A Year on the Terrace - Annual Review 2014.

This year, the South Terrace Residents' blog has seen 15 posts and coincidentally, 15 comments on them.




In January, there were two posts relating to the Persimmon development, in particular their application for amended planning permission.



In April, we ran a feature on the back lane and fly tipping,

successfully sorted by Street Scene as a result of our intervention.


Our May posting concerned Local Motion who visited the terrace, featuring a great photo of John at no 13 and Basil at no 12.

Also in May in relation to the pocket park we posted a concept and our preparation at the site, with a visit from the Mayor.



June saw 4 posts relating to the park - the big dig, preparation for the big plant, the planting day, and nearly the finale.

In August we celebrated the opening of the park by the Mayor, Councillor Gerald Lee. If you missed this posting, do return to view it and taste the summer air.








October was devoted to the introduction of the new wheeled bins  with two postings - a sad saga of dissatisfaction and the council's response and subsequent apology to residents. It was noticeable how quickly the council will act when a cohesive group of residents such as ours, protests.

In November we reviewed the history of the Gerald Lee Pocket Park from start to finish

 capturing both old, new and missed photographs and videos. Do take a look and follow the links for the fresh material, some of which was not available in the earlier postings.




Finally, this month, our consultation on parking

in preparation for next month's interface with the council. Probably our most important posting which we have now lodged with the council officials with the hope of influencing decisions that relate to our parking on our terrace.





During the year, we have said goodbye to Harry and Heather at number 17 following their move to sheltered accommodation at Dalkeith House, Helen's arrival at no 5, we have seen the new development rise on the old football field, and witness the opening of the restored social facility and bar at the Cricket Club.

Throughout 2014, our South Terrace Residents Facebook Group has continued to support, inform and entertain its 28 members.

If you are not yet a member of that group, it is simple to join and provides much needed continuity for the terrace.

On behalf of all of the residents here, we wish you a happy New Year and a successful 2015. The first three months will be quiet here, but we hope that April will see new ventures, including a further Big Spring Clean.

In the meantime, here is an extract from Councillor Gerald Lee's open letter -

"Good afternoon everyone,

I hope that you all have had an enjoyable Christmas and I wish you well for 2015.

Time is quickly drawing nigh when the 2015 LitterFreeDurham's 2015 big Spring Clean starts which is February 28th and ends 18th April. I hope that you can join us once again and support this worthy Project to help keep our northern communities clean".

Wheeled bins - a sad saga of disaffection

Our new wheeled bins of South Terrace were first put out in the back lane for collection on 17 June 2013. Then, we had but one black bin, collected each week, with fortnightly recycling from the front of the house.

Little did we know that Darlington Council's master plan was to move us seamlessly to fortnightly collections, expecting families to store their waste for up to 14 days. 

The council's consultation into the fortnightly recycling/waste collection service saw but 576 replies from residents. Of those 53.8% (310) said the changes would not impact on them, with 46.2 per cent (266 including mine) saying they would be affected. Given a population level of over 106,000, it is not clear what the remaining 105,424 (99.45%) Darlington residents thought - nor was it divulged what number supporting the changes were Darlington Council employees.

In a report prepared for their meeting on Tuesday 7 January 2014, Darlington Council responded to the concerns, pledging extra publicity and enforcement action to ensure people use their bins correctly.

Move on to Tuesday 14 October 2014. After over a year of having our bins collected in mid afternoon, refuse collectors attended without warning at 7.15 am. Those who had mistakenly taken their bins out on Monday (the former day for collection), and left them there, comprised the few lucky ones who had their bins emptied. Those of us who had returned them to their homes (incentivised by the threat of a £70 fine for leaving them out overnight) were not so lucky. Ours is the misfortune of now having to store our refuse for up to a month.

Today's thread on the South Terrace Facebook group page shows just how upset and disappointed many residents have become when facing a finger-wagging, dismissive, blaming commentary from Street Scene office staff. One resident described it thus, "Street Scene present a 'jobs-worth' attitude on the phone. No attempt to say that they are sorry, nor that they sympathise, no empathy, just a determination to say that the failed collection is all our fault".

Our councillors wish to have local people supporting Street Scene initiatives, and here at South Terrace we have done our share, with litter picking in Victoria Road, bulb planting, back lane maintenance and the formation of the award winning Gerald Lee Pocket Park. 

Now, I have to ask myself, where is the partnership? And why in circumstances, where the council has failed in its 7 January pledge, do they treat us with such disrespect?

Back Lane West - Fly Tipping

South Terrace's most vigilant resident reports a serious incident of fly tipping overnight in the back lane west here at the terrace.

We have contacted StreetScene and asked them to remove the items and investigate the matter.

Residents with children should for the time being keep them from the back lane.

Big Spring Clean 2014

Photo of  South Terrace residents participating in the Big Spring Clean 2013 

Message from Councillor Gerald Lee

Good morning everyone,

A date for your diaries.

LitterFreeDurham are planning the next Big Spring Clean for April 7th 2014 so hunt out your litter sticks, dust off the cob webs and apply a little oil......

As always thank you for supporting the Big Spring Clean. It seems that more people turn out every year to clean up their communities and until people stop dropping litter, the work will have to go on - even more so with the cutbacks of council services.

We did well in 2013, lots of school children turned out and I do feel that once someone has actually been around the streets to actually pick litter it stays with them and the likelihood that they drop the stuff reduces. We also managed to talk to over 1500 young people from 5 yrs old to 16 in school stressing the consequences to wildlife, the environment and to the pocket of dropping litter. I feel that education is so important for young people. If we are ever to change attitudes then we must start with the children when they are young and the anti-litter message should be given as part of the school curriculum as well as the Central Government supporting the actions.

If you can open the door to a school near you to allow me to talk to the children/students I will be pleased to do so even before the BSC starts.

To those of you who may have had people say that they are against voluntary litter picking as they pay Council Tax for the Council to do the work you could remind them that in 2007 in England alone we spent £584million and this figure has been increasing annually to over £1BILLION last year. Councils have been doing their best and unless we accept an an increase in Council Tax or a reduction in Front Line services to pay for the councils to spend even more time cleaning our roads then we either help them or we sit back and let the litter pile up........    

 I would be grateful if you could pass this 'e' mail onto any group or individual who you feel may be interested in taking part in the BSC as the more the merrier.

So than you once again for your support. We will be sending out the 'package' sometime in the New Year.

As Christmas is fast approaching, I wish you a Very Happy Christmas and a Joyful, Healthy New Year.

Best Wishes

Gerald

Darlington's Green Fair

On Sunday 12 May we celebrate Darlington's Green Fair in South Park between 11.00 am and 4.00 pm.

After the fair is over, we are seeking Litter Pickers who would be prepared to spend half an hour of their time in the tidy-up.

Equipment will be provided, and this will be a great opportunity to meet other like-minded, socially aware and community focussed people.

Meet in the park at 4.00 pm - look for Darlington Street Scene.

Note that on Friday 10 May, the Environment Agency will be clearing the Skerne banks

Apparently, they will be leaving the pram until after the chicks have hatched

Post 6 April: How did we do?

Previous postings show just how successful our South Terrace 'Big Spring Clean and Planting' on 6 April turned out. With sixteen adults and six children participating throughout the morning, it was a joy in both making our environment better for residents, and in adding a cohesive glue to our little South Terrace community.






Since then, our efforts have not gone unnoticed. Susan Jaleel, writing in the Northern Echo said,

 

"I wish to thank whoever is responsible for clearing the spare ground on Victoria Road between Feethams and Sainsbury's entrance. For a long time that area has been a dumping ground for all manner of detritus and an embarrassment at the main out-of-town ring road. Now transformed, even with the addition of a colourful patch of flowers, it has made a huge difference. Let's try and keep it that way". 




Mrs S Western of Hurworth was stirred to write back to 'Hear All Sides', 
"In reply to Susan Jaleel’s letter (HAS, Apr 18) regarding the very clean piece of road between Feethams and Sainsbury’s, in Darlington. A short time ago I saw a family cleaning it with two very small children who were having great fun trying to pick things up with rather large litter pickers. I hope they were proud of themselves. They should be".





Richard Reynolds, leader of 'guerrillagardening.org', and National Hero, commented about our efforts at South Terrace, 
"Tremendous. What a great transformation".

Today, in sunshine, our work looks great, as these shots show.

  

And here, the diversity of flora in the lane. 

Wheely Good Idea?

Are you ready for your new wheeled bin? Whether you are - or whether you aren't they are on their way.

Darlington's 240 litre wheeled bin collections are due to start on the week of 17 June and our collection will probably be one of the first on Monday 17 June, as our refuse collection day is being moved to a MONDAY MORNING from 29 April.

The wheeled bins have a number of environmental advantages and are quite light to manoeuvre. They should reduce stress and injury for the collectors.


Here are a few tips for South Terrace residents:

Prepare a safe place for your bin and ease of access to remove it to and from the back lane. If anyone has a problem here, contact Stephanie or me and we will endeavour to help.

Bins can be put out the night before, but be aware of the fire risk and the fact that they are accessible to the bin-raiders.

Park your bin with the wheels facing the bank, rather than the wall. This gives the collectors the quickest journey down the lane, and eases wear on the bin.

If you overload your bin, the collectors will not take the surplus - so simply save what will not fit in for next week, or contact a neighbour who may have spare capacity.

You can personalise your bin. Stephanie and I have chosen the 'beech effect' - or simply paint the number of your house on the lid.

If your bin is damaged or stolen, you should call customer services on 01325 388777.

To camouflage your bin and recycling, try one of these ingenious ideas.

If you need to check South Terrace's recycling date - click this link.

October Bulb Fest

This is looking ahead a little...in fact to October. Darlington Street Scene will support a community bulb planting, usually in early October. Any Community Group or Friends Group can arrange a planting and Street Scene will supply the bulbs, offer advice on where to plant and provide any training on the day. Advance notice of 3 –4 months will be required so that bulbs can be ordered from suppliers. I have checked with Phillippa and she will sort out the bulbs. Is anyone up for this?

If you would like to be involved, leave a message on our Facebook group page, or put a note through my door.

Incidentally, for those with Facebook, take a look at some great photos from last Saturday, posted by John and Trent.