The first public meeting to launch the Chilton Neighbourhood Plan was a great opportunity to discuss what is good about Chilton, celebrate our enduring community spirit, and find out more about our proud past by viewing Brian Turner’s amazing archives, writes Sue Reece.
Thank you to Brian’s family; wife Audrey, daughters Diane and Karen, grandchildren Brian, Andrew, Stephanie Adam and Niall, for allowing us access to his personal files and artifacts. Also, to Ben Race from the Chilton and Windlestone 150 years project for collating the images.
The meeting, well attended by many members of the community, provided the space for people to raise current issues that need addressing now and identify priorities for the future.
High on the list was the care and maintenance of our town, access to services and amenities to support health and wellbeing, housing, recreational facilities for young people and addressing antisocial behaviour.
All of which are key areas for our Neighbourhood Plan consultation and by collecting feedback from public meetings, the Community Survey, focus groups and drop-in surgeries we will have the information and evidence to make significant improvements to ensure that our spaces are well designed, and Chilton is a prosperous community that benefits everyone.
Focusing initially on “Care and Maintenance” we know that well cared for places make us feel positive and secure while those that are not looked after can affect our overall wellbeing.
We are asking if buildings, streets and spaces in Chilton are clean and safe, cared for, accessible and inclusive? Are there any challenges (litter, fly-tipping, vandalism, flooding)? Is it easy to report issues and are repairs carried out quickly?
Whilst there are some great spaces in Chilton and we have a good community volunteering base, such as the litter picking group, participants at the meeting raised environmental health concerns around unemptied bins, rubbish build-up and fly tipping resulting in the potential for vermin infestation.
These issues need to be addressed quickly and following the meetings a small group of Town Councillors went out to view the areas identified as causing concern.
This has initiated the introduction of a programme of monthly “Neighbourhood Walk-Abouts.”
The “Walk Abouts” will be carried out by members of the Neighbourhood Advisory Group, including Town Councillors, and are an opportunity for residents to show us areas of concern.
This will allow us in the short term to record, report and follow-up on issues, to check that action has been taken, and longer term, identify how improvements in the design of spaces and housing can be built into the Neighbourhood Plan.
The next ‘walkabout’ will take place week beginning 9th December.
If you have any issues you want us to be aware of please email us at NeighbourhoodPlan[@]chiltondurham-tc[.]gov[.]uk, call 01388 721788 or call in to Hutton House.
To feed into the Neighbourhood Plan consultation you can access the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/NPlan1, or call into to our drop-in surgeries in Hutton House on Tuesday 26 November 3-6pm and Saturday 30th November 9am-12 noon.
We will also be attending the next residents meeting taking place on Monday 25 November.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
