Members of the Blooming Committee met officers of the County Council today to discuss the list of potential improvements to the village centre that had been discussed at the last open meeting of the Village Trust.
£125,000 is being provided, as part of the Section 106 funding, from the new housing development on the former Shotley Bridge Hospital site.
For the past few days the B6310 has been closed at Summerhill due to a collapsed culvert, following the heavy rain last weekend when water was gushing out of a hole in the road.
Durham County Council’s website shows the reason for the closure on the 27th November but does not yet have a date for completion of the work to repair the culvert and road surface.
However, although the road is signed as closed, many motorists appear to be ignoring the many signs on the way to Elm Park and driving on past the closure point.
This week Durham County Council ‘planted’ the village Christmas tree in the ‘triangle’ in readiness for the official lighting to take place on Friday evening December 7th at 7.00pm. [Click on image to enlarge]
This weekend, for at least the 3rd time this year, Snows Green Road became a lake between the Junior School and Snows Green.
The lake appears during periods of heavy rain because two culverts at Elm Park and at the bottom of Benfieldside Road are partially blocked. Water overflows and runs down the road instead, forming a lake, until the road drains there are able to cope.
At the end of June, when the lake overflowed, a huge volume of water cascaded down into the village centre and flooded properties, before it finally found its way into the River Derwent.
The County Council has been made aware of the problem and intend clearing the culverts. To prevent the lake forming, the Trust has suggested that a larger drain hole be created at the lowest point in the wall at Snows Green, with a gulley across the footpath, so as to allow standing water to more easily escape back into the Burn.
On a snowy Saturday 27th October volunteers from the Trust planted 50 tubs with daffodils and violas. The troughs were planted with tulips and primulas. The bedding plants were purchased from Beveridge Nurseries of Ebchester. Durham County Council will be planting the barrier baskets, which were purchased by the Trust.
Shotley Bridge Village Trust 