The Derwent Valley Car Club, a community-based car club, has now installed a double EV charge point in Shotley Bridge outside Rumis Restaurant on Front Street. It will be available for use by residents, visitors and members of the Car Club.
The official opening is to be held on Saturday afternoon 2nd April. The DVCC car club team will be on hand to answer any questions and sign up potential new members
The pay-as-you-go electric car club offers hourly and daily rates, with no mileage fees and full insurance cover.
Councillor Kevin Earley has has asked me to post this information ..
Road surface treatment work (again) planned for Tuesday the 15th, worth letting everyone know to avoid the route if possible. Folk on way to hospital or GPs will have to use it of course , will be easier for them if the rest of us can avoid it, maybe. There will be staff directing traffic but the coating takes hours to ‘go off’ so it might be an all day job! And its blue bin day!
I did try asking for it to be done at weekend but apparently it’s a free trial of a new treatment and Tuesday is the only time they can do it. I’m told it will look a lot better and stop the chippings lifting in winter. Guess we are going to find out if that’s true.
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 damaged coping stones around the ‘Kaydar’ bed have been repaired and new turf laid. Two new parking bays have been added outside Rumi’s and are expected to be marked out by the end of April, including a 2 hour waiting restriction. Durham County Council has also completed the new paving and bollards in front of the shops on Front Street.
The replica Pant is to be commissioned and work on its foundation and the new paving and seating area around it is expected to start at the end of this month and completed in May. The new ‘Victorian style’ lamp posts are on order and hopefully will be installed and working by the end of June.
These improvement schemes have been funded using S106 money from the Storey Homes development on the former hospital site.
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.]
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 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.
Did you know that all salt bins now have a reference number. When they need refilling you just contact HAL [Highways Action Line] at Durham County Council [hal@durhamcounty.gov.uk].
Here is a map showing all salt bin locations [click to enlarge].
Following the Trust’s AGM this evening, an Open meeting was held to discuss the work of ‘ Shotley Bridge Bloomers’ and ‘The Parking Lot’. Thirty six people were present.
These two working groups had been busy preparing an Action plan for entry into Britain in Bloom Neighbourhood Awards and a report on Traffic and Parking in the village centre.
It was agreed that the Trust should register for Britain in Bloom and 15 people, in addition to the 8 members of the working group, signed up to offer their help.
A two page report summary of the Traffic and Parking Study was distributed for comment and copies of the report were available for those interested in more detail.
Eight new members also joined the Trust at the meeting.
The second newsletter for 2010 is being distributed to members this weekend. If you would like to read a copy go to the Pages column. You will need to have Microsoft Word software on your computer.
The newsletter gives the agenda for the AGM and Open meeting on 17th June and includes information about
Members of the community are being invited by Durham Constabulary to assist the Neighbourhood team in tackling the problem of speeding vehicles in Shotley Bridge. Volunteers will help use a speed visor to check vehicle speeds and note down registrations of speeding vehicles. The police will then send warning letters to offending motorists.
If anyone is interested in joining the Volunteers scheme I can forward your details to the police who are looking at sorting out a rota for use of the speed visor.
Alternatively, come along to the Trust’s next Open Meeting on June 17th and sign up there.
The Village Trust’s next Open Meeting will follow the AGM on Thursday 17th June in Shotley Bridge Methodist Church Hall.
The AGM starts at 7pm, refreshments will be served at 7.30pm with the Open Meeting at 7.45pm.
This is a meeting for all members, guests, and any other local resident who would like to find out about the Village Trust or simply join in the discussion.
The Village Trust has formed a working group to discuss registering Shotley Bridge in the Britain in Bloom Neighbourhood Awards. It has surveyed the village and taken photographs of possible areas for action. An Action Plan has been prepared for discussion at the meeting. We would welcome your ideas.
The “Parking Lot” working group has prepared a draft report about traffic and parking problems in the village, which has been discussed with local councillors and officers. This report will be presented to the meeting for discussion.
Durham County Council have posted notices in the village centre about the renewal of the existing parking restrictions. The Traffic Regulation Order is being made in readiness for the new Civil Parking Enforcement regime that is being introduced in November. This is when the County Council will take over the responsibility for enforcing parking restrictions, from the police.
As part of its study, ‘The Parking Lot’ [a focus group set up by the Village Trust] has investigated parking provision in the village centre. It has been discussing solutions with county councillors and engineers from the traffic section and hopes that a review of parking restrictions will be carried out.
Parking on pavements not only causes damage to the path but can be inconvenient to pedestrians, particularly those with pushchairs or wheelchairs. It is a particular problem in the village centre and near the Junior and Infant schools, where pedestrians are often forced into the road by inconsiderate drivers.
In many residential areas parking on footpaths cannot be avoided as there is insufficient off street parking available. But where the road is wide enough to allow vehicles to pass there is often no excuse to park on the pavement.
Durham County Council’s website gives more details about the problems caused and information about illegal parking and obstruction.
It is suggested that the rides should be a permanent feature, as it proved to be very effective in slowing the traffic down through the village centre!
The three newsletters that have been published so far this year are available to read [see the Pages column]. You will need to have Microsoft Word software on your computer.
The February newsletter gives information about the Trust’s Design Awards, the proposed development at Shotley Spa, the new Neighbourhood Partnership and traffic and highway issues.
In May the newsletter mentions the Derwent Valley Partnership, action on litter and an update on the planning application at The Spa.
September’s issue deals with the village centre Open Weekend, ‘The Parking Lot’ study and a suggestion to enter the Northumbria in Bloom competition.
Shotley Bridge Village Trust 