The Boundary Commission Report, as mentioned in our previous Spennymoor News articles, was released last week writes County Councillor Liz Maddison.
Spennymoor Division will be extended to include Binchester and Newfield, formally part of Coundon Division, with effect from local elections in May, 2025.
It will be reduced from 3 to 2 County Councillors representing the extended Division.
Tudhoe Division remains as two Councillors who will now represent the whole of Merrington Lane instead of sharing part of this estate with Ferryhill Division. Kirk Merrington and North Close remains in Ferryhill Division.
The renaming of our Divisions to Spennymoor East & West was opposed with a request to keep the ancient and established names of Tudhoe and Spennymoor.
County Councillors across the whole of the DCC area will be reduced in number from 126 to 98 in May 2025 with a calculation of 4500 electorate for each Councillor; although for our Divisions this is at least 8-10% over this figure already.
Despite representation from Independent County Councillors and some Town Councillors (three separate submissions to Boundary Commission from me) the internal boundary between Spennymoor and Tudhoe Divisions has been moved. For many years this has been The Dene, the underground stream running through, and the Cenotaph as the natural boundary.
Instead the Commission accepted the proposal of a LibDem Councillor.
The new Tudhoe Division boundary has been moved to include Carr Street down towards and including Ox Close, incorporating Dickens Street, Jackson, Shaw, North Street, Dundas, Villiers, and James Streets and all of High Street from the North Eastern roundabout down.
This is a disappointing, contentious and unexplainable decision to move this internal Boundary that has remained as the Dene even at the last Boundary Review 11 years ago and allowed County Councillors from both Divisions to lobby and secure transformation of the Town centre over the last seven years.
We will not be deterred in continuing this regeneration during the remainder of our term of office.
The full report and interactive mapping are available on the Boundary Commission website: www.lgbce.org.uk/all-
reviews/county-durham.
The Boundary Commission recommendations will only become law once they have received Parliamentary approval.
The formal document (a draft Order) to start that process will be laid in Parliament shortly.
As reported previously, the Find & Fix and Lighting teams have spruced up lampposts on High Street and Cheapside and this work has continued in areas of Middlestone Moor where older columns have now been repainted.
The Clean & Green Team have been working their way down from Middlestone Moor in the trimming back of bushes. They have promised that overgrown bushes on Greenways Estate, Mayfields and Tudhoe areas will be completed by year end.
Highways have repaired footpaths and roads where we reported issues in all areas of the town.
Four dropped kerbs at Troutbeck and Wansbeck have been completed using my Member Neighbourhood funding. Other identified highways issues will follow.
The recent ASB/graffiti across Greenways has been reported. Police have released a suspect on bail for the arson attacks on the estate.
Spennymoor's local community newspaper.
