The City of Durham Parish Council made the following decisions at its meeting, held on 25th November 2021:

– The Parish Council agreed to submit a Section 106 funding application for the replacement of the existing bus shelters at Lower Claypath and to replace these with sedum roofed bus shelters.

– The Parish Council agreed to respond to the County Council’s Local Heritage List consultation nominating a number of assets within the City boundary area (as defined by the consultation’s map) for non-designated heritage asset status.

– The Parish Council agreed to object to a Section 106 application for a pedestrian underpass between Riverwalk and Milburngate, citing concerns over disabled access and health and safety.

– The Parish Council agreed its five key Full Council priorities for 2022/23 as follows:

1. Being an ambitious voice for the city

2. Enhancing the physical and mental wellbeing of our residents and addressing inequalities in our parish

3. Upholding the Neighbourhood Plan and representing the parish on planning matters

4. Creating a positive environment for businesses and encouraging tourism to improve prosperity of parish

5. Taking action to combat the climate and ecological emergencies.

– The Parish Council agreed to submit a joint letter with the City of Durham Trust calling on the County Council to continue live streaming all Council meetings relevant to the City of Durham parish area.
The Parish Council also agreed to submit a letter to CDALC (the County Durham Association of Local Councils) to share its views and to hear the views from other fellow local Town and Parish Councils on this matter.

– The Parish Council agreed to request that a full review be undertaken by the County Council setting out a range of options for landlord licensing schemes in Durham City.

– The Parish Council agreed to delegate responsibility to its Business Committee and the Chairs of its Environment, Licensing and Planning Committees to respond to DCC’s consultation on the Durham City framework.

A series of masterplans to enhance the vibrancy of County Durham communities was discussed by County Councillors at the Cabinet meeting of Wednesday 17 November.

Durham County Council has prepared draft masterplans for Newton Aycliffe, Peterlee, Stanley, and Crook, Willington and Tow Law, as part of its Towns and Villages programme. Together with a new regeneration framework for Durham City and an updated version of the Chester-le-Street Masterplan, the documents set out projects aimed at boosting the prosperity of each location for generations to come.

From improving transport links and infrastructure, including creating new pedestrian and cycle routes; to enhancing leisure facilities, repurposing vacant buildings, expanding employment sites, installing free town centre Wi-Fi, and exploring opportunities to provide more housing – both public and private sector projects are included.

Durham County Council has been preparing masterplans for larger towns in the county for a number of years, as part of its commitment to regeneration and attracting investment.

The next round of masterplans has been brought forward to support future funding bids and the region’s recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Durham County Council is also consulting on a masterplan for land at Sniperley Park, an allocation for a sustainable urban extension to deliver 1,700 new homes along with associated services and facilities to create a vibrant and self-sustaining mixed community.

A public consultation will take place on the masterplans for all of the towns from Monday 29 November to Friday 14 January next year.

Following the consultation, the final masterplans will support the council and its partners to bid for funding, providing a strategic overview of regeneration plans for the area.

To find out more about public consultation events, and to read and comment on the documents please visit www.durham.gov.uk/consultation or please call: 03000 267335 or 03000 261908 or 03000 263967.

This year, the City of Durham Parish Council will once again be hosting Durham City’s ‘Best Christmas Business Frontage Competition’. The competition aims to add an extra level of sparkle to Durham City during the festive season and hopes to promote businesses in the City of Durham Parish area as a whole to shoppers and visitors of our great City. The winner of each of the business categories will win a prize of £500.

An application form to enter this year’s competition can be found here

Eligibility
Any business within the City of Durham parish area and which has indicated that they wish to take part in the competition by completing and returning the form attached is eligible to take part in this year’s competition.

Judging and Judging Criteria
The window display that is judged must be the same as the display that will continue to be in the business window(s) throughout the Christmas period.

The competition is between individual businesses in each of the following categories: an independent business, a chain store, an indoor market stall, a non-retail business. Whilst businesses may choose to adopt a theme of their own, it is individual business displays that will be judged.

We will judge against the following criteria:
• Innovation and creativity. How new or different is the window display?
• Spirit of Christmas and festivity. How well does the display convey the ‘Spirit of Christmas’ and a festive message?
• Merchandising (not included in the non-retail category) how well does the business show case its merchandise to shoppers.
• Overall impression and visual impact. E.g. how well is the window lit up?
Judges will award up to 5 points for each of the criteria (a total of 20 for independent business, a chain store, an indoor market stall and 15 for the non-retail business). Judges will work together and will agree the score against each criterion and therefore the total score. The highest score from each of the business categories will win a £500 prize.

Judging
Judging will take on Tuesday 7th December from 4pm so please have your windows complete by this time. The results will be announced on Wednesday 8th December 2021.

Awards Presentation
The Awards presentation will take place at the City of Durham Parish Council Christmas Civic event at Durham Town Hall on Thursday 9th December between 6:30pm and 10pm. All winning businesses in each category will receive an invitation to the awards ceremony with further details after the final judging.

City of Durham Parish area

Like every city across the country, Durham has its issues of cigarette litter. The City of Durham Parish Council is really pleased to be launching its pocket ashtray campaign to tackle this issue. These pocket ashtrays are light-weight, reusable, biodegradable pouches which allow the user to put out their cigarette safely and cleanly without having to throw this on the ground. These pocket ashtrays are free of charge and can now be collected from most businesses across the City in hotspot areas.

Keeping our public spaces and local community safe, clean and green is very high on the agenda.

More than 70% of streets in the UK are affected by smoking litter, with busy spots like high streets and transport hubs having even more of a problem. That’s why the City of Durham Parish Council is targeting hot spot areas in our city with our pocket ashtrays campaign.

• These pocket ashtrays are a reusable anti-litter device designed to store your cigarette butts until you can dispose of them properly.
• They are a soft lightweight pouch with a fireproof lining to extinguish cigarettes and lock in smoke odours.
• They easily fit into your pocket whilst you’re out and about.
• You can also use these devices to store chewing gum inside them.

Cigarette litter is often time-consuming and expensive to clean-up because of its small size, as well as being unsightly where cigarette butts are allowed to accumulate.

Cigarette-related litter causes significant harm to our environment and to our health.
It may look like cotton, but 98 percent of cigarette filters are made of plastic fibers (cellulose acetate) that are tightly packed together. The plastic fibers in cigarettes are non-biodegradable, meaning they won’t organically break down from living organisms. Littered cigarette butts leach toxic chemicals—such as arsenic and lead, to name a few—into the environment and can contaminate water. The toxic exposure can poison fish, as well as animals who eat cigarette butts.

Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable deaths in England, accounting for nearly 80,000 deaths each year. One in two smokers will die from a smoking-related disease.
Every 15 cigarettes you smoke will cause a mutation in your body; mutations are how cancers start.
If you could see the damage, you’d stop.

Remember: smoking has a very detrimental impact on your health and its always best to try and quit smoking. We have the Quit Smoking helpline number on your pocket ashtray.

The Parish Council is also funding an enhanced neighbourhood warden who is issuing on-the-spot fines of £70 for chucking your cigarette butt on the ground. Please use your pocket ashtrays.

Help us eradicate cigarette-related litter in the city of Durham parish once and for all.

The City of Durham Parish Council is partnering with local businesses to make these available across the city.
If you’d like your own pocket ashtray free of charge If you own a business premises and you feel that your customers could benefit from these pocket ashtrays, get in touch with the City of Durham Parish Council via e-mail on parishclerk@cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk

Find out more about our campaign via our Facebook page and together lets keep the City that wonderful, clean and green place we all love.

Job title: Community Projects Officer

The City of Durham Parish Council is advertising a rewarding and outward facing part time role helping manage a diverse range of its community projects.

Location: Must be able to work from the Parish Council’s office in Durham City.

Day/Times: This role is for 16 hours per week. Candidates must be flexible as additional hours are needed at busy times and also when deputising for the Parish Clerk. There are some meetings in the evening.

Salary: SCP 11 (£21,748) pro rata.

Role:The City of Durham Parish Council is a relatively new, ambitious, proactive council with six committees delivering a wide range of projects and events, chiefly focused on business, the environment and community wellbeing. The successful candidate will work with the Parish Clerk on these and other administrative and financial tasks.

Reporting To: City of Durham Parish Clerk as line manager who will report to the Chair and the Parish Council.

Duties required as part of this role:

• To help manage community projects within the City of Durham parish area, as directed by the Council.

• Identify, develop and write grant applications for Council projects/initiatives.

• To work with the Parish Clerk and Councillors to review community initiatives, to maximise community engagement and involvement.

• To assist with the organisation and management of events and attend these as required.

• To be involved in updating and developing the Parish Council website and to be involved in the production of the Parish Council newsletter.

• To assist the Parish Clerk with the smooth running of the Parish Council’s administration.

• To assist in accurate record keeping and administration.

• To ensure the Council’s policies, health and safety and risk assessments are observed. This includes adhering to GDPR legislation.

• To undertake such other duties as may be required from time to time commensurate to level of the post.

• To attend meetings, including some in the evening, and make reports as required.

Role Specification

The person must be able to attend meetings as required by the Parish Clerk and some meetings will be in the evening.

The post is subject to the receipt of two satisfactory references.

The person must be reliable, capable of working on their own initiative with minimal supervision.

Also required:

Good general education
Pleasant face to face communication and telephone manner
Computer literate with a good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, the internet.
Well-organised
Some relevant experience in the various roles would be desirable
Flexible attitude to work and able to multi-task
Collaborative working style with a pro-active and innovative approach to work

To apply for this role, please send a copy of your CV and a covering statement to the Clerk of the Parish Council Adam Shanley via e-mail at parishclerk@cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk by no later than the 19th November 2021

The Planning Inspector has now published his ruling on the public inquiry into the County Council’s application to have the former coach park at the Sands de-registered as common land. A full copy of this ruling can be found here

Chair of the City of Durham Parish Council, Coun. Alan Doig said: “This is clearly a very disappointing outcome for residents in Durham and ourselves as a Parish Council who have fought this application over the last year. Common rights are important to everyone and it is extremely disheartening to see the Inspector make this decision”.

“It is clear from information from the new Administration that this application was too far down the legal process to be withdrawn and we have all been left dealing with the aftermath of the previous Administration’s unfortunate decision to build the new County HQ in the wholly unacceptable location of the Sands”.

“We now look ahead to sitting down with the Council and discussing the future use of this land. The coach park was essential in driving much needed day visitors into our City and we must have some legal safeguards against further development on this land in future. The last thing we need in Durham is yet another eyesore of a building in this beautiful open green space which is so cherished by local residents, the Freemen and the Parish Council”.

The City of Durham Parish Council and Durham University have joined forces to promote responsible citizenship ahead of the University’s Welcome and Orientation Week starting on September 27.

The last 18 months of the pandemic have been unprecedented and difficult for everyone and we are all pleased to be getting back to some sort of normality as we look ahead post Covid-19.
Part of the return to that normality has seen the reopening of our thriving evening and night time economies, our retail and hospitality sector and the return of students to Durham; many of whom we are warmly welcoming for the first time to our City.

As part of a multi-agency joint effort to ensure that Durham City is a peaceful and harmonious place for all to live, visit, study and work, the Parish Council and Durham University are joining forces to promote the resident-led Shhh…11pm-7am campaign which has existed in the City for many years now. Some of the activity being carried out ahead of the Welcome and Orientation Week includes:

• The introduction of lamp post signs promoting the key messaging of the Shhh campaign.
• Posters at key entry points to the City such as the railway station.
• “Quiet Residential Area” temporary spray to footpaths in key hotspot areas.
• Beer mats promoting the Shhh campaign going into business premises and every University college bar.
• A joint initiative by the Parish Council and the University to fund additional support for Durham Police in the form of the University’s Community Response Team during Freshers’ Week.
• A virtual campaign in conjunction with Durham BID and the University which will see the Shhh campaign go across the entire University campus.
• Promotion of the Student Pledge, which sets out what kind of behaviour the University expect from its students.
• A social media campaign by all partners promoting the key messages.

Chair of the City of Durham Parish Council Coun. Alan Doig said: “The Parish Council is absolutely delighted to be working with our partners and key stakeholders across the City in tackling a difficult and long running issue for the City. Durham is a fantastic place to live, visit and study with much to enjoy but like every University Town, it does have its issues of late night noise disturbance and it is right that we try and tackle this issue by supporting this positive, resident-led campaign with a range of activity – including a public awareness campaign and greater resources for enforcement. Our message is clear as a Parish Council: a warm welcome to everyone to come and enjoy everything that Durham City has to offer but please do so with your neighbours in mind and we can keep Durham City that wonderful place for all to enjoy”.

Alan Patrickson, chair of Durham City Safety Group, said: “Durham City is a wonderful and diverse place to live for those of all ages. Its great to see that after a tough 18 months due to the coronavirus pandemic the city’s bars, clubs and restaurants are welcoming people once again. While we want everyone to enjoy themselves, we would also ask people to be considerate of others when coming home from nights out through residential areas. Please keep this in mind so that Durham City remains a welcoming, friendly and hospitable place for all.”

A Durham University spokesperson added: “Durham University is delighted to support the Shhh campaign, which aims to build positive relationships between all members of the Durham community. As part of this and as a result of our close dialogue with community members, we are pleased to be jointly funding additional support during Welcome and Orientation Week to help pre-empt and manage any anti-social behaviour. We encourage our students to be good and considerate neighbours, and this campaign reflects that ethos”.

The City of Durham Parish Council is delighted to be able to re-open applications for grant funding to local community and voluntary organisations for this financial year.

This follows the first round of funding earlier this year which resulted in an underspend of £2,456.00 from an agreed total fund of £20,000.

The funding window will be open until mid-November 2021. To apply for funding, please use the following grant application form: Grant application form 2021-22

Full details of the Parish Council’s grant award policy can also be found here: City of Durham Parish Council Grants Policy

Earlier this year, the Parish Council was delighted to support organisations such as St. Cuthbert’s Hospice, Harbour, Boccia Durham, Durham Hospital Radio and many more organisations who work tirelessly to support the most vulnerable and to make Durham the wonderful place we love.

The City of Durham Parish Council is committed to providing assistance and support to local community organisations which are set up to promote community life for our residents. The Council’s financial support is provided by way of grants, which are decided against criteria set by the Parish Council.

In order for the Council to be able to assess each application objectively, it is necessary to assess all applications received against a range of criteria.

• The project to be funded meets the aims and objectives of the Parish Council.
• Assistance will be given on the basis of need, merit and contribution to the local community.
• Applicants must clearly show how any assistance given will benefit the people living in the Parish or will benefit the environment of our Parish.
• Any assistance given will be subject to on-going monitoring and subsequent evaluation of the outcome of the grant.
• Organisations should not make a presumption that funding will continue on a year to year basis.

The Aims of the Council’s Grant Policy

The City of Durham Parish Council provides grant funding to support the following aims:

• To enable local people to participate in voluntary groups and activities.
• To help the parishes’ voluntary groups to improve their effectiveness.
• To ensure the provision of services, needed by the residents, via the voluntary sector.
• To support organisations which meet the needs of people experiencing social and economic difficulties.
• To ensure that there is equality of access and opportunity for all parishioners of City of Durham to the services it provides and funds.
• To improve or enhance the local environment.
• To give local people a role in spending Parish funds and achieving value for money.

In order to ensure that the Parish Council is able to support as many local groups and organisations as possible, this funding is not available to groups who have already received grant funding this financial year. The next funding window will reopen in April 2022.

The Neighbourhood Plan Working Group has created the Looking Forwards document as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process. A full copy of this document can be found here

What is the Looking Forwards document?

‘Looking Forwards’ is a companion document to the Durham City Neighbourhood Plan and has been developed by the City of Durham Parish Council Neighbourhood Plan Working Party.
It is built on the aspirations and views as expressed by local people for their City during the five years of preparation of the Plan. It looks forward to greater involvement of the community in making Durham a more creative and sustainable City. The initiatives arising from that process have been included in this document, and cover matters that do not primarily relate to the statutory policies of the Plan or its implementation. Although both documents have resulted from the plan making process, it is necessary to separate the two documents as they will be
subject to completely different demands, procedures and timescales.

Why was the Looking Forwards document created?

The justification for the preparation of this document can be found in the vision of the Durham City Neighbourhood Plan which states that “Durham City’s potential as a beautiful historic City will be realised through policy and action” and that it will be “enriched by community engagement in its future”. The Neighbourhood Plan sets out the policies and this document represents a commitment to action to help realise the City’s potential. The aspiration
is that organisations such as the County Council, Parish Council, Durham University, community organisations, grass-roots bodies and individuals should work collaboratively and creatively together.

Many of the suggestions put forward by the public during the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan have no direct bearing on statutory planning and are therefore outside the scope of the policies of the Plan. However, they do have a strong bearing on the future of Our Neighbourhood and they are set out as a series of initiatives under the six themes of the Plan. For an initiative to be included there has to be a discernible and realistic potential for community involvement. It is important that partners in prioritising and progressing the initiatives are confident that, for the most part, the initiatives would be welcomed by the community. Indeed, the vision statement for Theme 6 of the Plan, ‘A City with an Enriched Community Life states:

Durham City will have a proactively supported community life, including health and well-being, with an enriched artistic and cultural life for the benefit of residents and visitors alike. Residents will be supported and encouraged to be active citizens with a keen interest in their neighbourhood and how it develops.

The Parish Council is delighted to learn of the return of Durham Heritage Open Days, which is set to take place between 10th and 19th September this year.

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture, which brings together over 2,000 local people and organisations, and thousands of volunteers. Every year in September, places across the country open their doors to celebrate their heritage, community and history. It is a great opportunity to try out new experiences free of charge.

Further details about this event can be found via the website here: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/about

Before heading out for your Heritage Open Days visit, please check entries on the Heritage Open Days website for full event details and last-minute changes. Details can also be found via the Open Days 2021 leaflet here