Man’s anger over rubbish mountain (From The Northern Echo)

Man’s anger over rubbish mountain

MANY of us have missed a bin day in the past few weeks, with the worst winter in years making collections impossible.

But spare a thought for Ian Colledge, who says his bins have not been emptied for more than six weeks.

The rubbish is now overflowing, with 23 bags piled up next to his wheelie bin.

The remains of his Christmas turkey dinner are still there, along with remnants of other festive celebrations.

To make things worse, there have been two birthdays in the household in that time, further adding to the rubbish mountain.

Mr Colledge, a married father- of-two, regularly has to re-bag the rubbish, with cats and other animals trying to find their way in, and has seen a rat in his street.

“It’s disgusting out in the back street,” said Mr Colledge, of High View, Ushaw Moor, near Durham.

“It’s horrible. Thankfully we haven’t had any really strong winds yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

“At least with the freezing temperatures the smell is not so bad – any other time of year it would be worse.”

Mr Colledge said Durham County Council failed to empty his bins even before the snow hit, blaming cars parked in his street.

The 45-year-old self-employed joiner said: “Bearing in mind we moved to a ‘super council’ a few months ago, I’m not very impressed. Things seem to be going downhill quickly.”

Durham County Council said it was continuing a major push to catch up with a backlog of collections forced by the prolonged cold snap.

Where bin wagons cannot drive up particular streets, workers are collecting rubbish on foot.

Oliver Sherratt, the council’s head of direct services, said: “We’ve made substantial progress across the county, with nearly all bins throughout Sedgefield, Wear Valley and Teesdale now up to date and 95 per cent of bins in Easington and Chester-le-Street.

“There, however, remain a few pockets around Durham City and some larger areas in Derwentside where access has proven particularly difficult.

“Be assured, we are working over the weekend and plan to get most, if not all, outstanding areas picked up early next week.”

via Man’s anger over rubbish mountain (From The Northern Echo).

Police investigation into stolen car crash at Broompark (From The Northern Echo)

Police investigation into stolen car crash at Broompark

1:12pm Saturday 26th December 2009

POLICE are appealing for information following a car crash involving a stolen vehicle.

The two vehicle incident happened on the B6302 Broom Lane to Broompark road, on the outskirts of Durham, at about 11.40pm on Christmas Day.

It involved a white coloured Ford Fiesta, stolen from the Ushaw Moor area, which sustained front end and nearside damage.

One occupant sustained a broken collar bone and was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham. Police are waiting to interview him in relation to the incident.

The other occupants of the stolen car fled the scene.

The other car involved in the accident was a Lexus, which sustained front end damage. The two occupants of that car sustained minor injuries and were treated at the University Hospital of North Durham.

via Police investigation into stolen car crash at Broompark (From The Northern Echo).

Funeral director’s family tribute From The Northern Echo

Funeral director’s family tribute10:30am Monday 7th December 2009

A FUNERAL director is to celebrate the lives of his father and grandfather whose business he inherited by sponsoring a hospice appeal.Norman Alderson, of N Alderson Funeral Directors, took over the family business from his father Bernard, who had succeeded his father Robert William, who founded the firm in 1921.Now Norman is sponsoring Durham’s St Cuthbert’s Hospice’s Light up a Life appeal, in their memory.

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via Funeral director’s family tribute From The Northern Echo.

School opens new sports hall From Durham Times

School opens new sports hall11:50am Sunday 20th December 2009

A SCHOOL has opened a four-court sports hall with nearly £1.5m from Big Lottery Fund’s New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme.The hall is at Durham Community Business College for Technology and Enterprise – formerly Deerness Comprehensive School at Ushaw Moor.College principal Ann Lakey said: “These facilities have added an extra dimension to the chances we can give our students, not only in their education, but also in their lives outside of school.

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via School opens new sports hall From Durham Times.

Deerness gymnastics jumping for joy From The Northern Echo

Deerness gymnastics jumping for joy12:23pm Monday 7th December 2009 .

THE Deerness Gymnastics tumbling team has enjoyed a sparkling year, competing nationally in three leagues and winning four out of the five categories against teams from across the country.Their success led to the team, based at Sherburn Leisure Centre, taking the Youth Award for Team of the Year, sponsored by the Gannett Foundation.They were nominated after five members of the team were chosen to represent Great Britain.

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via Deerness gymnastics jumping for joy From The Northern Echo.

For Hampden Park read Ushaw Moor as officials return for one night only From The Northern Echo

For Hampden Park read Ushaw Moor as officials return for one night only10:54am Tuesday 24th November 2009THE venue, the occasion and the crowd could hardly have been more different. Thirty years later, only the linesmen remained the same.The first was Hampden Park on June 2 1979, Scotland v Argentina, attendance pushing 62,000. The second was last watery Wednesday on the all-weather pitch at Ushaw Moor, New College Durham v Rotherham College and not even a man and his dog.The Hampden match had also been the unforgettable afternoon that the 18-yearold Diego Maradona confirmed his unique ability to the world.“It’s not very often that you’re bamboozled by pace and control, and it’s very rare in an 18-year-old,” Alan Hansen – part of the Scottish line-up – once recalled.

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via For Hampden Park read Ushaw Moor as officials return for one night only From The Northern Echo.

Backing over Eash Winning school site rethink plans From The Northern Echo

COUNCILLORS have backed the scrapping of plans to re-site a village school so that the development of a play area can go ahead.

Durham County Council was to have rebuilt Esh Winning Primary School, which is at The Wynds, on land off Woodlands Road in the centre of the village.

The Woodlands Road site is considered by residents to be a village green – an application to give it official green status is to be made – and there were objections to the plan.

But the council’s cabinet yesterday confirmed that the school will now be rebuilt on its current site, freeing the other land for the play area.

David Williams, corporate director for children and young people, said the change was being made because the residents’ association had won a £50,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund towards a new play area for two to 17- year-olds on the Woodlands Road site.

John Wilkinson, Liberal Democrat councillor for Deerness Valley, welcomed the move, saying the village would get a 21st Century school and a new play area that would help reduce antisocial behaviour. “The young people of the village now have somewhere to go and something to do,” he said.

Joe Armstrong, Labour councillor for Esh, said he believed the school should be in the centre of the village but “you have got to be pragmatic, £50,000 from the Big Lottery – you can’t let that go by.”

He added that he was pleased the village was getting the investment and that he hoped it would lead to better educational attainment.

Claire Vasey, cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said the council was right to reconsider the site of the school in the light of the play area plans.

“By rebuilding the school on the existing site we will be able to maximise the use of land and ensure that the village gets 21st Century educational facilities,’’ she said.

Council leader Simon Henig said the scheme would provide facilities that the children of Esh Winning deserve.

He thanked local councillors, school governors and Durham City Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods for their contributions to talks about the issue.

Ushaw Moor Interactive Mapping

New Interactive map of Ushaw Moor with multimedia now published.  Click HERE to open.

nebusiness.co.uk – Commercial Reviews – Commercial and Industry Reviews – North East Regeneration – Keepmoat adapts to new times

A FOCUS on regeneration is helping Keepmoat Homes bounce back from the crisis which rocked the house building industry last year.

Partnership projects with local councils and housing associations to create homes for rent and shared ownership enabled the company to beat its construction goals for 2008/9 (283 properties built against a target of 275).

And, while confidence is returning to the private market, Keepmoat Homes North East remains committed to social housing regeneration.

It has been shortlisted for two major regeneration development opportunities in Newcastle and Gateshead and is in discussion with other local authorities about the provision of new housing stock and mixed tenure solutions.

Managing director Richard Bass said: “Our success in getting through this difficult economic period has been our experience in regeneration and the construction of affordable homes.

“This has enabled us to adapt our business to meet the needs of our local authority and housing association partners and increase the number of properties constructed for them.”

An example is the £2.7m affordable housing scheme in Ushaw Moor near Durham. Delivered by the Durham Villages Regeneration Company (DVRC) – a partnership between Keepmoat Ltd and the local authority – the site features 18 two- bedroom bungalows, four two-bedroom houses and seven three-bedroom homes.

All meet the Government’s new code three environmental standard, which includes high levels of insulation and energy-efficient heating systems, supported by solar panel technology.

The project complements the predominantly private Hunter’s Gate development at the other end of the village – a scheme which contributed significantly to the £20m investment in community facilities made by DVRC.

This includes the award-winning Freeman’s Quay Leisure Centre and swimming pool in Durham City.

Such success has helped Keepmoat Homes develop working relationships with almost all of the region’s local authorities and social landlords.

All this means the company is well placed to take advantage of the returning confidence in the private housing sector. Although visitor numbers are relatively consistent on the same period last year, confidence amongst customers is improving with reservation up over 40%.

This has led to five sites being re-launched in the region, enabling the Tyneside -based firm to increase the number of its sales force.

via nebusiness.co.uk – Commercial Reviews – Commercial and Industry Reviews – North East Regeneration – Keepmoat adapts to new times.

Local footy: Stephenson header earns a draw for Horden – Sunderland Echo

Rain-soaked pitches caused the cancellation of several friendlies on Saturday but Horden CW’s game with Woodley Sports went ahead in Cheshire.

The Colliers, newly-promoted to the Skilltrainingltd Northern League First Division, matched their hosts during the opening 45 minutes despite going in a goal behind.

Simon Corbett’s team dominated the second half and after twice hitting the woodwork, equalised with a Mark Stephenson header 10 minutes from the end.

Bishop Auckland proved too strong for Brandon United, romping to a 4-0 victory at the Bobby Robson Centre in Ushaw Moor.

Wayne Gredziak, a regular scorer in the Northern League, cleverly back-heeled into the net on 25 minutes and before the interval Gavin Parkin produced a clinical finish with a left-foot volley.

Early in the second period, Ben Richardson struck from six yards and when Daryl Richardson produced an excellent cross, Gredziak was again on target.

Despite scoring three times through Adam Nichol 2 and Dean Grayson, Crook Town were overwhelmed by Shildon who struck seven times.

FA Carlsberg Vase winners Whitley Bay, defeated 2-1 by Durham City in their previous game, quickly bounced back to win 2-0 at Gretna courtesy of Phil Bell and Lee Picton.