Queens Jubilee Celebrations
From our ward surgeries and meeting with the Parish Councils throughout our ward, the Queen’s Jubilee Celebrations are being planned. If you are keen to help please contact your Parish Council and find out when the next Celebration Meeting is planned and join it to help. The June holidays will be fun and memorable as it is the intention to make these celebrations as memorable as those seventy years ago, so that the children will remember this historic event well into the future – do try to make time and help this happen.
LitterFreeDurhams BIG SPRING CLEAN
Last Monday, Cllr Lee attended Darlington’s first litter pick for the 2022 Big Spring Clean.
Co. Durham was planning their first litter pick earlier in Seaham but unfortunately it was cancelled because of the inclement weather.
Since the first Big Spring Clean, when over 450 volunteers took to the streets and highways, the number of volunteers has increased to the extent that in 2019 over 4500 people came out to clean up their communities, an appeal to everyone: why not join this year by organising your own litter pick? DBC will provide the equipment and pick up the bags of litter you collect, contact: pippa.smaling@darlington.gov.uk – Cllr Crudass or myself.
Flooding
Over the years there has been flooding areas throughout the ward. Having had the amount of rainfall over the last few weeks, Ruth and I went out to check to see if there were any areas which had water problems such as Killerby, Piercebridge and Heighington. Fortunately flooding has not occurred. There was quite a lot of water on some of the roads but given the volumes of rain that was to be expected.
Broadband
The saga of broadband continues . . .
Redworth, after a long wait, will be switched ‘on’, imminently, cannot be more accurate because we have had so many false dates before, but suffice to say we are nearly there. The western villages however, is back where we started. From positions of confidence that we were winning and were expecting to plan to take the broadband project forward we hit problems again before and during Christmas. We are not going to regale you with what has been promised in the past as the western village residents are fully aware of the history that is the broadband story. Jochen Werres, DBC officer, and I are still asking the questions, but to date we are not receiving any answers from anyone. We must thank Jochen for all of the time and effort he has given us, time which, as a DBC Planning Officer, he did not need to give, but after eight years of trying to improve broadband speeds throughout our ward he deserves the gratitude of us all.
Incinerator Update
The incinerator planning application for Newton Aycliffe was refused last month. Fornax are appealing the decision. Cllr. Lee arranged a Teams meeting on 21st February to consider the implications and plan for further actions against the Appeal.
QE bus arrangements School Aycliffe
The difficulties in getting students from School Aycliffe into Heighington to catch a bus to Darlington continues. Having exhausted ideas on providing transport, I met with the principal of the QE College in December and again more recently, he is discussing the problem with his bus provider but admits it is a difficult problem to sort.
Bus to Hummersknott Academy
The £20 cost to transport a child to Hummersknot is still proving difficult to change. Despite my approaches to DBC Cabinet there has been no change in the policy to charge pupils for the decision of their parents to choose Hummersknot and Carmel as the schools of their choice. In an attempt to move this on, suggestions were made to a parent that someone should attend a Council meeting to ask questions about the charge directly to the Portfolio holder – this did occur.
Government Jobs to Darlington
A summary of the jobs coming to Darlington from London:
750 Treasury;
500 Department of International Trade;
200 Digital, Culture Media and Sport;
125 Department for Business;
100 Office for National Statistics;
25 Competition & Markets Authority.
Continued Success for Acorn Dairies and The Raby Hunt
Acorn Dairies were in the news once again following their Queen’s Award last year their own brand butter has now been named the ‘Best Dairy Butter’ option in the UK by Ethical Consumer Magazine, a publication which ranks consumer products based on factors including environmental impact, animals, politics, sustainability and company ethos.
Congratulations must also go to the Raby Hunt in Summerhouse, as they have retained their Michelin 2 Star status.
And finally, Heighington History Day – Saturday 2nd April 2022.
An interesting day is planned in Heighington when there will be talks and tours on the history of our 12th Century, St Michael’s Church and the village itself said to have been settled in the 9th Century by a guy called Hecca, or at least that is one thought.
The day will start at 10am in St. Michael’s Church, cost, including lunch, is £12.50.
Please access tickets (limited to 50) via the online ticketing service: EventBrite, using this link: https://bit.ly/3s11KME – or contact Andrew Maxwell on 07923 302191 or email: andrew@andrewmaxwell.plus.com
Facebook: St. Michael’s Heighington
Website: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/13601
Councillor Gerald G. Lee
and Councillor Paul Crudass