Vue Entertainment Licences - Vue Cinema Feethams

A small poster, tucked away against the new development in Feethams notifies the following application:

Notice of application for the grant of a Premises Licence under Section 17 of the Licensing Act 2003

Notice is hereby given that Vue Entertainment Limited has applied to Darlington Borough Council for the grant of a Premises Licence in respect of Premises to be known as Vue Cinema, Feethams Leisure, Feethams, Darlington, DL1 4QT The proposed licensable activities and their hours are :to permit the performance of plays, live music, recorded music and performance of dance from 0800 until 0300 each day; to permit the sale of alcohol from 0800 to 0230 each day; the showing of films and opening hours 24 hours each day and late night refreshment from 2300 to 0500 each day. Any representations regarding the above-mentioned application must be received in writing by Licensing Authority Darlington Borough Council/Town Hall, Feethams, Darlington, DL1 5QT no later than 1st July 2015 stating the grounds for representation. The register of Darlington Borough Council and the record of the application may be inspected at the address of the council, given above,during normal business hours or on the council's website - www.darlington.gov.uk

Here is a copy of my submission on your behalf:

The South Terrace Residents' Group is aware of this application, and as president of the group, I have been asked to respond on their behalf.
Darlington Council website is unhelpful as to how our objections can be recorded. We anticipate that this is not a Planning matter, but hope that you can forward our comments to the relevant department at the Town Hall. The 'no later than' date for receipt of objections is 1 July 2015.


The residents of South Terrace have the following concerns in relation to the applications by Vue Entertainments Limited, for Vue Cinema Feethams:

• The duration of the performance licence: we feel that 0300 hrs is too late and will result in localised disturbance and traffic noise whilst residents are sleeping.
• The duration of the alcohol sale licence: we feel that 0230 hrs is too late, and will result in a late night influx of customers, with attendant issues relating to alcohol and public order. It is of note that the council do not permit sales as late as this at other venues for good reason.
• The late night refreshment licence: we cannot see justification for 0500 hrs, and consider that this will result in localised noise disturbance and traffic noise whilst residents are sleeping.

We contend that:

1. existing residents' right to undisturbed environment and a night's sleep has priority over late night operations.
2. performances should terminate no later than 0100 hrs - which will give sufficient opportunity for Vue Entertainment Ltd to screen late night films;
3. the sale of alcohol should not extend beyond 1200 hrs midnight, save within the cinema bar and auditorium during late night screening, where sales could continue to 0100 hrs;
4. late night refreshment licence should be limited to 0200 hrs for venues within the semi-enclosed concourse only.

Some residents have expressed concerns in relation to the times suggested above, and would prefer earlier cessation. That which appears above not local consensus, but is proposed by the group as a reasonable compromise.

For the benefit of the licencing committee, it should be recorded that the South Terrace Residents' Group, is a long standing group comprising 43 households - 100% of currently occupied homes in South Terrace and Pease Cottages, DL1 5JA. http://southterrace.blogspot.co.uk/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/southterrace/.

Please confirm receipt of this objection by email.

Stephen Twist
President South Terrace Residents' Group

Spring news round-up

It is with sadness that January saw the death of Ken at no 7; followed this month by the death of Karen at no.9. This leaves two large holes in our small community.

The Charles Church development on the Feethams football field site has proceeded slowly and somewhat painfully, but it seems that we are past the worse of wagons and mud. Now we are in to the 'marketing' stage.

Feethams Green is now accessed by Greener Drive (Ron Greener), leading to Peverell Walk (John Peverell).

Quaint but unimaginative! Whatever happened to Lance Armstrong Lane or  Arthur Wharton Avenue?



Maybe we should take issue with the 'Quakers' and request a change of name?

With the development, we seem to have acquired a new garden. Residents are non-too-sure who will maintain it, but perhaps Darlington Guerilla Gardeners can be persuaded?

On the other side of Victoria Road, we hear that the £30m leisure complex is now 'topped out'.

The development will provide a nine-screen Vue Cinema, an 80-bed Premier Inn hotel, a Nandos, Purple Pig, Hungry Horse, Prezzo, Bella Italia and a Chinese buffet. We need never go hungry! Whilst residents have mixed feelings concerning the development, it has to be an improvement on the locality, compared with a derelict bus station or a large car park.

My letter to the developers requesting free tickets for the cinema opening clearly fell on deaf ears...almost as deaf as ours' following the thumping of the pile drivers. When the cinema is about to open I will have another go!

And now, the news that you have all been waiting for....the results of 'South Terrace in Bloom' Spring Edition.

There were five gardens in the short-list. Nos 5 

(Les & Joan), 18 (Jim), 19 (Yvonne), 20 (Gary) and 23 (Lorraine) - note I have named the gardeners responsible! A late vote from Miles Twist has resulted in a dead heat between no 5 and no 20. The prize is a pint in the club.

'The Best Gnome' award goes to Jim!

Scruffy

Letter to Terrace Hill

A number of residents have expressed some distress at the pile driving across the road at the Feethams North development. Yes, in a building of this type and scale on the banks of the Skerne, driving piles was inevitable, so it appears that we will have to bear it with sanguinity.

Today, I have emailed the developers to make them aware of the issue. Here is a copy of my letter.


"South Terrace residents (residents off Feethams South) have been, and still are supportive of the Terrace Hill development at Feethams. Indeed we submitted a joint representation in support of it at the planning stage. 

Pile driving has however been a big concern to quite a number of them - a task that we know is essential for the development. The problem has been one of both noise, and vibration throughout our homes here.

I wondered whether you would consider offering our 25 homes here a pair of complimentary cinema tickets by way of recognition of the inconvenience? I sense it would be appreciated as a neighbourly gesture.

Stephen Twist, President of the South Terrace Residents Association."

Ken Harbin 1933- 2015

Ken Harbin, our neighbour, was born in 1933 in Betws-y-coed to William Brewis Harbin and Helena May Harbin and spent must of his early years while his father was serving in the Royal Engineers with his brother Colin living on a farm near Roadhead, Cumbria .

In 1949 Ken joined the army serving in Egypt and Africa. His role was to analyse the high resolution stereo photographs taken by reconnaissance aircraft tracking the movement of insurgent forces and hidden vehicles.

As a young man he played a lot of tennis and cricket. 

It was whilst serving in Kenya that he met Dulcie, they married on 4th June 1955. They honeymooned at the Shelley Beach Hotel Nairobi, and while in Kenya they had their first son 'Antony' - known to many of the South Terrace residents. Later after returning to the UK their second son 'Stephen' was born.

Many are aware Ken spent time in his later years tending the gardens of close friends and neighbours. His love and knowledge for all things 'green' developed while the family lived in Newton Bewley, Hartlepool - there he grew the food that kept his family fed throughout the years. The garden was larger than most allotments and he grew all manner of fruit and vegetables; he also kept pigs, turkeys, chickens, anything that could either be sold/swapped or eaten - the original 'good life'.

In 1960 Ken started working at Cameron's Brewery based in Hartlepool, and his first role was 'area sales rep'. He worked for Camerons for many years rising through the ranks to finish as Regional Manager for the North of England. It was while working for Cameron Brewery that the family moved to South Terrace in 1965 and his award-winning 'hedge at No7' began its development! He continued with this company until his retirement.

Along with his love for his family, his next passion was for fishing.

Ken won many trophies and titles for Sea fishing from both shore and boat. The team of sea fishermen operated out of the 'Greyhound' pub in Parkgate (Kens local for many years). They team took part in many local and national competitions. 

When not able to get to the sea he was also a keen and very accomplished trout fisherman.
















One evening after his retirement from Camerons whilst Ken was having a swift half or two in the Greyhound, a member of staff from the Civic Theatre across the road from the pub came in looking for someone to help pull a couple of ropes during a performance; Ken gave it a go. That evening of rope pulling lasted for many years, during which he also moved/built scenery and moved performance equipment in and out of the Civic. He has held the rope while quite a few celebrities flew across the stage during panto time.

Ken will be missed enormously by his friends here on the terrace. He was the perfect neighbour.

Ken's last Christmas on the terrace

Action Fraud

This is a message sent via The Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network (England & Wales). This information has been sent on behalf of Action Fraud (National Fraud Intelligence Bureau)

Cold calls, on line, suspect emails. Here in South Terrace we are not immune. To help, read what steps you can take - as advised by the national agency.

Action Fraud (Action Fraud, Administrator, National)

We are the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and financially motivated cyber crime and are run by the City of London Police, working alongside the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. Our specialist team uses information from all of the fraud and cyber crime cases reported to us to create alerts about new types of crime or those which are increasing in severity.

Further to the message you received on the 19th December from the Neighbourhood Alerts team, we are delighted to now be working together with this network because it means that we can share our prevention alerts with you from now on. Don’t worry – we will send only a reasonable amount of these alerts to you, and only when we think that they may be relevant, in the hope that you will be able to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of this type of crime.  

Issues that we commonly see, and that we will be informing you about specifically over the coming weeks and months include the following:

• People who call to tell you that there is a problem with your bank card and that they need to collect it from you to fix the problem;
• Fraud committed by people selling event / entertainment tickets, weight-loss / teeth whitening drugs, or vehicles online;
• Fraud committed by people who cold-call thousands of people in the UK in order to sell them an investment in shares or precious metals, or who want them to invest their pension;
• People pretending to be someone they are not in order to persuade your business to send money to a new bank account to pay for an invoice;
• The activities of cyber-criminals who want to infect your computer or smartphone in order to steal your banking details or “lock” important files to prevent you from using or viewing them;
• Fraudsters who persuade people to pay a fee in advance of receiving a loan, which never appears. 

All of these can be avoided by following the simple prevention advice we will include in every alert we send you, which you will also be able to find on the Action Fraud website

We hope that you find our alerts interesting and that they can help you to keep the criminals at arm’s length.

You will also continue to receive messages as normal from the agencies who already communicate with you.

Thanks for your attention,

The Action Fraud team

If you believe you have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, please report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.

Reaching across the Skerne - conservation

Tonight Stephanie and I met with the Victoria Embankment Conservation Area group - making a unique moment when two communities connected by one asset came together.

Our mutual interest is, of course, the River Skerne, and more particularly, its banks.

Darlington has 16 conservation areas, of which Victoria Embankment is one of the more recent, being created in 2007. The character appraisal makes fascinating reading, describing a journey of architecture from the 1890's through to present times.

When Esh Development first applied for planning permission on Feethams Football site, they promised to retain a wild-life corridor to the west side of the Skerne. This was an area historically protected by the east boundary of Darlington Cricket Club. The concept was to form a river-side walkway alongside the new access road.

Our recent survey of the river bank indicates that this idea has either been abandoned or alternatively given very little priority. Whilst the unsightly cracked concrete wall was removed, galvanised fences took its place where the walkway was supposed to pass, and behind, the development has impacted on the line of trees and river bank edge.

Together with the Victoria Embankment group, we propose to make a difference. I have volunteered on your behalf to join a joint residents steering committee (the Kingfisher group) to examine the options available to us as residents to protect and enhance the west bank, to spare it further environmental encroachment, and to ensure that the riverside character and tree-line is preserved.

Do get in touch with Stephanie or me if you have any ideas or thoughts about the riverside.

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".

Consultation on Parking - January 2015

On 5 November 2014, Brenda Bowles, Engineer Traffic Management for Darlington Borough Council emailed Stephanie and me to say,

"I have been passed your enquiries regards introducing extra resident parking bays in South Terrace.

We do already have this request on our list of requests. I am pleased to inform you that we are about to investigate all the requests we hold for extra resident bays in the Borough so we should be consulting every resident with a proposal by January. It is anticipated that any proposed new resident bays will be installed by Spring 2015.

The existing double yellow lines had to be re-instated following the work done by the developer, so that the lines comply with the traffic order. It is likely that some of these yellow lines could be removed to provide some extra resident bays. If these yellow lines had not been replaced cars would have parked across the dropped kerbs".

It is essential that South Terrace views are now heard and recorded by Darlington Borough Council.

Of course, we have the advantage of having already held our own South Terrace Residents consultation over the last 22 months. For your convenience, and that of the Parking Policy Officer at Darlington Council, I have copied a potted history of our consultations at the foot of this blog. This, however, is where we have reached -

The apparent consensus:

1. The 25 South Terrace households and 8 cottage residents insist that their views should be paramount when formulating parking arrangements here in South Terrace.
2. We have very limited parking here, making South Terrace a special case. South Terrace should be excluded from wider policy considerations relating to the town's provision for free on-street parking.
3. We currently have 30 spaces for 33 homes. 
4. Four new spaces can and should be created by adjusting the yellow line restrictions. They are: one free space at the south east end of the terrace (opposite nos 6&7) and three permit spaces at the south west side (opposite 8&9).
5. The justification for the above is that the pavement profiles have already been adjusted by the council to facilitate this.
6. This would increase total provision on the terrace to 34 spaces.
7. There are currently 19 spaces designated for residents with permits. This is insufficient.
8. 7 'free spaces' in the centre of the terrace should be reduced to 4, thus providing a further 3 permit spaces. 
9. The net effect would be:

• 30 current spaces increased to 34;
• 19 residents spaces increased to 25;
• 11 'free spaces' reduced to 9 (5 opposite nos 1-7), 4 centre terrace.

Effect of consensus:

Residents would have parking priority.

There would be 6 more spaces for permit holders.

There would be 9 'free spaces' available for visitors. 

Three new spaces for residents opposite nos 8-10

 

One new space opposite nos 6 & 7

___________________________________

Potted history of the debate about parking here at South Terrace has progressed collaboratively. 

Our first residents' consultation followed my blog here on 12 February 2013,

"We have a limited number of 'free spaces' that seem to be taken quickly each morning by non-residents who work in the town centre. Some apparently arrive and wait for a resident to leave so that they can park... I recognise that this comes at a price to residents, especially those expecting workmen or other visitors. I would like your suggestions as to how (if at all) this matter should be handled? Feel free to leave a comment at the foot of this posting if you have a view on the matter".

On 22 February 2013 we followed this up with our report on parking. We recorded that we had "30 parking spaces, of which 19 require permits - 5 at the bottom of the terrace, 6 in the middle and 8 at the top. This left 4 free spaces at the bottom right of the terrace and 7 in the middle section". 

By 1 March 2013 we were able to put forward your suggestions.

"Most residents agree that the yellow lines opposite nos 9-10 should, if possible, be reduced to give another two parking spaces.... If shortening the yellow lines is possible, another two residents' bays could appear overnight.

"It also seems to be agreed that the double yellow lines opposite nos 1-7 could be reduced to give the possibility of an extra space on the right side of the terrace..."

"Most residents seem to want to keep some 'free spaces' on the terrace. Their argument is that if all of the spaces are allocate or restricted to 'permit only' - family, friends and other visitors will be unable to park here at all. They are right, and it seems imperative that we retain some unallocated parking.
The question is - how many spaces should be for permits, and how many 'free'? The majority of you seem to think that the seven spaces in the centre of the terrace could be reduced to four; and all 4 of the spaces opposite nos 1-7 could be made permit only.
The net effect of this would be to increase the permit spaces to 26, leaving 4 'free' spaces in the centre of the terrace. If the yellow lines were decreased, the permit spaces would increase to 28. Bearing in mind that there are 25 households on the terrace and a further 8 at Pease Cottages, this would be about right".

 

Our next blog was on 16 July 2013 where we reported your two main concerns - that there were insufficient residents spaces for the number of permits issued; and that we face a large influx of non-residents who choose to park on South Terrace, rather than paying for parking across Victoria Road in the Town Hall or Beaumont Street car parks.

"Having paid for the privilege of parking, residents said that they should be afforded a space - and the current level of residents' spaces meant that those who paid were in effect subsidising the parking of those who enjoy a resource here without paying for it". "The consensus was that the scheme did bring benefits to the terrace - but that it needed adjusting".

This precipitated our letter to Paul Boyle,

"Over the past six months, the residents have been engaged in discussions concerning parking in South Terrace. 

Currently there are 30 parking spaces on South Terrace, of which 19 are designated for residents permit parking - 5 at the east end of the terrace, 6 in the middle section, and 8 at the west side. This leaves 4 non-resident spaces on the east side of the terrace, and 7 in the middle section. 

Two issues have been detected. 

1.          First, with 24 households and 8 cottages, and a number of households having more than one permit, there are insufficient residents parking spaces for the number of permits issued. Residents who now pay £40.00 per year to park in the vicinity of their home should be entitled to be able to access a parking space.

2.          Second, substantial numbers of non-residents attend each morning to take non-resident spaces that have been vacated by residents. These spaces are then occupied for the rest of the working day, to the exclusion of both residents and their visitors.

The South Terrace Residents Group has formulated a solution.

Resident parking designation

Whilst residents want to keep some non-resident spaces on the terrace for non-resident parking, we request that the seven non-resident spaces in the centre of the terrace is reduced to four; and all four of the non-resident spaces opposite nos 1-7 are to be made residents permit only.  

Yellow line restrictions

Residents would wish that the yellow lines on the west side of the terrace opposite nos 9-10 should be reduced, to give another one ..extra parking spaces there, and on the east side of the terrace opposite nos 1-7 to give one extra space there. We are aware of the council's concerns about parking within certain distances of junctions, but the local wisdom is that this should not be a problem here. 

The net effect of changes:

Without yellow line alteration - to increase the permit spaces to 26, leaving 4 non-resident spaces in the centre of the terrace. With yellow line alteration - to increase the permit spaces to 28 or 29, leaving 4 non-resident spaces in the centre of the terrace".

 On 23 September 2014 representatives from nos 6 and 8 South Terrace attended the council's parking consultation to pass on your concerns. 

We informed the council that the principal issues were that commuters enter the terrace after 8.00 am and stay until 5.30 pm for free parking. This puts pressure on the residents bays, and eliminates any chance of our visitors and tradespeople parking on the terrace. We said that we want more residents' spaces and better control over non-residents spaces.

Owen Wilson, Principal Policy Officer indicated that he understood both our concerns and our solutions, and that these would be reflected in the new policy.

Pocket Park - an ongoing success story

Our neighbourhood pocket park, the Gerald Lee Pocket Park, rose from the obscurity of a patch of weeds under a billboard to becoming one of the most desired and decorated ventures of 2014.

From this 


Via this

To this    

For those that missed the history, here are our earlier postings:

2nd May 2014: initial proposals for the park
21 May 2014: prelude to the big dig

7 June 2014: the big dig, undertaken exclusively by South Terrace residents and their families

18 June 2014: prelude to the big plant - with the Mayor, Amanda and the children
21 June 2014: the big plant - combining South Terrace residents, Friends of the Earth Darlington and Guerilla Gardeners Darlington

23 June 2014: nearly the finale

4 August 2014: the grand opening by the Mayor, Councillor Gerald Lee and the Mayoress, Mrs Lee

On 28 July 2014 the Daily Mail featured the park. The Grand Opening on 29 July 2014 was clearly a massive success, both for the park and the people involved, as reported by the Northern Echo on 30 July 2014 (click here and here to see the videos).





By 12 September 2014 the pocket park was voted category winner in the Darlington Garden Contest, with the award ceremony at Darlington Town Hall on 2 October 2014, award being received by Kendra Ullyart and Peter Plant.

Success did not end there. Despite political controversy, following assessment on 5 September 2014 when the leader of the council questioned the naming of the pocket park, the park went on to gain an 'Outstanding'  Award from the Royal Horticultural Society and Northumbria in Bloom in the 'It's Your Neighbourhood' ceremony, with a presentation to Councillor Paul Harman on 18 November 2014 in the Legends lounge in Middlesbrough Football Stadium.

The park shows the ability of a local community to make a difference. What awaits us in 2015? Well, lots more fun in the park, we hope!

Councillor Paul Harman, receiving our RHS 'Outstanding' category Award