The next meeting of the Trust will be on Tuesday 9th April.
Members and residents all welcome.
The Trust’s next Open Meeting is to be held on Tuesday 21st June, after its AGM.
Grace McCombie, Buildings Historian, will be giving a talk on ‘The Buildings of Shotley Bridge’.
She is a researcher, lecturer and writer about sites and buildings and the development of settlements in the North East. She has contributed to many architectural-historical conferences, books and journals, especially the Pevsner series.
The meeting is open to both members and residents.
A proposal for housing development and new cricket facilities at the Spa Grounds is finally being considered by Durham County Council, following a protracted period of consultation and report submissions. The scheme was first considered by Derwentside District Council in 2009.
The planning application is being considered by members of the County Planning Committee in the Council Chamber at County Hall, next Tuesday, 3 March 2015 at 2pm.
If you have a couple of hours to spare the committee report is an interesting read.
The report states that the original Derwentside decision, where members were minded to approve the application, is no longer relevant to the determination of this application, because that decision is now considered to be flawed owing to the lack of crucial information. Therefore, the application needs to be considered afresh with all material considerations properly assessed and a new decision made.
It is being recommended for refusal by officers.
UPDATE
The planning committee resolved to refuse permission. Have a look at the reasons in the decision notice.
Volunteers are needed to help Slam Dunk the Junk in Derwent Valley
The Derwent Valley Partnership have organised two morning litter picks in the Shotley Bridge area this Wednesday [Derwent Walk] and the first Monday in June [Shotley Bridge playpark and field]. The community litter picks are being delivered as part of the Derwent Valley Partnership’s ‘Slam Dunk the Junk’ programme which also includes dog micro-chipping and educational assembly activities.
The attached poster provides full details of where and when the community litter picks will be taking place so please spread the word to your friends and neighbours – the more volunteers they have, the more rubbish can be collected. [Click on image to enlarge.]
Two show houses were officially opened yesterday, on the first phase of the Story Homes residential development at the former Shotley Bridge Hospital site. A small group of houses at the entrance to the estate have been released for sale.
Further information is available on the Story Homes website.
Durham County Council has also received two planning applications to vary the conditions of the existing planning permission. One is to remove the bus gate from the approved layout, alter the layout and amend the phasing of delivery of affordable housing and the other gives revised details of the retaining wall to the rear of plots 6 and 7 at the entrance to Goodwood Close.
Construction of the first phase of the Story Homes residential development on the former Shotley Bridge Hospital site is well under way. A sales cabin has been installed at the Elm Park entrance to the site, which is expected to open late May or early June, less than 6 months since infrastructure work first started on site.
The redevelopment of part of the former Shotley Bridge Hospital site has started with the clearance of trees and shrubs approved for phases I & II.
The site has been fenced off for safety and security as part of the enabling work, prior to the construction compound and investigation work starting this week. Construction traffic will be using the existing hospital access from Woodlands Road.
Story Homes are hoping to open the sales centre and show houses this summer, using the Elm Park access.
The remainder of the site is being managed by Story Homes, with further phases of development taking place over the next 7/8 years.
Any queries about the development should be made to the developer’s Carlisle office.