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 the end of 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

The Wear Rivers Trust is currently looking for volunteers to help tackle the issue of invasive non-native species in the River Wear.

The Wear Rivers Trust is working to tackle three of the worst invasive non-native species (INNS) in the Wear catchment: Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed. These have been increasing in the area for many years following their introduction to the UK in the 19th Century. All three species grow in large clusters which smother native vegetation and leave riverbanks vulnerable to erosion during winter dieback.

The Trust is currently looking for volunteers in Durham to help remove these non-native species. Some volunteer work includes:

• Performing walkover surveys to monitor the spread of INNS
• Assisting on task days focused on treating patches of INNS
• Becoming trained pesticide operators
• Providing expert knowledge

If you would like to find out more about the WINNS project or how you can get involved, you can visit the website or contact the Trust via the following details:

Website: www.wear-rivers-trust.org.uk
Email: admin@wear-rivers-trust.org.uk

Alternatively, the leaflet below is an excellent resource of information about the project and these non-native species: WINNS leaflet

The City of Durham Parish Council acknowledges the urgent need for global society to reduce carbon emissions and we acknowledge that “business as usual” is not an option in the face of the climate emergency and that society in its current form is unsustainable.
I. We will therefore:
• commit to becoming a carbon-neutral organization by 2030, to include scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions *.
• we will create a roadmap for achieving this by September 2021 and a carbon audit by December 2021 and include environmental implications in all officer reports from that date.

II. We will seek ways to facilitate and encourage our community in reducing direct and indirect CO2 emissions and to become resilient to changes caused by the changing climate. We will take active steps where possible to encourage:
• more sustainable transport;
• reductions in energy use in homes, businesses and elsewhere;
• co-operation with organisations seeking to develop low carbon community-led affordable housing;
• use and development of renewable energy resources;
• production and consumption of locally-sources food;
• any other methods to achieve the above aims.

III. As a council we will:
• strategically reassess and adjust the scope of our current activities;
• proactively reduce our CO2 emissions as an organization;
• seek to encourage and enable our community to decrease their emissions and improve their resilience to climate change;
• seek to influence the policies of other organisations to encourage them to reduce their emissions;

*Scope 1 and 2 cover direct emissions sources (e.g. fuel used in company vehicles and purchased electricity) scope 3 emissions cover all indirect emissions due to the activities of an organisation.

On Monday 21st June UNESCO in Paris held a Zoom meeting on the topic of the Historic Urban Landscape initiative for World Heritage Sites in urban locations. A team from the Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site and the City of Durham Neighbourhood Plan Working Party were invited to speak. They presented a case study ‘Neighbourhood Plans: supporting a World Heritage Site‘.

You can read the Durham presentation.

HUL-Anniversary-Durham-presentation

The meeting was recorded and is available on YouTube.

Previously the City of Durham Parish Council submitted the Neighbourhood Plan to UNESCO as an example of management practices, events, and activities related to World Heritage and historic cities. The Neighbourhood Plan contains policies to protect and enhance the World Heritage Site and the heritage and green and blue assets within the setting surrounding the World Heritage Site.

Theme 2(a): A beautiful and Historic City – Heritage
Theme 2(b): A Beautiful and Historic City – Green Infrastructure

The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) is an approach to the management of heritage resources by recognising the wider context in which they are placed. This includes the broader urban context and its geographical setting, the social and cultural context and the interconnections between all these tangible and intangible elements.

On 6th May 2021, residents of the City of Durham Parish area went to the polls to elect their new Parish Councillors and to also vote on the Neighbourhood Plan referendum.

The results of the local Parish elections have now been announced and a full list of all those elected can be found via the website link here: https://www.durham.gov.uk/parishelectionresults2021

At the Neighbourhood Plan referendum, residents were asked the question: “Do you want Durham County Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Durham City to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”. At the referendum, 85.6% (4306 votes) voted in favour of adopting the Neighbourhood Plan. The Neighbourhood Plan has now been formally adopted as the Development Plan for the area.

A copy of the referendum version of the Neighbourhood Plan can be found online here: http://npf.durhamcity.org.uk/the-plan/the-plan-as-pdf/

The Parish Council wishes to thank all those who have supported the production of the Neighbourhood Plan.