The Derwent Valley Car Club is a community-based car club, set up by Blackhall Mill Community Association. The pay-as-you-go electric car club offers hourly and daily rates, with no mileage fees and full insurance cover. Thanks to funding from Innovate UK, they plan to install a double EV charge point in Shotley Bridge. The new EV charge point will be available for residents, the public and members of the Car Club.
They are seeking resident, visitor and business views on the location of the charge point, information on Electric Vehicles and potential demand for the car club. They have prepared a short survey which the Village Trust is helping to publicise.
If you are a local resident or regularly visit the village centre please spare 5 minutes to fill in the online survey, before 21 March.
The County Durham CCG has proposed an updated clinical model for future services at Shotley Bridge Community Hospital.
A programme of virtual engagement sessions has now been arranged throughout March. You can find details of these and an update about the project on their website where there is also a video presentation from NHS staff about what is included in the plans.
They want to be able to make sure that participants are able to engage as fully as possible in the conversations in each of the sessions and therefore would hope to have groups that aren’t too large.
They will then get back in touch with you once they have confirmed the programme, which will likely take place throughout March.
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak it has been decided to cancel the litter pick arranged for 28 March. We may reorganise it for September if the situation improves.
There will be no Village Trust Open Meeting in March this year. The next meeting for members and residents will be on 19th May at 7.30pm in the Catholic Church Hall, after the AGM that evening.
The annual spring litter pick is being held on Saturday 28 March this year, in association with Litter Free Durham’s ‘Big Spring Clean’. Volunteers who can spare an hour or two are meeting at the car park next to the Golden Flower at 10am. We aim to tidy up the village centre and along the roads leading out from it. Litter pickers, gloves, hi-viz vests and sacks are provided.
The Big Spring Clean is LitterFree Durham’s annual campaign, operated and delivered by Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council.
Both councils work in partnership with LitterFree Durham to plan and execute the campaign every year.
The aim of the campaign is to reduce the amount of litter in the county by engaging with as many members of the community as possible through litterpicking activities and education in schools accross the area.
The campaign was first launched in 2010 to further LitterFree Durham’s work on the Stop the Drop Campaign that had been promoted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Since then it has grown year on year by attracting new groups and by maintaining engagement with previous participants.
Yesterday evening the Christmas Tree in the village ‘Triangle’ was switched on and pupils from Shotley Bridge Primary School came to sing carols. Thank you to our County Councillors for providing the funding again.
The Village Trust now has a new community noticeboard in the village centre.
The Trust’s old wooden board that was erected in 2002 had become very dilapidated and the opening locks had been vandalised.
Fortunately, our local county councillor, Stephen Robinson, agreed to fund a new board from his Neighbourhood Budget.
It is intended that the left hand side of the board will be used for Village Trust notices whilst the right hand side will be made available for posters of other community organisations in Shotley Bridge.
The Village Trust has started using “Pooper Snooper”: a free mobile app designed to help communities tackle the issue of dog fouling. The Trust has marked all the existing dog waste and litter bins on a map, so that dog owners can find the nearest bin for wrapped waste.
It is also being used to mark the location of dog fouling. Over time ‘hot spots’ will build up showing the problem areas that will be reported to the council.
For further information, Durham County Council’s web site explains the law, how to get rid of dog waste and report problem areas, plus campaigns and schemes to tackle dog fouling … http://www.durham.gov.uk/dogfouling.
It will be followed by an Open Meeting at whichSarah Burns, Locality Director for the Clinical Commissioning Group, will be giving a presentation on the future of local NHS Services in the Consett area.
The next meeting of the Trust will be on Tuesday 16th October. Susan Nolan from CEED will be explaining about their ‘Street Trees’ project. Members and residents all welcome.
The Trust’s next ‘Open’ meeting is being held this Tuesday at the Catholic Church Hall on Snows Green Road. Meeting starts at 7.30pm with tea & biscuits before at 7.15pm.
There will be an illustrated talk about the Listed Buildings in the village. Did you know that there are around 30 buildings of architectural or historic interest that have been listed by English Heritage [now Historic England].
The Trust has published an update to the directory of community facilities, clubs and groups. It has now been delivered to most residents in Shotley Bridge. The original directory, published in 2010 was well out of date and few copies were still available. It is hoped that the new directory can be kept up to date annually with revisions posted on-line.
Thank you to our local Durham County Councillors who provided a grant to help fund the publication.
If you do not have a printed copy it is available from most of the local businesses that have advertised in the brochure or alternatively download the on-line version. [1.6MB]
The annual Funday for local residents, organised by the Benfieldside, Blackhill, Bridgehill & Shotley Bridge Community Partnership, is on Bank Holiday Monday …
It used to be held at Shotley bridge Cricket Club.
Dog owners are being advised of new rules that came into force in County Durham at the beginning of June.
Durham County Council has introduced a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to encourage responsible ownership and tackle issues such as dog fouling and strays.
The order, which will replace the existing Dog Control Order introduced in 2009, means that it is now an offence to:
Fail to pick up dog mess
Allow a dog to stray
Fail to put a dog on a lead when directed to do so by an authorised officer
Allow a dog into any fenced-off play area named in the PSPO, which includes the new play area on Snows Green Road
Anyone seen flouting the new rules will be issued with a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), reduced to £60 if paid within 10 working days. Failing to pay the FPN will result in court action and a possible fine of up to £1,000.
The order will not apply to anyone who is registered blind, is disabled or who uses a trained assistance dog.
The next exhibition organised by the Consett & District Heritage Initiative is being held in a months time. The Trust will be putting on a display of old photographs of Shotley Bridge at the event.
The next meeting of the Shotley Bridge Village Trust is on 21st March. Please invite your relatives, friends & neighbours to come along.
Kath Marshall-Ivens, Community Engagement Officer, from Groundwork will be giving a presentation about the ‘Land of Oak & Iron’ Landscape Partnership. This 4 year project, hosted by Groundwork NE & Cumbria, is supported by a £2.2 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Working with local communities and partners it aims to conserve, enhance and celebrate the natural, industrial and cultural heritage of the Derwent Valley. There are now 14 projects being delivered until 2020, with many opportunities for local people, groups and organisations to get involved through a range of different activities.
For more information about the Partnership and opportunities to get involved go to their website.
Groundwork are looking to recruit volunteers to help record memories of Shotley Bridge’s cultural, social and natural heritage. Volunteers will be offered training on how to prepare for an interview and use recording equipment, before going into schools and youth settings, to record the memories of parents and grandparents. Other community groups will also be invited to take part.
The recordings will be used for interpretation material and will be stored in a digital archive.
If anyone is interested in volunteering, they should contact Joanne directly and she will send them an application pack.
As well as helping with recording memories Groundwork are also keen to recruit individuals who can help link them up with existing groups or people known locally who could be interviewed.
