Agenda item

Councillor C Martin

With Chester-le-Track closure at Chester-le-Street Railway Station what is the Council doing to help minimize any disruption for passengers and ensure no further reductions in services the station offers occurs?

Councillor C Marshall, Portfolio Holder for Economic Regeneration thanked Councillor Martin for his question.  Whilst many similar sized stations in the UK had been unstaffed since the 1980s, Chester-le-Street had benefited from a local business, Chester-le-Track, who had been leasing and running the station as an independent operation for the past 19 years.  Their business had been sustained by earning commission on the sale of tickets, but unfortunately, the increase in online purchases, e-tickets and ‘single operator only’ promotions had led to a decline in revenue from traditional ticket sales, to the extent that the business was no longer considered viable.  Whilst the loss of any local business was unwelcome, Councillor Marshall was pleased to advise that the Council had been leading on discussions with Northern Rail, and as a result, the train operator had agreed to continue to provide a staff presence at the station.  The ticket office would be staffed from 0730-1300 Monday to Saturday, and other facilities such as the waiting room and toilets would be open for use 6am to 6pm as previously.  The railway station at Chester-le-Street was an important asset to the town, providing residents and businesses with links to Tyneside, Durham and beyond.  The station attracted nearly quarter of a million passenger journeys last year, and Councillor Marshall assured Members that supporting local transport opportunities such as this would continue to be a priority for this council.

Councillor L Brown

Can information be provided regarding the changes to the standard start times for builders and developers?  These are usually enforced by conditions put in place at the time a planning application is approved.  I should like information regarding the original start times across the County and the newly amended times. I would also appreciate knowing who made this decision and who was consulted to reach it?

Councillor C Marshall, Portfolio Holder for Economic Regeneration thanked Councillor Brown for her question.  Planning officers regularly reviewed their standard suite of recommended planning conditions.  Construction times were subject to a recent review where it was felt appropriate to recommend a normal start time of 7.30 a.m. in the working week as opposed to 8 a.m. which was previously the usual standard.  This change, which was made following discussion between Planning and Environmental Health Officers, reflected the times often applied elsewhere and fitted with standard industry practice.  The recommended normal end time for construction was 6 p.m. during the working week and 2 p.m. on Saturdays for external works and 5 p.m. for internal works e.g. painting, decorating etc.  No works were permitted on a Sunday or Bank Holidays.  Officers considered that the revised start time would ensure that the amenity of any neighbouring residents would be safeguarded at the time of day when they could reasonably be expected to have peace and quiet.  However as with all planning conditions, these could be amended at Planning Committee if it was felt that the circumstance of a particular planning application merited this. As an example, on a recent application in Sacriston, Committee changed the start time in the week, limited working hours at weekend and bank holidays, and limited access arrangements for heavy plant and delivery vehicles. This demonstrated it was possible for local Members to raise their concerns and for Committee to consider them.

Councillor Brown asked why neither residents nor their representatives had been consulted on these changes.  Councillor Marshall replied Planning Committees were open to both residents and local Members who could raise their concerns on any planning application.