email concerned the sale of Housing Group properties
and did not help him in buying his Council owned bungalow.
Lyn gave the advice that the Council will resist the sale of specially adapted bungalows but she
advised those interested may make further enquiries to the housing department.
He wanted to know if a resident would be allocated a second disturbance payment. It may be
possible and Mike would explain this in his ‘Regeneration Working Group’ report.
b)Dennis Morgan noted that there were no problems bussing the children to their ‘parent’ school.
There were now links with the City Council concerning this potential problem.
c) A query was made about an ‘anonymous’ donation in the Treasurer’s report and shouldn’t all
monies be accounted for? It was explained that if people wished to donate anonymously then the
Partnership would respect their wishes.
d) There was a concern that Bowburn would not see the proceeds from the Regeneration Scheme
because there was no contract giving a watertight agreement on the proceeds for Bowburn. This
important point will be raised at the Regeneration Working Group ACTION PAUL/MIKE.
There was a discussion about the availability of money from 5 April 04 and how it will be spent.
The Parc Group reported that they had been advised to apply for a substantial amount of money.
It was pointed out that decisions would be made by the Partnership. However clarification will be
sought from the Regeneration Working group. ACTION PAUL/MIKE
A suggestion was made for a Referendum to decide on the priorities. It was explained that
residents were having their say at the Workshops and these cannot be ignored. Lyn explained
that a referendum can be expensive and takes time. It was questioned if 50% of the money would
be given to Bowburn from the fund but no sum has been quoted.
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4. Three Rivers Housing Group:
Linda will make a report at the next meeting.
5. Correspondence:
The Chair had received a letter from Mr. Thorpe, clerk of the Parish Council, concerning a
complaint about the Partnership. A member felt that the Parish Clerk should not be writing when
he had not been present at the meeting and individuals should complain on their own behalf.
Another member suggested that it may be helpful if Parish Councillors could either come to the
meetings as individuals or send a representative for their group.
6. Reports:
Treasurer:
The only out goings at present were for the hire of the room and Hall. The Christmas party would
be the next large expenditure.
A resident asked if the current balance would be added to the Regeneration money but it was
explained that this balance was ring fenced by the ‘Awards for All’ set up costs.
Regeneration Working Group:
Mike answered the question of Disturbance Allowances being paid twice and the answer was,
possibly, but there is no statutory obligation. However if someone has two moves through no fault
of their own whilst waiting for a house then it is felt that the second payment should certainly be
considered. However the matter needs to be clarified before people make the move. Assurances
were given for Regeneration money to be released from Lawson Road, but no others. 13 more
people are moving or have been allocated houses, making 39/56 properties empty in the first
phase. The last group of people is the most difficult to find their preferred accommodation. Transit
accommodation may have to be considered or a delay in the programme. Another option may be
a variation in the criteria for rehousing, but whatever decisions are made, people must be fairly
treated.
12 Villages/SRB6 Representative:
All those who attended the Annual Conference were thanked for their attendance. 300 people
enjoyed themselves and the children were well behaved. Certificates were given to the group who
did the walkabout and £25 was raised for the Toddler Group.
Places were offered for Harehope Quarry and Keeping Good Finances on 16 November. The
Jesmond Swimming Pool visit will be on 25 November.
The ‘Build your own computer course’ finished this week and it may be repeated in other villages.
More computer-related courses are being discussed with East Durham and New College.
William Temporal enquired about the ownership of the computers and where they should be
stored. He told the meeting that Maggie has had a complaint about the insurance not being
adequate for the safety of the computers in the Community Centre, but the only thing that was
missing was a mouse. The building is secure and the insurance is in place.
Lyn highlighted the good points of the Computer Course as being the following groups having a
new computer: Bowburn & Parkhill Partnership, Community Centre, History, and Parkhill
Residents. True there were issues over security and one computer had a week’s grace to be put
in a public place.
There was a question from the floor about the computers being security marked. At the moment
they are not, but PC Cockburn will be able to help in this matter.
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Action Planning:
Lyn explained the Action Plans for individual Groups within the village. Each society can put
forward their needs for the future and submit these drafts to SRB6 Community Team, City of
Durham Council, Byland Lodge, Hawthorn Terrace, Durham City, DB1 4TD, who will collate the
information. Although, at present, no money had come into the area through the Regeneration
scheme, if plans are in place there should be no delay in fulfilling them.
The Community Centre plans were used as an example because they had been completed at the
Team Building Event but all plans, and those from the Workshops will be considered on an equal
footing. It will be up to the Partnership to prioritise the plans.
7. Council for Voluntary Service (CVS):
Julie Taylor, Chief Officer for the CVS, explained that she would be available to work with the
officers to give advice on the constitution, funding and training.
8. Any Other Business:
The Centenary Celebration has had the first meeting to discuss ideas for 2006.
The next meeting on Thursday 6 January 2005 has been postponed.
The Banner Project hopes to return the existing banner from Mansfield to Bowburn and have it
restored; plan to develop a new banner with the portrait of Edith Cavell on one side and engage
the community in a design for the reverse side.
BVC have agreed to make a donation of £2000 towards funding a successful scheme and other
monies would come from a Heritage Lottery Bid and any other possible awards.
The Partnership is holding a Christmas party for the children of Nursery and Infant School age in
the Community Centre on Wednesday 22 December 2004, from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. Admission is
by ticket only, from the POW group in SRB6. Application forms have been put into the school. A
parent or carer must accompany the children.
A resident reported that an empty bungalow was being used by a group of young people whose
behaviour was causing concern. Although Kim Corfield had been informed no action seems to
have been taken. Mike explained that whilst some bungalows were occupied demolition work
cannot start and people cannot be pressurised into moving.
PC Cockburn has raised his concerns about security with the Council and he hopes that Police
Support Officers may help the situation. In the meantime the secretary was asked to contact Brian
Spears to alert him of the problem. ACTION SECRETARY
9. Date and time of next meeting:
TUESDAY, 14 DECEMBER IN THE COMMUNITY CENTRE AT 6.30 PM
Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings, which are open to all.
Please bring a companion to find out what is happening in your village.
Minutes are available at: Community Centre, Lawson Rd, Library, Marlene Ave, PO, and Surgery.
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