To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 15^th April 2003

The Minutes of the meeting held on 15^th April 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman

A report will be given at the meeting by Ferryhill Police

Sergeant Vincent reported that he was new to the Ferryhill area, having previously been based in Durham City.  He had 25 years experience.

Members noted that crime statistics were as follows:

It was pointed out that a number of schools in the area had been suffering from criminal damage and arrangements had been made for schools to be patrolled regularly by Beat Officers. 

It was noted that a number of people had been arrested in respect of vehicle crime in the Ferryhill area.

With regard to dwelling house burglaries, it was reported that one of the handlers of stolen goods in the Chilton area was currently on remand. 

Reference was made to a collection of CDs recovered a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately the Police had no record of any being reported stolen.

The Forum noted that the initiative in relation to unlicensed vehicles was still ongoing.

Concern was expressed regarding the level of policing in Chilton.  Specific reference was made to the problems of motor cycles being ridden off road and the excessive speed of traffic using the front road of Prospect Terrace.

With regard to the problem of speeding along Prospect Terrace, it was noted that the Chairman of Area 2 Forum had received a letter of complaint from a resident living at No. 28.

Sergeant Vincent reported that he would make arrangements for the eight officers in the Constabulary’s Motor Cycle Division to come down to Chilton to try and tackle the problem of motor cycle been ridden off road and arrange for extra traffic patrols for the Prospect Terrace area.

The Chairman thanked Inspector Docherty and Sergeant Vincent for attending the meeting.

Update on local health matters

Nigel Porter, Chief Executive, Sedgefield Primary Care Trust, was present at the meeting to give an update on local health developments within Area 2. 

A copy of the quarterly magazine ‘Your Health Matters’ was circulated at the meeting.  (For copy see file of Minutes).  It was hoped that in future, copies of the magazine would be issued to homes within Sedgefield Borough. 

Members of the Forum were given details of Ferryhill Comprehensive School Health Drop-In Centre for Young People and the Smoking Cessation programmes currently being run throughout the Borough. 

It was also noted that Jill Salkeld, Health Visitor, had won a national award to support her work helping to raise awareness of health needs among the travelling community.

Reference was made to the development of a new health centre for Chilton. It was pointed out that possible sites for the development were being examined.

Members of the Forum pointed out that there was no optician located in Chilton and there was also need for a dental practice that had ground floor access. 

It was reported that Sedgefield PCT would be notified of its star rating in July, however, it was likely that the rating would not be as high as anticipated, as one of the key targets in respect of patients having access to a G.P. in 48 hours and Nurses in 24 hours had not been met in March when the Trust had been judged.

A member of the Forum who had suffered from a heart attack earlier in the year, praised the aftercare services she had received from staff employed by the PCT and Bishop Auckland General Hospital.  Her only complaint was the quality of the food served in the hospital. 

Mr. Porter reported that as Sedgefield PCT commissioned services from Bishop Auckland Hospital, the quality of the meals would be raised with Officers of the Hospital Trust.

The Chairman thanked Mr. Porter for attending the meeting.

Arrangements have been made for Oliver Priestly Leach to give a presentation on the Kerbside recycling scheme

Oliver Priestley-Leach, Waste Management Officer for Sedgefield Borough Council, attended the meeting to give a presentation on the kerbside recycling scheme.

He explained that he was a member of the Council’s Local Agenda 21 Team.  Local Agenda 21 had been launched in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio and had been renamed ‘Local Action 21’, following the World Summit on sustainable development in Johannesburg in 2002. 

LA21 was about working together to make sure that whatever was done today to improve quality of life, did not damage the environment for the future, or the quality of life for others living elsewhere in the world.

Details of initiatives undertaken by the Council’s LA21 Team were circulated at the meeting.

It was explained that each household in County Durham produced around one tonne of waste per year and approximately 60% of that waste could easily be reused or recycled.

Sedgefield Borough Council, in partnership with Durham County, Durham City and Chester-le-Street District Councils, had secured government funding to introduce “Kerb it” - a kerbside recycling scheme to all the Borough households.

Every household in the Borough would receive a 55 litre green kerbside recycling box in which to put their glass bottles and jars (washed), steel and aluminium food and drink cans (washed and squashed), newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, catalogues and flyers.  Collections would be fortnightly and would replace the existing house-to-house paper service.  All the householder would have to do was to place the box at the edge of their property on the designated collection day, which would normally be the regular refuse collection day.  Extra material could be placed in a bag or cardboard box and would be removed at the same time as the box was emptied. 

Each householder would be informed when the scheme was coming to their particular area by leaflets, giving details of the collection days, what could be recycled and how the scheme would work.  Those residents who were already on the ‘assisted pull out’ scheme for their wheelie bins, would receive similar assistance with the boxes.

The boxes were not supplied with lids as it did not matter if the material got wet.  It was pointed out that if every box had a lid, collections would take longer increasing the cost of the service. Lids for the boxes were however, available if residents required them from the Council at a cost of £1.50. 

Members noted that the Council produced 30,000 tonnes of waste each year and currently only 3,000 tonnes were recycled.  It was hoped that the introduction of the kerbside recycling scheme would increase the amount of material that could be recycled to 7,500 tonnes. 

The Forum welcomed the scheme. 

The Chairman thanked Oliver Priestley-Leach for a very interesting presentation.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer

Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Executive Officer regarding the appointment of a representative for Area 2 Forum to the Local Strategic Partnership Board for the Borough.

Agreed that Councillor J.N. Chaplin be appointed as Area 2 Forum’s representative on the L.S.P. Board

The forum requested that Sedgefield Borough Council should re-consider the possibility of allocating funds to Area Forums for environmental improvements.

Members reported that the Tidy Estates Initiative had been very successful and they would like to see a similar scheme operate in future.

It was also felt that the availability of funding would maintain public interest in Forum meetings

Tuesday 9^th September 2003 at 6.30pm at West Cornforth Community Centre

Tuesday 9^th September 2003 at 6.30p.m at West Cornforth Community centre

To consider any other business which, with the consent of the Chairman, may be submitted. Representatives are representatives are respectfully requested to give the Chief Executive Officer notice of items to be raised under this heading no later than 12 noon on the day preceding the meeting in order that consultation may take place with the Chairman who will determine whether the item will be accepted