Blog

These pages feature invited articles from a range of different commentators, feel free to offer feedback using our feedback section.

Concerned Cockerton residents meet local councillor Alex Nicholson and Parliamentary candidate Edward Legard
Anti-Social Behaviour - Posted 18/06/2008
There is an increasing concern amongst residents across the Town in respect of the effects of anti-social behaviour on their lives.
Verbal abuse and property damage both public and private are now regular occurences.
Childrens play areas appear to be prime targets for vandalism as are boundary fences and gardens , nothing can be protected from these gangs of roaming youths.
What do we do about this sickening and increasing trend that is the question.
Hear are a few ideas:-
We make parents responsible and prosecute them for the actions of their children , we stop pussy footing around when it comes to the sale of alcohol to under age drinkers and prosecute those that buy on behalf of under eighteens or who sell the drink.
We must have more local policing ,there are not enough police on the streets ,that is a fact despite the statistics the police continue to
use to convince us all is well.
The council has to take responsibility for the protection and security of public areas as well and ensure their schemes do not become the cause of distress to local residents.
The bottom line is we must re-establish the concept of respect by what ever means and this starts at home and in the schools.
Edward Legard ,Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Darlington has proposed Darlington Council prohibits drinking in public places.
That would be a pretty good starting point to get the message out this unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated.


Party Structure in the North - Posted 06/06/2008
The Conservative party has reorganised its northern operation in recent times and the effects are begining to show in much improved election performances and increased membership.
There are now three regional boards with some elected and some appointed members.
These are in the North East,North West and Yorkshire and an overall Northern Board based in Bolton.
William Hague has been given overall political responsibility and the party appointed a new Deputy Chairman,Micheal Bates [ formerly MP for Langbaurgh ]
The North East Board has an office in Newcastle where several full time officers are based.
All political activity ,including finding local and parliamentary candidates , raising finance,agreeing strategy and making political recommendations,runs through the North East Board to the Northern Board.
All the money raised in the North East is spent here.
At a local level ,there are area officers.South Durham is in the Cleveland and Durham area for day to day matters.
The elected officers are Richard Bell [Barnard Castle], Ian Galletley and Charles Johnson [ Darlington ] and Mike Smith [ Durham ].


Budget 2007 - Posted 23/01/2008
The labour group in Darlington must be feeling really sorry for themselves.
Imposing a council tax twice that of inflation,imposing council house rents twice that of inflation ,making Town Hall staff redundant,dipping into the Darlington taxpayers reserves yet again and to top it off cutting services to our residents.
All because year after year they would not restrain expenditure when asked to do so.
We now have a situation where Labour have promoted services which the Town can no longer afford.
The taxpayers of Darlington deserve better than this from any political party given the responsibility to be guardians of the public purse.


Conservative Party Conference - Posted 05/10/2007
The last conference in Blackpool is over and there were some strong messages. Not just the promises and policies made in the political speeches but from simply observing the spectators.Lots of young people in attendance, an enormous buzz in the ad hoc discussion groups and fringe meetings and a cohesion not seen in the Conservative party for some time.
Policies were clear and unambiguous , plans which can be acheived and which will benefit the lives of the British people.
No issue was too difficult or onerous to deal with and there are clearly many more policies to come.
One policy which was widely acclaimed was the National Civil Service plan designed to challenge young people in lifestyle changing experiences.
All in all a good conference with many excellent outcomes and an endorsement of an exceptional leader.

Cllr Charles Johnson


Elected Mayor - Posted 22/07/2007
There has been some interesting exchanges in our feed back section in respect of an elected mayor.
Those who wish for an elected Mayor do this on the basis of improving democracy, public participation and accoutability.
Some suppport an elected Mayor simply to remove the current administration.
We have not heard a great deal, which is usually the case , from those who are satisfied with the existing regime.
Will this be the silent majority which makes its presence felt on Referendum Day.We will see.
What is abundantly clear above all else, whether you support an elected mayor or not is Local Government can not sustain its credibility when a party is given a mandate with circa 20%
of residents support.
At what point do we say such small percentages are not a mandate.
One good result from the petitioners referendum is that it has awakened debate in Local Government not only with residents and elected members who represent them but within the Council as well.

Councillor Charles Johnson
Chairman South Durham Conservatives


Cllr Charles Johnson
Conservative response to the 2007-8 Council Budget - Posted 10/03/2007

The text of a keynote speech given by the Conservative Group Deputy Leader Cllr Charles Johnson at the 2007-08 Budget setting meeting of Darlington Borough Council on March 8th 2007.


I am very pleased to see a Labour council setting a Conservative budget, well almost a Conservative budget.
Conservatives have been proposing for some years now a move to inflation only budgets and here we almost have it.
It is a pity we could not have achieved the proposed budget without balancing the books with taxpayers assets and it is a pity this increase brings the total increase under this Labour council to 84%.
Lets have a look at the milestones 98-11.9%, 01-12.5%,02-12.5% and 04-7.9%.

So what does this years more modest increase tell us? Firstly it tells us that this is a municipal election year.
Across England, the lowest increases imposed are by Labour Councillors facing re-election and Darlington is no different.
The figure of 3.9 is not arrived at through economy , it is not based on the needs of the town, not based on principles of sound money but on a cynical attempt to lessen the political damage whilst keeping the Labour spendaholics quiet.

Every year when we Conservatives propose an alternative approach, we sit and wait for the automatic knee jerk reaction from Labour members.
When we say that the taxpayers of Darlington deserve equally good services at lower costs, we wait for two key phrases.
The first is “this means cuts “and the second is “you have no ambition “.
Well I am happy to take both of these misconceptions head on particularly in this election year.
The taxpayers of the town deserve to know what would change under a Conservative administration.

Firstly, there will be no cuts in services.
We consider efficiency as the way forward, we want to provide more and better but at less cost.
We would set about changing the style of the Town Hall; we would be more imaginative, look for new ways and leave stale out dated thinking behind.
Costs would have to be justified, living within our means as most households have to do the Town hall culture.
Taxation is just that and we regard taxation as something to be wary of not an acceptable endlessly rising income, not simply a pot of gold to spend without consideration.
Major Capital projects would have to be supported by the people of Darlington before moving onto the council agenda.




Secondly, let me examine the charge of “lack of ambition”
This must also be challenged here and now.
We Conservatives are very ambitious; your leader told us so in this chamber only a few weeks ago.
We are ambitious to take control of this council, but even more importantly, ambitious to do well for all the people of Darlington.
Our immediate ambition is to provide as least as much as this Labour council at a lower cost and so we make these promises to the people of Darlington;

You will have decent services and pay less for them under Conservatives.

You will be consulted on the major decisions which have to be taken.

You will have much more community and rural involvement in the democratic process of governing our Town.

We see all of these as an immediate priority for a Conservative Council and the future of Darlington and its residents.

We all know it is time for change in Darlington; soon people will have a real choice.

A choice between a tired spendthrift Labour Council, the council of overspending and bad judgement.
Remember the ongoing excessive costs of the Pedestrian heart .remember the shambles over Tesco, remember the fiasco of Hurworth School , remember ignoring the people of Harrowgate Hill ,finally remember the Labour legacy of 84% tax rise in their term of office.

Mr Mayor, I sincerely hope the next budget put before this council will be a Conservative budget, it will be different.



Cllr Charles Johnson


Conservative Resources Spokesman


Some of our candidates launching the manifesto in January with Michael Fallon MP
LOCAL ELECTION MANIFESTO - Posted 10/03/2007
A CONSERVATIVE DARLINGTON: CLEANER, CHEAPER AND SAFER


MANIFESTO MAY 2007


INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Conservative manifesto document for Darlington. This document outlines the policies, ideas and principles by which local Conservatives would govern our town should we be given the opportunity following the local election in May 2007.

The modern, changing Conservative Party is interested in quality of life, not just quantity of money. The environment doesn't just apply to recycling or reducing carbon emissions. Cleaning up litter, fighting noise pollution and keeping parks and public spaces attractive are all on our agenda.

Conservatives have brought successful environmental policies to many councils and we can do it in Darlington too. Analysis of Audit Commission figures shows that Conservative councils already have cleanest streets and dominate the league tables for the best recycling and composting rates.

Conservatives have always sought to be careful with other people's money. The lowest council tax in Britain is Conservative Wandsworth. Darlington is much higher but then we have a Labour council, and two Labour MPs. We will look at scope for cutting back on years of accumulated waste.

Police authorities and police forces are bound by ever-tighter cash from Whitehall. Yet Conservative councils, working with the police, communities and business, can innovate and help tackle crime and low-level disorder.

A good education is one of the cornerstones of a strong society. It is the ladder of opportunity, which allows everyone to reach their full potential. We believe that a clear focus on what happens in the classroom is important to schools, rather than just structural reform.

We have campaigned on keeping Special Schools open for children with special educational needs, and for the greater use of synthetic phonics to teach literacy. Every parent knows that children do best when they're engaged at the right level of ability. That is why setting children by ability in the classroom produces improved results.

We were the first political party to campaign to stop Labour’s educational vandalism in Darlington with their disgraceful plans to close good schools like Hurworth.

Local Conservatives want to promote community cohesion. We want to push forward with a Young Community Action programme. Such a scheme could offer young people the chance to develop their self-esteem and self-respect by participating in community activity at home and abroad after leaving school.

Understanding and working with local people has been essential to developing our ideas. This Council has been arrogant and out of touch for too long. One Party has governed Darlington for too long. Fresh ideas and new people are needed at the top. Only by removing Labour can we achieve the results local people want and deserve.

ENVIRONMENT AND TRANSPORT

The environment is everybody’s responsibility but in every community the local council has to take the lead. In Darlington the council is one of the town’s largest users of energy. A Conservative Council will take action to ensure the council’s ‘carbon footprint’ shrinks.

Traffic jams cause an increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Over the past three years traffic jams in and around Darlington have become seriously worse as a result of lane restrictions and increases in the number of vehicles.

We will re-design traffic lanes to improve traffic flow, not reduce lanes and restrict traffic flow as the system has done. We will also explore schemes to improve the numbers of people who car-share at busy times.

A Conservative controlled council would create a long-term strategy for traffic management in the town with special attention given to the main arterial routes. We would open up road widths to remove ‘pinch points’ which slow the traffic flow.

Local people have serous concerns about how bus transport works in the Borough – in the town centre, on urban and rural routes and in making connections to the national network. For many bus users the current arrangements seem confusing and haphazard.

We will support Town on the Move strategy to encourage sustainable transport – walking, cycling and buses. However we would carefully police for irresponsible cycling in our town centre.

The way our waste is collected and disposed of is a critical issue in protecting our local environment. We believe the system can be greatly improved. We will return to collecting garden waste free of charge, a very popular service that was cut back under Labour. The council has embarked on a legal tendering exercise for the disposal of waste. The tender will not complete until after the local election, therefore we do not know what options will be presented by the tendering companies. If we are controlling the council we will evaluate the tenders fairly, with strong emphasis on both cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits.

Conservatives will also support the work and within our authority boost the powers of environmental wardens to deal with graffiti, littering and dog fouling problems.

THE TOWN CENTRE.

The centre of any market town is the heart of the community. Labour has failed with its town centre policy. Officer’s time was wasted with the abortive Tesco scheme in 2006. Meanwhile the pedestrian heart, which we support in principle, has been badly managed resulting in it being late and over budget. Parking charges have driven occasional shoppers away and record numbers of small businesses have closed.

The Conservatives would put the soul back into our town centre. We would introduce a strategy which would give support to our town shops, independent traders and the town’s markets.

We would immediately initiate plans to develop the covered market into a food hall and a venue for other local businesses to thrive. We would assist in promoting this as a venue for high quality local produce. To ease access we will introduce time limited free disc parking at key points in the town including streets on which charges have been introduced.

Charges in car parks would be re-evaluated in order to adjust them for long and short stay with one objective in mind – making life easier for the customers of our towns businesses.

We would advertise several special promotional days each year on which parking will be free. These days will be decided in conjunction with town traders but the principle will be to stimulate trade during difficult trading weeks.

We will remove many yellow lines and unnecessary parking restrictions but then strictly control illegal parking.

COUNCIL TAX AND THE COST OF OUR POLITICIANS

A Conservative council will charge you less than a Labour Council. We will take action to review how the Town hall is managed with a view to reducing the amount of work being undertaken by bureaucrats.

In working for the common good of all our residents we will make it our duty to involve local people to help decide what will happen in the town. We will set our budgets with the participation of residents, business and the voluntary sector.

We will only do in the Town Hall what the residents of Darlington can afford. We will live within our means and stop Labour’s relentless borrowing.

The objective of a Conservative administration will be to deliver a zero growth (inflation only) budget in the spending over which local councils have direct control. This will be achieved through a programme of efficiency by restructuring the way in which budgets are planned.

Departments will not be allowed to look at their budgets in January and then quickly spend any money that is left before the financial year ends in April! We will introduce rewards to senior managers for efficiency and who find ways of returning unspent money to the local council taxpayers. We would ensure all capital schemes, such as the overspent Pedestrian Heart, are properly managed.

Two and a half years ago the merits and demerits of regionalism were voted on when people rejected a Regional Assembly. This wasn’t good enough for John Prescott and the Labour Party in the North East; they kept the Regional Assembly. It is now actively directing local councils and interfering in policy and planning matters that should be decided locally.

The Regional Assembly costs millions of pounds a year. Like all bureaucracies it is expanding relentlessly. If elected to run the Council we will take three steps:
• Stop any voluntary contributions from Darlington Borough Council towards the running of the North East Regional Assembly.
• Seek a rebate of the money paid to the organisation since the overwhelming rejection of the North East Regional Assembly in 2004.
• Ask the Government for Darlington’s share of the North East Regional Assembly budget (based on population) and consider seeking a judicial review if the Government refuses.

A SAFER COMMUNITY

A safe Darlington for people to go about their lawful business provides the most important backdrop to a successful community.

The Tony Blair sound bite ‘tough on crime’ has a hollow ring in Darlington following news in November last year that the successful and efficient Durham Constabulary needed to make cuts of up to 300 officers – nearly one in five of its force strength.

Durham’s Police Chief was clear – his force has been rated in the top three in the UK, it has no debt (unlike other forces) but it needed an extra £10.5m over three years from the Home Office to avoid making the cuts.

The Government knew of the problems and was been informed about the proposals to solve the financial crisis. After hearing the Chief Constable’s analysis the Government gave temporary relief and ‘only’ 100 Police officers will lose their jobs! The whole episode demonstrates Labour’s lack of commitment to the issue and their preference for less well trained wardens instead of fully qualified Police

In Darlington a Conservative Council would beef up its assistance to the Police and strengthen the current commitment to this area of policy.
We would:
• Boost the numbers and powers of uniformed wardens and ensure they are highly visible to deter anti-social behaviour.
• Take out more council prosecutions against those who contravene laws relating to anti-social behaviour .
• Crack down heavily on licensed establishments that serve drink to under aged drinkers and withdraw the licences of establishments whose patrons regularly cause trouble resulting in police resources being diverted away from regular policing.
• We will continue to enhance the town centre CCTV system, offering it on a mobile basis to residential areas that have particular problems with anti-social behaviour.


EDUCATION & YOUNG PEOPLE

The New Labour government told us that its priority was ‘Education, Education, Education!’ In Darlington they built some landmark buildings – but buildings don’t provide the education results we want, teachers do. The catalogue of local Labour failure should not be forgotten:
• Hurworth school debacle – the council tried to close our best performing school. Considerable opposition led to a humiliating climb-down.
• One of our schools, Eastbourne, is so poor it is regarded as one of the worst in the UK.
• Two of our secondary schools and the Pupil Referral unit have been placed in special measures by Government Inspectors following damning reports. The PRU report was the worst most people had ever seen.
• The vastly differing performance records of our secondary schools have caused much distress to the many parents unable to obtain a place for their child in the school of their choice.
• Behaviour: Darlington had the fourth worst record of exclusions in the Country.
• Truancy: Darlington had the 12th worst record in the Country.
This situation presents a huge challenge.
• We will carry out an immediate review of the role of the Children’s Services Department, ensuring the management structure is tough enough to root out problems but has the foresight to let good schools thrive without undue interference.
• We will identify best teacher’s ideas and replicate them across Darlington.
• We will encourage schools to motivate students and raise achievement by improving teaching, make learning more enjoyable and give wider choices in the curriculum.
• We will support the provision and implementation in schools of clear behaviour policy guidelines.
• We will provide active specialist support where most needed.
• We will seek to be pro-active rather than use up valuable resources after things have gone wrong.
• The replacement and refurbishment of unsatisfactory school buildings and equipment will be a high priority.
• Children with Special Educational Needs must have the facilities they deserve. Some of these will be in main stream and some separate. Their parents and carers will also be offered enhanced support.
• We will strive at all times to ensure that every child achieves to his or her potential.

SOCIAL SERVICES, HEALTH & OLDER PEOPLE

Too often elderly people are left out of policy-making by this Labour Council. The restructuring of bus routes and administrative arrangements for bus passes are just two examples of this.

Conservatives will provide and improve services for our elderly people.
We will keep the rights and welfare of our elderly people as a top priority.

We will ensure Town Hall services meet the reasonable expectations of our elderly residents.

We will make sure all elderly residents secure the benefits that can be provided by a caring community.

The Conservatives have used the Council’s statutory scrutiny of the NHS to raise serious concerns about ward closures at Darlington Memorial Hospital. We will fight to ensure the needs of patients come first, not targets set by the Government. A period of stability is needed in the interests of both patients and staff.

In the housing sector we will encourage landlords to sign up to the accreditation scheme to ensure that standards of rented accommodation meet legal requirements. We will also establish links with housing finance organisations to explore policies that tackle the shortage of ‘affordable’ housing in Darlington.

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE

Time after time the people of Darlington have been ignored by the Labour Council.

They have failed to communicate or respond to the views and wishes of the electorate and that must change.

Conservatives will review the secretive Cabinet system and make it more open and transparent.

Conservatives, as a duty, will consult with the people of the town on major issues before proceeding with major change.

We will ensure a representative from Darlington’s rural area has a say at cabinet meetings.


Published and Printed by Cllr Charles Johnson JP on behalf of South Durham Conservatives at 29a Larchfield Street ,Darlington



SCHOOL TARGETED FOR CLOSURE PROVES COUNCIL WRONG! - Posted 12/01/2007
By Graham Robb

A local school that Darlington Council wanted to close has championed its success on a community web site, proving the Council wrong.

Hurworth School, which the Council wanted to close then merge with Eastbourne School, has performed marvellously in this year's published exam results tables. In contrast Eastbourne School was one of the worst in the UK. The Council backed down last year after a massive campaign supported by all sections of the community.

A senior member of staff at Hurworth School told the community website, www.townliar.com: "I thought you might be interested to know that having looked through the performance tables for all schools in England (except the Independent Schools) I could only find 9 which have a better combined Value-added and GCSE scores than ours. It's an incredible achievement against the background of the murderously difficult year the school endured.

I was rather hoping this achievement might be reflected in Darlington's recent Awards Ceremony...but no! Still, I felt certain that Darlington BC would want to trumpet our success in the local media - still no!"

Well done to everyone - staff and pupils - at Hurworth School. You proved better than any politician or campaigner why your school should not have been targeted. The Conservatives intend to remind the public about the issue at every opportunity between now and the May elections. It is right that the Labour Council is made to answer for its misguided policy.


TOWN CENTRE STEPS FROM THE REVERSE ANGLE TO THE PHOTO OF CLLR LYONETTE IN THE LOCAL PRESS
TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY IN LABOUR PR STUNT - Posted 13/11/2006
The latest attempt by Darlington’s Labour Council to sell the Pedestrian Heart scheme is an illusion worthy of Paul Daniels.

Councillor David Lyonette is pictured walking down the steps that were unveiled at the weekend outside Binns (Echo Nov 13). The angle of the photo was carefully chosen to obscure the ugly and inconvenient works that are scattered all around the small stretch of steps that are now open to the public.

Darlington Future took the attached photo on a mobile phone the afternoon after Mr Lyonette's PR stunt. The photo features the same steps from the opposite angle. It clearly shows that even in the place the Labour Council is publicising the town centre looks shoddy.

The idea of a refurbished town centre is a good one but the entire scheme is over budget, late and badly organised. Typical New Labour, full of good intentions but always failing to deliver.

Whatever angle the photo is taken from Darlington people know that their promised town centre has been over hyped will only cheer when it is really finished – not when trick photography makes it look good.


Cllr Heather Scott OBE
NHS CUTS HIT DARLINGTON - Posted 10/10/2006
David Cameron has put the NHS at the heart of Conservative policy on the public services and last week spoke passionately of his commitment to making the service work better for patients. In Darlington, despite having a former Health Secretary as our MP, NHS services are threatened as a result of budget setting that is the victim of poor financial planning at a national level.

Darlington Memorial Hospital is continuing to take decisions that are reducing services to residents of Darlington and in some case without proper consultation.

In the last two months Stroke Services have been transferred to Bishop Auckland causing major problems for elderly relatives in particular to make hospital visits as the public transport
system is not convenient. This does not appear to have been taken into consideration by the Trust when the decision was taken.

Last week they arbitrarily took the decision to close a ward in the hospital which was exclusively for elderly care patients without consultation with the staff or Social Services.

We are facing a winter which health professionals predict has potential for flu epidemic and taking into account the shortage of vaccine and seasonal bed shortages it is legitimate to ask; what will happen to our elderly residents?

In Darlington we have a larger than normal elderly population and, according to recent statistics, quite a number are without family support. Who is going to care for these people?

Labour policies are clearly failing the people of Darlington. Social Services budgets are already overspent to the tune of £100.000 because of changes in legislation; Health Trusts are overspent because of the changes to Strategic Health Authorities, Primary Care Trusts and the dissolution of Patients Forums.

Still to be decided is the future of the Haematology Unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital, which continues to be under threat. It is essential Darlington people fight with the Conservatives to ensure that we do not lose anymore services and to reverse the decisions on the Ward Closure.


Tim Hinton-Clifton
Pedestrian Heart - a businessman's view - Posted 21/09/2006
Darlington Future received the following feedback item from a local businessman. We thought it was so interesting we have put it in our feature articles section: -

As a very worried Darlington businessman of 30 years standing I feel that I can no longer remain silent.

Businesses in Darlington are just surviving, 2 or 3 a week are closing or going under. The Town Crier Sept 06 – The Future Looks Great page 6, this business has subsequently closed since moving into the town centre after 40 years of trading in Darlington. At a recent community partnership forum meeting John Buxton, Director of Development and Environment laid the blame for failure with Lifestyle saying that the products being sold were perhaps not appropriate for the chosen marketplace. However in The Northern Echo on Thursday 14th September Managing director Brian McPherson, who bought the company from Alan Goodrich in 1995, said that footfall had dropped dramatically since the start of the £7m Pedestrian Heart project.

He said that in October last year, before the start of the project, the Blackwellgate shop's sales had been eight per cent up on the previous year.

He said that during the works, the shop had endured 8ft barriers outside the premises, disruption from digging and traffic, as well as continuous noise and traffic fumes.

He told The Northern Echo: "The council, who stated in their manifesto they encourage and support independents, have failed badly on this occasion.

"As no financial support was given to traders, this council has turned its back on their manifesto pledges.

How can local businesses even hope to succeed within the present culture?

Soon we won’t need to worry about congestion or park and ride schemes, unless of course people are flocking to see our glorified patio area (once proudly now as the market square), or to shop in our new Tesco/Asda/Co-op…(depending on which multinational has greased the right palms). Be under no illusion that if this council gets its way on this issue then that’s all that will be left of our town.


Anybody who went into Darlington on August Bank Holiday Monday would have been horrified at how dead the town was. Darlington Borough Council can’t tell me that the means will justify the end. Also let us not forget that we are a market town. We must fight to keep our markets and support and encourage the market traders.


I have spoken with a substantial amount of business colleagues, friends and other business people who like me are depressed and disillusioned. All I have heard from them is, who is there to speak on our behalf or even to listen to our concerns? The businesses have given me permission to name the on this site, they are:

Douglas News, Duke street and Bongate.

Simpson Sports, Post Hse Wynd.

Vokes Bookshop, Coniscliffe Road.

Lady J's Post Hse Wynd.

Gallerina, Duke Street.

Emmas Sandwich Bar, Duke Street.

Duke Street Chiropedy.

Finnegans Jewellers, Post Hse Wynd.

Darlington Photo Centre, Post Hse Wynd.

Partners Property, Duke Street.

Affleck & Moffet, Duke Street.

Julie's Bridal, Indoor Market.

Never have, I in 30 years of trading, felt so angry. This town has been raped and pillaged by a council that doesn’t give a damn about anyone or anything other than residing in a new town hall of some grand design, I presume!!! Our town centre looks like a building site and I don’t have high hopes of it looking any better once it has been completed and all it has is national companies and Darlington brand businesses like mine have been allowed to go to the wall.


The council are consulting on Tescogate, I like many others have no faith in Darlington Borough Council consultations. One example being: Darlington Borough Council wrote to businesses on Duke Street on 4/5/06 to consult on changes to Hackney Carriage stand provision as the council wants to designate 75 metres of Duke Street as a taxi rank, part of which runs directly outside of my business premises. Most businesses on Duke Street felt that this would have a detrimental effect on business. I replied immediately as did many other businesses on Duke Street, four months have passed and no replies or updates on the proposals have been received. WHERE is the accountability??


When will the bread and butter businesses like mine be listened to? It feels like the bulldozers are sat on the edge of town with their engines running, just waiting for the nod. Action needs to be taken now before it is too late.

Tim Hinton- Clifton


Cllr Tony Richmond
CAR PARKING POLICY - Cllr Tony Richmond - Posted 18/07/2006
This is my first blog. I think that the introduction of this new site 8 weeks ago has put the Conservatives ahead of the game locally in the use of technology. The site has enable us to communicate what we need to about our policies - not just in writing but with pictures, video and audio too. More inmportantly it gives you, the wise public of Darlington, the opportunity to have a say directly. Anyone can use the feedback section - provided their language is civilised - and we find the comments really useful.

The contrast with Labour couldn't be better. They hate consultation. We give you the chance to speak directly to us on this web site. I would even allow Labour councillors to make a post - it would be a useful exercise in proper debate for them!

I thought visitors to this site would be fascintated by the response in the Northern Echo to the annoucement of the Car Park policy we have issued in the news section. It was dismissive and anonymous.

I have written the following rebuttal to the council's response:

-------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir,

The new policy of Darlington Conservatives to hold ‘car parking sales’ (Echo July 18) is both practical and sensible. The town is undergoing a major refurbishment of which, although we support it, we have criticised the chaotic implementation. We have been conducting extensive consultation about this via our web site www.darlingtonfuture.co.uk. It is clear that shoppers have been discouraged from visiting the town because of the extensive disruption.

Our proposal would allocate funds both to offer free car parking on selected trading days and promote the offer as a ‘car parking sale’ through advertising. The idea is similar to shops offering discounts to attract customers. We believe it would bring back to Darlington those shoppers who have deserted the town. How can it be described as “impractical” by council officials? It is a simple idea that has the support of most local traders. If free parking on selected days is “impractical” why do the council offer it on Sunday?

The council’s response also suggests that car parking in the town has increased 5% on last year. I suspect this is a twisted statistic measuring only ‘paid for’ spaces. The figure masks the effect of Crown Street Car Park which was temporarily closed last year. A like for like comparison would use data from before the Crown Street closure and before street parking meters were installed.

I also deplore that fact that on a debate over policy the Labour councillors are hiding behind briefings by unnamed officials. Conservatives are being open about what we would do and engaging in proper consultation. The approach of the two parties could not be more different.
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I hope they publish the letter. You had the chance to see it before editing. One other point. The council's street parking machines do not offer change. This means that it is in receipt of windfalls to which it is not entitled. The Conservatives are also considering using the extra money to buy machines that offer change. your views are welcome.


Cllr Jim Ruck
CYCLING - JIM RUCK - Posted 13/07/2006
The Conservative Group on Darlington Borough Council support and will encourage safe, responsible cycling, especially riders who commute to their places of work or employment.

We also recognise the valuable work that is being done to train youngsters and children in cycling proficiency. This work will encourage long-time cycling as a means of travel.

Unfortunately, we recognise that a real problem exists in our town centre of youths riding stunt bikes, which often endangers pedestrians when riders speed over pavements and public areas. We will instruct our wardens and officers to do everything possible to minimise this form of anti-social behaviour in the future.

Comments are invited.

Jim Ruck


Regional Assembly spend at least £50K on a - Posted 03/06/2006
Blogger: Graham Robb, Darlington Resident and former spokesman for the sucessful "North East Says NO!" campaign against a Regional Assembly.

The North East voted overwhelmingly against a Regional Assembly two years ago. 78% of the people rejected the proposition in a postal ballot. It is a result I’ll not forget because I was the chief media spokesman for the successful NO campaign. As such I debated night after night on TV, radio and in public meetings. The merits and demerits of regionalism were discussed and everywhere we went people preferred their local councils to take decisions on all of the matters that would have been devolved to a Regional Assembly.

This wasn’t good enough for John Prescott and the Labour Party in the North East. They rejected the vote and kept the Regional Assembly. It is actively directing local councils, interfering in policy and planning matters that should be decided locally. No factory can be built, no major road can be improved, no housing estate refurbished without involving the Regional Assembly in some form.

The Regional Assembly costs us millions of pounds a year. Like all bureaucracies it is expanding relentlessly. The latest expansion seems to be an attempt to take over the Met. Office! Advertisements have been placed for the Regional Assembly to employ its own “weather watcher” on a salary of £35,000 per year (with employers NI, a public sector pension and the cost of advertising the cost to the taxpayer of this appointment is at least £50,000!). Why does the Assembly need a weather watcher? Can’t the bureaucrats tell when it’s raining? The reason given is climate change. We don’t need another highly paid weather watcher to know what climate change is. Detailed data is already available from the highly respected Met. Office. Employing regional weather watchers is monstrous duplication and a complete waste of public money.

This appointment is typifies the reasons the people of the North East voted against a Regional Assembly two years ago. It is expanding without limits. It is duplicating services without a care. It is wasting money without sanction. It is interfering without a mandate. And it is illegitimate beyond description.

It is time to abolish the Regional Assembly and give the money to local councils to spend, or cut council tax, as they see fit. Darlington has approximately 5% of the North East’s population. Redistributing the Regional Assembly’s budget by population would give our town a windfall of well over £100,000! Remember that when the council says it can’t afford something you want it to provide!


Transport and pollution - first blog from Cllr Jim Ruck - Posted 31/05/2006
Cllr Jim Ruck writes:

Our latest 2005 readings of air quality in Darlington are well within the Government limits for the emissions of the seven main pollutants caused by petrol and diesel engined vehicles. We have two monitoring stations in Darlington, one at the top of North Road and the other on Cockerton Bridge. They monitor the pollution levels and therefore accurately record this information for later processing. There are however concerns about increasing levels of nitrogen dioxide and PM10 particulates and they are currently giving rise to high curb-side concentrations, especially when vehicles are queuing or stationary in traffic jams.

Regrettably, traffic congestion is increasing in our town centre areas; St. Cuthbert's Way and the main arterial roads in and out of it are particular examples. The problem of remaining within Government limits will become increasingly more difficult as the year 2010 is reached, when all permissible levels of emissions will be substantially reduced. Is everything being done to counter this problem? The Town on the Move project is developing sustainable travel models, encouraging walking to destination, cycling, the use of public transport and car sharing schemes must be encouraged and much further developed. In council I am also calling for improvements to roads such as West Auckland Road, to ease traffic congestion. Have a look at our press release on the news section of this web site.

As residents of Darlington your recognition of these problems and support to change very slightly your way of life to embrace any of these travel modes will have a beneficial and later a dramatic effect on reducing pollution in our town.

Regards, Jim