A minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect for Ronnie Campion, former Chairman of Sedgefield Borough Council, who had died on Sunday 3^rd September 2006.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 5^th June 2006.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5^th June 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

A representative of Spennymoor Police will attend the meeting to give a report on crime statistics and initiatives in the area.

Inspector Adrian Green was present at the meeting to give details of crime figures for the area.

The reported crime figures for June and July 2006 were as follows:

It was reported that the crime detection rate as a percentage had improved. The figure for July was 29.7% compared with 27.8% for June.

Members were informed that a number of burglaries had been committed by people posing as officials from Water/Gas Companies, and were advised to be vigilant.

Concern was expressed regarding the problem of young boys on motor cycles in the Durham Road area.  It was reported that Police, subject to their legal department’s approval, planned to obtain CCTV footage of the cyclists and request the public to identify them, with a view to obtaining anti-social behaviour orders.

Specific reference was made to Police attendance at incidents and staffing levels.  It was pointed out that all incidents were prioritised and the responses were graded.  With regard to staffing, it was reported that the existing vacancies should soon be filled and it was anticipated an additional PCSO should be in post by the first quarter of next year.

It was reported that there had been 34 recorded damage only accidents, 10 minor injury accidents and no fatal or serious injury accidents for the period 5^th June to 4^th September 2006.

Local residents expressed concern regarding vehicles crossing the by-pass when turning right on leaving Jewitts.  It was reported that the Police had no power to prohibit motorists from turning right, however, Jewitts had been asked to request all drivers to proceed to the roundabout rather than turn right.  It was pointed out that the County Council’s Highways Department and Durham Constabulary Traffic Management were aware of local residents concerns and had the matter under review.

Concern was expressed regarding the taxi rank outside the Cube. It was pointed out that on Friday and Saturday nights the queue of taxis often encroached on the roundabout, obstructing the highway and it was requested that enforcement action be taken.

Reference was also made to the fact that a number of retailers were parking their vehicles outside their shops all day, ignoring waiting restrictions.  It was requested that enforcement action be taken.

The Forum’s attention was drawn to a recent Department of Transport Circular, which required that the local speed limits on all A and B class roads be reviewed by 2011.

A copy of the evaluation report will be circulated at the meeting.

Helen Dent, Anti-Social Behaviour Reduction Manager, attended the meeting to give details of the above operation.

The Forum was informed that the purpose of the operation was to tackle issues that impacted on the community’s quality of life such as:

Ø               Criminality

Ø               The fear of crime

Ø               Anti-social behaviour

Ø               The fear of anti-social behaviour

Ø               Environmental Issues

Ø               Youth provisions

It was noted that four joint operations were planned to take place within the Borough each year and would be conducted in four phases:

Ø               Week 1 - Education and Advice in the community

Ø               Weeks 2 and 3 - Enforcement and clean up

Ø               Week 4 - Media/publicity and post operation evaluation

The operations involved the following:

Ø              Police Authority

Ø              SBC Neighbourhood Wardens, Environmental Health, Street Scene, Licensing and Leisure Services,

Ø              Fire and Rescue Service

Ø              DVLA

Ø              Durham County Council Trading Standards

It was reported that Operation Boaz had commenced with a walkabout around the Eden Road and St. Pauls areas of Spennymoor to enable residents to express their concerns or make suggestions for their area.  Unfortunately only two residents had attended the walkabout, however, the Resident Associations in the areas and local Councillors had provided details of their concerns/ suggestions. 

As a result of the walkabout, a number of environmental issues were identified, which had since been addressed by SBC Street Cleansing Team. 

In the Eden Road area, weed spraying had been undertaken on the paths, stickers had been placed on all wheelie bins detailing collection days, rubbish in local car parks had been removed, graffiti on garages at the back of Water Board Field had also been removed and street signs had been replaced where damaged or missing. 

With regard to the St. Paul’s area, fencing at the rear of St. Paul’s Close play area had been restored and a new litter bin had been placed outside Rosa Street Primary School.  It was noted that 11.36 tonnes of domestic waste had been removed during the planned clean-up, which had resulted in many of the back streets and yards looking a lot cleaner and tidier.

During the operation, over 3,940 leaflets had been distributed around the Eden Road and St. Paul’s area by the Neighbourhood Wardens.  The leaflets gave advice about home security, fire safety and waste collections.  The CCTV van had also been deployed for 40 hours, during which time it recorded an incident that resulted in a statement being taken from the Duty Officer for an ASBO fire.

It was pointed out that no fixed penalties had been issued by the Neighbourhood Wardens during the Operation, however, since its conclusion 9 fixed penalties had been issued in respect of dog fouling, litter and fly tipping.  It was also noted that a truancy street had been carried out during the Operation, which had resulted in seven school age persons being spoken to.  Police officers and the Council’s Licensing team had also carried out an evening of licensed premises checks. 

Specific reference was made to the fact that all year 10 pupils of Spennymoor Comprehensive School had been given a presentation on anti-social behaviour and the consequences of acting in an anti-social manner.  A Fire Safety and Road Safety talk had also been given to Year 8 and Year 11 pupils, which was accompanied by a road traffic collision demonstration and a kitchen fire demonstration.

Members of the Forum made reference to the use of CCTV surveillance in Spennymoor.  They were of the opinion that the CCTV van used in Operation Boaz had acted as a deterrent and requested that covert cameras be deployed.  It was explained that covert cameras could not be used unless authorisation had been obtained under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

A representative of Sedgefield Primary Care Trust will attend the meeting to give an update on local health matters and performance figures.

Melanie Fordham attended the meeting to give an update on local health matters.

It was reported that the County Durham PCT would come into existence on 1^st October 2006.  Lady Anne Calman had been appointed as the Chairman of new Trust, however, the Chief Executive appointment had not yet been finalised.

It was noted that Nigel Porter, Chief Executive of Sedgefield PCT would be taking early retirement/voluntary redundancy on 5^th November 2006..

The Forum’s attention was drawn to the Performance Management report that had been submitted to the PCT Board on 10^th August 2006.  Specific reference was made to the Ambulance Service targets and the tremendous improvement with regard to Category A call responses during the past three months.

Alyson Learmonth, Director of Public Health and Health Improvement attended the meeting to present her Annual Report.

The report had been prepared as a stimulus to action and service development that would improve health and wellbeing for the people of Sedgefield.  It provided an overview of the health of the population, tracking changes since last year’s report, identified inequalities which must be addressed if the gap in the health experience was not allowed to widen and made recommendations for Sedgefield, in the context of the combined County Durham and Darlington Public Health Annual Report.

The presentation covered those areas where good, steady and little progress had been made in the past year, the priorities for the Local Strategic Partnership and Practice Based Commissioning Groups, Practice Business Plans and recommendations.  

To receive a presentation from Sedgefield Borough’s Waste Management Officer.

Ruth Clayton, Waste Management Officer, attended the meeting to give a presentation on the above.

It was explained that the Council was in the process of developing a new Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan to take the Authority forward to 2012.

Sedgefield Borough, as the designated “Waste Collection Authority” had a duty to provide a service for the collection of municipal waste, which included household waste and litter.  Durham County Council was the designated “Waste Disposal Authority” responsible for the disposal of all municipal waste collected within the County.

Household waste included material collected from domestic wheeled bins, plus items such as white goods, bulky waste for example furniture and carpets and garden waste.  Municipal waste comprised household waste, plus commercial trade waste.

It was noted that on average, household waste within Sedgefield Borough was increasing by approximately 3% a year, and the Council was determined to take positive steps to tackle the problem.  

Monday 23^rd October 2006 at 6.30 p.m. at  Borough Council Offices, Spennymoor

Monday 6^th November 2006 at 6.30 at the Borough Council Offices, Spennymoor.