The City of Durham Parish has issued the following statement:

“The City of Durham Parish Council is deeply saddened by the passing of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
We join with the rest of the nation to offer our deepest condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and to the Royal Family.

Over a lifetime of service, the Duke of Edinburgh made many dozens of official visits to the North East, most memorably in 2013 when the Duke visited a number of schools in County Durham.

Prince Philip will long be remembered for his dedication to his role as Consort and support for Her Majesty and also for his commitment to the many causes he championed.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award in particular is one of the Duke’s most remarkable achievements, equipping and empowering young people from all communities to build the skills, confidence, and resilience they need to make the most out of life.

As a mark of respect, the Parish Council will be observing a two-minute silence at its next Full meeting on 22nd April 2021 and we are working closely with Durham County Council on arrangements over the coming days”.

Members of the public may leave tributes via the site at https://www.royal.uk/condolence

The Royal Family is asking that members of the public consider making a donation to a charity instead of leaving floral tributes. More information is available at https://www.royal.uk/donations

Durham County Council is flying flags at half mast at the following buildings as a mark of respect: County Hall and Durham Town Hall.

Arrangements are currently being made to mark His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh’s passing in other ways. Further details of these will be released once confirmed.

The funding window has now opened for grant applications to the City of Durham Parish Council and local community and voluntary organisations are invited to apply.

A copy of the application form can be found here: Grant application form 2021-22

A copy of the Parish Council’s grant awarding policy can be found here: City of Durham Parish Council Grants Policy

The funding window opened on the 1st April 2021 and a decision on all applications will be made at the Parish Council’s Full Council meeting on 24th June 2021. Applications must be submitted no later than 1st June 2021.

The City of Durham Parish Council is extremely proud to support local community and voluntary organisations through its grant awards again this year. There are an amazing amount on groups in our parish who are doing invaluable work to make the lives of our residents better and its right that we do all we can to support these hard-working dedicated volunteers who too often go unsung in our communities. This is really an avenue of support for these organisations which did not exist prior to the Parish Council being set up and this year the Parish Council has agreed a total fund of £20,000 towards grants for local groups. As with every year, we are keen to support as many groups as we possibly can, particularly in light of the obvious challenges which the Covid-19 pandemic has presented.

If you have any queries about the application process, please do not hesitate to contact our Parish Clerk Adam via e-mail at parishclerk@cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk

The City of Durham Parish Council is currently seeking a part-time Assistant Parish Clerk, in order to provide support to the Parish Clerk and Members of the Parish Council.

The role will be for 16 hours per week and will include primarily undertaking administrative and financial duties, as directed by the Parish Clerk.

A full copy of the job description and details of how to apply can be found here: Assistant Parish Clerk job advert

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 16th April 2021.

Objectors’ have now submitted their case and evidence to the Planning Inspectorate over the issue of Durham County Council’s application to de-register the coach park at the Sands as common land. A full copy of this can be found here: https://sands.durhamcity.org.uk/Evidence.pdf

Earlier this year, the Planning Inspectorate announced that a full public inquiry will be held on 27th April 2021 in order to determine the application.

In 2019, the County Council applied to the Planning Inspectorate to have the site de-registered as common land in order to create a new controlled car parking facility for elected Members in order to support the new County Headquarters building.

The Planning Inspectorate had originally advised that they were satisfied to proceed to determine the application without the need for a public inquiry or hearing. However, following legal representation from the Durham City Freemen and the City of Durham Parish Council, the Planning Inspectorate last year decided that a public inquiry is now necessary.

The Chair of the Parish Council Councillor Elizabeth Scott said: “The County Council’s application to have the land de-registered has been extremely contentious, of more than local significance and has attracted widespread objections. The fact that the County Council and their developer Kier have fenced off our common land, unlawfully interfered with the public’s rights to the common and shown a total disregard for the health and future of the trees in this area is completely shameful. We look forward to putting our full case to the Planning Inspectorate at the public inquiry in April.”

The City of Durham Parish Council is currently inviting nominations for blue plaques to be installed across the parish area.

These plaques are intended to be a dedication to a particular person, building or event of significance in our parish and details of the application process and the criteria for nominations can be found in the application form document here: BLUE PLAQUES APPLICATION FORM

This scheme is based loosely on the English Heritage scheme for blue plaques in London and has been delivered in other local areas outside London by various Parish and Town Councils.
This scheme is also intended to supplement the plaques which are already in existence in the City; delivered by the former City Council, the City of Durham Trust and the Durham Rotary group.

Nominations for this scheme must be returned to the Parish Clerk via email at parishclerk@cityofdurham-pc.gov.uk by no later than Thursday 15th April.

Chair of the City of Durham Parish Council’s Environment Committee, Councillor Victoria Ashfield said: “this blue plaque scheme launched by the Parish Council is close to my heart. I have wanted to be able to recognise significant people and buildings in the city since joining the Council.

It will encourage civic recognition of the significant role a person, event or place has played in Durham City’s incredibly rich cultural history. Through it we are hoping to encourage residents to celebrate their heritage and promote civic pride”.

She added: “It is so important that we highlight this for our future generations. I am delighted that the Parish Council has put the promotion of the City’s heritage at the forefront of its work. If the scheme is successful, we are hoping that this can form part of wide-ranging heritage trails which could help residents know more about our City and attract more visitors”.

The City of Durham Parish Council consists of 14 volunteer Councillors (who are all local residents in the community) and our Clerk. Whether it be dealing with environmental issues, representing the parish on the hundreds of new planning and licensing applications we receive each year, supporting our local businesses and voluntary and community organisations or supporting our local residents with their day to day issues, the Parish Council is here to be a voice for the City and our residents. Find out more about just some of the work we have been doing on your behalf over the last year via our latest newsletter ‘Durham Parish News’:

Parish Council Newsletter – February 2021

The City of Durham Parish Council met on 28th January 2021 via Zoom and the following key decisions were made at this meeting:

Key Decisions – January 2021

The City of Durham Parish Council would like to say a huge thank you to all of our residents in Elvet and Gilesgate, Neville’s Cross and Durham South for their continued adherence to Government guidance on measures aimed at keeping Durham a safe place. The Parish Council would also like to pay tribute to all of those working in front-line and essential services and to the massive contribution to community wellbeing being made by so many dedicated volunteers throughout the Parish area. We thank you all for everything that you are doing.

Over the last few days, the Parish Council has received a number of complaints and concerns in relation to Durham University students who have returned to Durham City. Many relate to whether students should have returned to the City, and the apparent numbers involved, and a number concern the lack of social distancing and groups of students in public areas of the City. In some cases, alleged breaches of the Covid-19 lockdown measures have also been reported to us.

The national guidance on students returning to their location of study state as follows:

“Those students who are undertaking training and study for the following courses should return to face to face learning as planned and be tested twice, upon arrival or self-isolate for ten days:
Medicine & dentistry, Subjects allied to medicine/health, Veterinary science, Education (initial teacher training), Social work, Courses which require Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) assessments and or mandatory activity which is scheduled for January and which cannot be rescheduled (your university will notify you if this applies to you).
Students who do not study these courses should remain where they are wherever possible, and start their term online, as facilitated by their university until at least Mid-February. This includes students on other practical courses not on the list above.
If you live at university, you should not move back and forward between your permanent home and student home during term time. For those students who are eligible for face to face teaching, you can meet in groups of more than your household as part of your formal education or training, where necessary. Students should expect to follow the guidance and restrictions. You should socially distance from anyone you do not live with wherever possible.”

This being the case, the Parish Council were advised in correspondence last week that Durham University’s Executive Committee (UEC) believes it is unrealistic to assume that the Covid-19 crisis in the UK will dissipate sharply enough in the second half of February 2021, or even in the first half of March 2021, to suggest that students in the UK will be allowed to return to their campuses en masse at that time. Accordingly, the UEC and the University Council have agreed that all teaching and learning at Durham University, with the exception of a very small number of programmes, will not only be wholly online until 19 February, which is in line with the new Government advice issued last week, but will remain wholly online until the end of the Epiphany teaching Term on 19 March 2021.

Durham University students were last week advised again to stay where they are during the UK’s national lockdown. Where they are not currently resident in Durham, the University has advised that students should not return to Durham City before the start of Easter Term 2021.

The Parish Council wants to make it clear that whilst the vast majority of us, including students, are sensible, we follow the rules and are clear that we must stay at home to protect lives, sadly a small minority now living in our community appear to be breaching the lockdown rules and guidance, thus putting the health and wellbeing of our residents at risk. In the context of a new, highly transmissible variant of this virus and over 1,000 daily Covid-19 related deaths nationally, breaches of these rules and guidance are quite simply unacceptable.

The Government and the Met Commissioner are clear that all breaches, or perceived breaches, of the Covid-19 lockdown measures must be reported via 101. The Met Commissioner has also made it clear that those individuals who break lockdown rules are now increasingly likely to face fines.

Locally, Durham University continues to fund additional resources in the form of the Community Response Team who are working in partnership with the Police to ensure proper enforcement of these regulations.

In view of the feedback that we are receiving from our local residents, however, the Parish Council is seeking a meeting with the Chief Constable of Durham Police in order to gain reassurances about the operations being undertaken to enforce the Covid-19 regulations. This includes ensuring that all 101 calls are dealt with swiftly and appropriately by all call handlers as well as ensuring that all members of the Police force are aware of the Community Response Team’s role in Durham City to help support the Police. It also includes the possibility of increasing the visible presence of Police on the streets of Durham to encourage sensible behaviour.

The Parish Council recognises that this pandemic has put an incredible pressure on the Police – who are all putting their own health at risk to protect us all – and the Parish Council hopes to work collaboratively with them, Durham University and the County Council to resolve issues of shared concern.

In addition to this, we are aware that at times the legislation can be unclear and, in some cases, what is currently only ‘guidance’ and therefore non-enforceable, we feel ought to be upgraded to ‘regulations’. The Parish Council has therefore contacted the local MP Mary Foy to ask that she lobby Government further on this matter.

Whilst the rollout of vaccines offers new hope that 2021 will see a return to some normality in our daily lives, that stay at home message is more important than ever.

Thank you for your continued support.

The City of Durham Parish Council

The Parish Council has contracted the services of award-winning retail consultant Graham Soult to support Durham businesses through the difficulties of Covid-19 and to help give the city centre a boost.
Graham has been working with local businesses in the city over the last six months to help them set up and improve their online presence and operations.

Described as “a North-East Mary Portas”, Graham is a high streets task force expert, retail consultant, blogger and media commentator, as well as the vice-chairman of Durham Business Club.

Graham’s recent work has seen major improvements and increased footfall to Chester-le-Street’s Front Street.
Graham has been promoting independent retailers in the city and working with the Parish Council; with the goal of securing a variety of new retail and leisure occupants for empty business units.

With experience of generating around 400,000 impressions on social media sites such as Twitter each month, Graham has been leading on a concerted social media campaign – under the @IndieDurhamCity strapline – to increase footfall in Durham.

Parish council Chair Coun. Elizabeth Scott said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Graham Soult to support our local businesses in these extremely difficult times. Graham has a fantastic national reputation for delivering excellent results for city centres across the UK. For many businesses, our immediate concern is obviously making sure that they have the best possible support with their online presence and operations in response to the Government’s lockdown measures and all the pressures this brings to our retail sector. But more widely, we want to give the city a real boost post-pandemic with a huge social media campaign promoting Durham as a place to visit and shop with your family, with the aim of achieving greater footfall, empty units filled, and a more diverse offer for consumers.
Graham’s services are funded by the Parish Council and available free of charge to any local business within our Parish.
Find out more about the work which Graham has been doing on our behalf over the last few months in his reports below:

CannyInsights IndieDurhamCity Report 1

CannyInsights IndieDurhamCity Report 2

CannyInsights IndieDurhamCity Report 3

CannyInsights IndieDurhamCity Report 4

CannyInsights IndieDurhamCity Report 5