Dear Editor,
When Alan Strickland was elected to represent our constituency, he wrote a piece for your paper in which he encouraged constituents to contact him on any matter either local or national.
During the intervening months I have contacted him at his email address at the HOP concerning a number of issues, some local and others to do with Labour Policy.
To date I have received only one reply. I am wondering whether any other constituents have encountered the same problem. Perhaps Mr Strickland would care to respond through your column?
In this particular instance I would like to commend the response of Durham and Spennymoor councils to refuse planning permission to Bellway Homes to extend the development at Burton Woods. The County Durham Plan was devised not only to provide homes for an increasing population and prospective workforce but was intended to marry future development needs to matched commensurate infrastructure. Anyone who lives in the town will know only too well that this has not been the case.
I commend the work of local officials who strive to achieve the best for their town. I find they are always willing to engage. So, what about our esteemed MP?
I suggest Mr Strickland take a long hard look and hopefully acknowledge that towns are not just about bricks and mortar, but meet the needs of the people in the round who live and work there.
Yours sincerely,
Mr P Laidler
Spennymoor's local community newspaper.
