End of Year Roundup for South Terrace

Its the time of year for an end-of-year terrace roundup.

2017 has been a year of change. The terrace, normally fairly static, has this year been unusually fluid, with departures and new arrivals, and currently with three homes currently awaiting new families. We have said goodbye to a handful of old friends, and a offer a warm welcome to those that have joined us. What is great to see is that the ‘terrace culture’ has not only survived intact, but is flourishing.

So here are our most prominent developments during the year.

2017 has seen the inauguation of our 17 strong Terrace Messenger Group - originally to assist preserve and advertise parking spaces - but now offering a wide range of instant messaging for warning information and requests for services. Recently, we have added and parcel delivery service. Do bear this in mind in the lead-up to Christmas. After consultation, we are staying with ‘Messenger’ rather than ‘WhatsApp’, but will keep this under review. We encourage residents to use this service for messages that have general relevance for the terrace.

On the topic of parking, most of us consider that our new on-street parking arrangements have worked well. Due to our proactive approach - preparing a plan and sending it to the council - we jumped the queue and got our chosen arrangement early. The three hour slots have proved invaluable for deliveries and service visits, and the reduced number of well managed ‘free spaces’ have been sufficient to keep at least one parking place available. It remains vital that we continue to keep control of our limited unrestricted parking spots. By doing so, we have seen a dramatic reduction in the use of the terrace as a public car park, with possibilities for our longer stay visitors.

2017 has also seen the inauguration of our sister group on Facebook ‘We live in Feethams’ currently with 26 members. This group straddles the new Feethams Green estate and South Terrace, providing a hub for topics of shared-interest. We urge you to join by following the link above.

Probably the most successful event of 2017 has been the development of the terrace ‘Junior Group’. Community building starts at an early age, when memories are made. Stephanie and I propose that for 2018 we put our minds to a summer programme for the children, to include a street party which we shall host. We have spoken about this before, but not taken the plunge. I sense that this coming year, with a new crop of residents, it would be timely.

Stephanie and I want to thank you for your support this year, and look forward to continued success for our community in 2018.

South Terrace Co Junior Team

What memories have you of your childhood?

Did you grow up surrounded by family, friends, other children, or alone? Of E Nesbit's 'The Story of the Treasure Seekers', were you Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice or Noel, or the youngest, Horace Octavius? (If you haven't read this classic - you should, whatever your age).

More to the point, did your parents send you out to play; and if so, what memories do you have of playing in your street?

As you can tell, this is another blog dealing with the issue of 'community'. Here in Darlington, as elsewhere in Britain, children are growing up without experiencing being part of a local community. Arriving home from school, children face the trials and distractions of homework, television and the internet, laminated to the protective parent who sees risks around every corner. It is now quite possible for a child to spend a whole 16 hours per day in their home.

The long summer holiday is now at hand - for some, arrived already. Six to seven weeks of home life, perhaps with the two week interregnum of a family holiday away. As an adult, six weeks passes in a blink; for children, it stretches almost to infinity. 

Providing for local children is not just the responsibility of parents. It is a community deal. We 'pay back' for the freedom of our own childhood by making a safe, interesting and accommodating community. Those of us with time to spare should alocate part of it to this end.

So, what can you do for your junior community? Here in our well-organised South Terrace we have been addressing this issue. And this is what we have come up with. For those with other ideas, please add your comments to this blog, or for South Terrace residents, visit our closed Facebook group to add your thoughts.

1. Safety First

We know the risks for children, just as increasingly children know the risks themselves. But vigilance is key to their protection. Whilst South Terrace 'bookends' of nos 22 and 8 and 9 provide a high level of oversight, all residents should be ready and prepared to pop out of their home to observe and report the persistent presence of strangers, or to raise any issue concerning traffic and risk. Additionally, we are incepting a 'Mobile contact list' to enable instant messages to and from all residents.

2. Get to Know

It is one thing being active in street affairs, but another to get to know your community's children by name - who is who, and where they live. The benefits are exponential. We get to know our community's children, and they get to know us. Remember that protection is a 'two-way-street' when socially aware children look out for their own community.

3. Join In

With the closure yesterday of South Terrrace back lane west, South Terrace's Junior Team took charge of moving resident's bins for collection. It was gratifying to see the collection of parents and others who joined the event, some as organisers, others simply as observing supporters. Over the next few weeks we shall be arranging a series of events for children, and ask that as many residents as possible participate.

4. Creative Thinking

Fresh ideas are always welcome, without them we will simply repeat the tried and tested events. We are looking for a range of new activities and projects that will hold the interest of 4-11 years olds. Add your ideas to the comment section below.

Research shows that people who live within the embrace of a local community are safer, enjoy better physical and mental health, and are happier. So, what is stopping you enjoying the benefits of being a part of your community?

Visit South Terrace Twitter

South Terrace blog revived

Did you know that here at South Terrace community we are unique in having our own Facebook group, instant Messaging and blog? And from today, we have added our own South Terrace Twitter account.

The huge advantage of linking through social media is that communication can be instantaneous - as we are finding through our Messenger service. It offers options to stay in touch, to receive news, or simply to dip in and out as we chose. Better than the neighbour's 'knock at the door', you simply don't have to be in if you don't want to be disturbed.

Most of us lead fairly private lives, and for some, living here on the terrace is just something that is, rather than something particularly cherished. But whatever your feelings, staying in touch is great for community. For those living on their own (even if they are not using social media) our small attempts at community building give them a sense of safety and security.

Today we have welcomed Linzi to our Facebook group. But we still have some small gaps in the terrace that are not linked. Pop along to the South Terrace Facebook group, see who is there, and who is not, and see what you can do to link them in. The contact may be a fellow resident's relative or friend who would love the opportunity to be able to send a message to pass on, or ask for a local call to be made to avoid worries or concerns.

The tragedy at Grenfell Tower reminds us of the importance of staying in touch, and enabling private messages to be exchanged without having to search for email addresses and phone numbers. A small compromise in privacy may for you be the one thing that provides future peace of mind.

Twitter.com/southterracedar

Building community - staying safe

Children of the 1950's - I am one - must guard against romanticising the past. The sun was not always shining, cinemas full, deep pools of the Tees clean for swimming, shops characterful, people friendly, back lanes tidy and safe.

But Darlington people had then one strength which they appear now to have lost - they greeted one another, they spoke, they knew their names.

Experimentally, reminding myself of childhood journeys, as I walked across Stanhope Park to meet Stephanie from the hairdressers I greeted those that I passed. For most, eye contact was seemingly impossible; and some declined to speak or respond as they scurried by. It taught me a lesson - about myself and about others. I realised that acknowledging each other wasn't something I could demand on tap. We cannot simply turn the clock back to the halcyon 50's and 60's. We have slipped too far, away from the embrace (or otherwise) of community.

When speaking of community I boast that in 'my special terrace' we know each other - or at least 'of each other'. We are linked by a shared sense of belonging as well as our closed Facebook group and instant Messenger service. This way we stay informed, and to a large degree, inclusive. Yet we are one of few such communities, a small minority of Darlington people.

Investigation of the 'Manchester bombing' reminds us of how invisible people can be whilst living alongside others. Residents, disturbed by massive police activity outside their homes, took out their smart phones to film the houses of neighbours they did not know. "I have seen someone coming and going, but that's about it", they report to a Sky news reporter, then to retreat into their house and their anonymity.

As election politics heats we are told about police numbers, resources, budgets. "Policing is our priority - we are going to ensure a safer society", they say. But are the politicians missing the entire point of what makes community? We need police responses to feel safe, but we also need to look to ourselves and ask some simple questions. When did we last take responsibility for anything within our own community? When did we introduce ourselves to a neighbour, undertake a litter-pick, organise a local event, support a neighbourhood watch scheme?

If we want a safer community, we have to work to earn and retain it. It requires effort, but mostly its free. And it results in people knowing people; and people being known by people. Whilst challenges to our society appear to be coming from within our communities, we should address this, and come up with our own sustainable solutions rather than seeing it as 'someone else's problem'.

Crown Street Library revisited

As a Quaker, and library user, today I revisit the issue of the Crown Street Library - probably for the last time.

A resolution in council has been passed. Although the outcome seems unpopular, a democratic process has been followed. We vote for our town managers; and they manage. I observe - in passing - that few of their critics have put themselves up for election; which tells another tale.

Supporters of Crown Street will recall my assistance to the 'library remain' groups, my orchestration of the penultimate demonstration in Feethams. It could not be said that I had been other than actively encouraging of the remain campaign.

However, for what seems an age, I have been asking about 'the Plan B'. "What to do if the campaign doesn't succeed?", I asked. Then, as now, there was a resounding silence to the question.

When managing any campaign, its leaders should consider all eventualities. It is called 'scoping the problem'. You review alternative scenarios, and create a route map to follow as events happen or circumstances change. That this campaign may not succeed was always foreseeable. Whilst never a part of the campaign's management team, I am yet to hear of any viable alternative to the mantra 'Keep the library at Crown Street'. Do I sound critical? Well, yes, on this occasion, I am.

In the Crown Street Pease building, the town has a prize. It's beautiful, it's unique, it's listed, it was given by a Darlington Quaker under a restrictive covenant as to use as a library for the benefit the people of Darlington, it is in a key position in the town, it is loved.

When the last book leaves the last shelf, and boards are placed across the windows, what is our civic plan for what remains? Do we sit by whilst neon signs are put up by J D Weatherspoon to announce another 'pub-grub dinner, or are we happy for the doors to open onto more shops, showrooms or offices?

I am of the view that there is a sound community plan out there that could keep the Pease building in profitable, or at least self-sustaining community-private partnership.

Our forebearers, the old Quakers, planned thus. They looked to what the town needed, they worked out a viable commercial plan, they organised themselves, and they went for it. 

Now is that March moment for the Pease Library building. Industrialists, commercial managers, lawyers, accounatants, book shop owners, community groups, faithful Darlingtonians - what would be your Plan B for Crown Street?