Thursday 28 February 2008

Councillor quits Labour Party

by Cobbler's apprentice

Long-standing Labour councillor Eddie Murphy from Crook has quit the party over its policy of giving priority seats to women candidates. He intends to fight the elections for Durham’s new unitary authority on May 1 as an Independent, and predicts that more will follow his example.

Cllr Murphy, who has been chairman of Wear Valley District Council for the past two years, failed to gain selection after Labour installed Ruth Seabury as the “compulsory woman” in one of the two seats in the Crook South ward. “I don’t believe in discrimination of any kind and this is going too far,” said Cllr Murphy, “I have also been uneasy ever since the invasion of Iraq. I had hoped that things would change when Gordon Brown took over as prime minister, but nothing has.

“Other local Labour parties in County Durham have yet to select their candidates, and I predict that quite a few other people will find themselves in my position.”

Cllr Murphy has been a councillor for 13 years and a Labour party member for over 20 years. After serving in the RAF for 15 years he worked for Durham City council and was NALGO branch secretary for 13 years.

Entrance features “only” cost £160,000

(from the Northern Echo 25th February 2008)

Sedgefield Borough Council has denied rumours that two entrance features to the newly-named Aycliffe Business Park will cost £800,000 by saying that they will cost “only” £160,000.

The council, to be abolished next year when the new Durham County unitary authority will take over, has re-branded the former Aycliffe industrial estate and is modernising it at a cost of £800,000. This will pay for environmental improvements, installation of street furniture and extensive planting. The £160,000 is for two sets of three entrance walls at the junction of A167.

Health Hazards at three Durham Schools

(from the Journal, 25th February 2008)

Health inspectors found hygene problems and other health hazards at three schools in County Durham in 2006 and 2007.

Montalbo Primary School, Barnard Castle (inspected Sept 2006): no soap at basin.
Kirk Merrington Primary School (inspected Oct 2006): not able to guarantee a safe catering environment, both in terms of food hygiene and health and safety. Several flies present in kitchen; adequate procedures must be in place to control pests.
Spennymoor School (inspected March 2007): “health hazard” reported from drainage problems.

Monday 11 February 2008

Councils' planned spending spree

This is an adapted and abridged version of 'Councils' cash curb' (Newcastle Journal, 8 February 2008).

The government is set to impose financial controls on district councils in... County Durham to stop them "blowing" budgets before new unitary authorities are established in 2009.
The Communities Secretary is likely to delegate power to committees of district and county
leaders leading the unitary move, before the role passes to new countywide authorities being elected in May.
Details emerged after Durham North MP Kevan Jones called for controls after expressing concern over the risk of “ludicrous” contracts being signed by district councils as MPs discussed legal orders that will formally begin the countdown to unitary status.
Mr Jones strongly backed a unitary Durham authority but claimed Derwentside district council was spending £10m on “a mausoleum” for the previous council leader – which his office later said referred to plans for a new leisure centre at Berry Edge, near Consett. “I would not want the new county council to come into being with a long list of commitments or to find that in the meantime land had been divested to various organisations,” said the Labour MP, with Communities Minister John Healey promising controls would be used to protect taxpayers
Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside council, warned £11m in reserves held by his “good house-keeping” authority, with £10m set aside for the Berry Edge leisure facility, would be spent elsewhere because of the “draconian” financial controls. He defended Berry Edge, saying two old sites were past their “sell by date”.
Durham County Council leader Albert Nugent, who chairs the county-district group overseeing reorganisation, said councils were running on a “business as usual” basis with checks to ensure any decisions creating an “unreasonable liability” for the unitary council were properly considered.
Durham County Council holds general reserves of £11.8m and earmarked funds of £68.9m

Friday 8 February 2008

Rubbish: Round one

Waste should have been recycled and not buried
Northern Echo, 9th January 2008

More than 400 tonnes of waste which should have been recycled was buried in landfill, an investigation has revealed. Waste management company Premier Waste Management, which is part-owned by Durham County Council, immediately called in the police when it discovered the error, at its recycling plant in Coxhoe, County Durham.


Premier process - the PR spin

Recycling firm set for towering performance
Newcastle Journal, 18 January 2008

A crucial time is looming for a towering vision of how up to 300,000 tonnes a year of North-East waste can be dealt with. Premier Waste Management already uses a system of biological digestion in three towers at Thornley in County Durham to process 62,000 tonnes of household waste by the sophisticated and controlled mix of microbes, water, air and temperature.