Old News 2006

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25/09/2006                 Work Now Started on the West Auckland Bypass
The 1.5 mile long stretch of single carriageway, which is expected to take around ten months to complete, will link the first stage of the bypass, which was completed in 1998, adjoining the St. Helen Industrial Estate, with the A688 on the south western outskirts of West Auckland. In doing so, it will remove unnecessary through traffic and improve environmental conditions for people in West Auckland, St. Helen Auckland and Tindale Crescent.
The new highway will include three new roundabouts, on the A68 at Hummerbeck, at the western end of the first stage next to St Helens Industrial Estate and where it joins the A688 near Oakley Service Station, together with a path for pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists throughout its length.

 

04/09/2006

Council hopes to create war memorial on village green

RESIDENTS are hoping that a war memorial at a 166-year-old disused water fountain will create a focal point in the centre of their village. West Auckland Parish Council wants to create a memorial at the "pant" on the west side of the village green. The council is hoping to secure funding for the war memorial after recommending the historic pant as a heritage point along the proposed South West Durham Corridor. Hazel Charlton, chairwoman of the parish council, said: "We haven't got a memorial anywhere in the village. In the memorial hall we've got the names of those from the First World War, and we were thinking of adding the names of those who fought in the Second World War. "But there's nowhere for anybody to lay flowers. "A few people have come up to me and said there's nowhere like this in West Auckland or Saint Helen Auckland. "The pant has been there for hundreds of years, from the time when people would tie their horses to it, so we are thinking that we could incorporate the memorial into the area round the pant and make it more of a feature of the village." Mrs Charlton said that the parish council wants to grass over the path to the pant, making it part of the green again. The council is also hoping to create a garden area surrounding the war memorial. Parish councillor and local historian Martin Roberts said: "The pant was built in about 1840 as a water fountain and made redundant in 1890. "It was made into a memorial for the jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 but now it's redundant again, so we thought we could revive it as a possible site for a new war memorial. "The only memorial we have got in the village is the memorial hall, which is great, because it's a building we can use, but we thought it would be good to create an external expression in the village for those that died in the war." Source : Northern Echo website http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/newsbyedition/swcodurham/display.var.905524.0.council_hopes_to_create_war_memorial_on_village_green.php

 

01/08/2006

Work to Start This Month on £7M West Auckland Bypass

Work is due to start within days (Monday August 14 ) on the main phase of work to complete the £7m West Auckland Bypass. The 1.5 mile long stretch of single carriageway, which is expected to take around ten months to complete, will link the first stage of the bypass, which was completed in 1998, adjoining the St. Helen Industrial Estate, with the A688 on the south western outskirts of West Auckland. In doing so, it will remove unnecessary through traffic and improve environmental conditions for people in West Auckland, St. Helen Auckland and Tindale Crescent.  Work on the scheme was due to start in August 2004, but was delayed after a public inquiry was called over an objection to a compulsory purchase order required for the development. However, the Secretary of State subsequently announced a decision in favour of the County Council. Advance works for the bypass were carried out last year and included a minor diversion of the River Gaunless to allow a new bridge to be built during the main phase of works. The new highway will include three new roundabouts, on the A68 at Hummerbeck, at the western end of the first stage next to St Helens Industrial Estate and where it joins the A688 near Oakley Service Station, together with a path for pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists throughout its length. The work will be carried out by Balfour Beatty Ltd. A consultation exercise carried out in the summer of 2002 showed overwhelming support for the bypass. Coun Sonny Douthwaite, Chairman of Durham County Council’s Highways Committee, said the scheme aimed to improve road safety and the environment as well as links between the rural west and centre of the County and access to industrial areas in West Auckland and St. Helen Auckland. "It forms a significant part of the County Council's second Local Transport Plan, covering the period 2006-2011,” he added. “ I’m delighted that we’re now ready to start work on the main phase of the scheme. A bypass has been on the cards for a long time now, but at last it is to become a reality. “ There’s no doubt it will be of tremendous benefit to local residents.”

 

20/07/06

Multi User Route - West Auckland to Barnard Castle - South West Durham Heritage Corridor Project

A meeting will be held at the Village Centre on Thursday 3rd August regarding the proposed creation of a multi user route along the disused railway line from Barnard Castle to West  Auckland.  The main focus of the meeting is heritage as Ground work - West Durham is trying to gather ideas for small projects in villages along the line that could be funded by the Your Heritage Initiative (which is part of the Heritage Lottery Fund).  These projects would be community led and ideally would create greater access to West Auckland's heritage and increase opportunities for local people to get involved.   If you have some ideas for West Auckland projects or would like to find out more about the whole project please come along, the meeting will start at 7.00pm.

 

02/05/06

Nightclub demolition paves way for town regeneration

THE demolition of a derelict nightclub and former cash-and-carry is the icing on the cake for villagers who have fought hard to regenerate their community. In their heyday, George Matthews Cash-and-Carry and Trax nightclub and motel, St Helen Auckland, were thriving businesses to be proud of. But over the past few years, the derelict buildings have fallen into a state of disrepair, victim to vandals and creating a dominating eyesore on the village outskirts. Last week, plans for a housing development by Broseley Homes were given the go-ahead by the district council's development control committee, and soon the buildings will make way for 87 homes. It is one of several housing developments which are being built in the village as part of a major regeneration plan. In recent years, the village had become run down and has been dogged by anti-social behaviour and vandalism. But villagers fought back and have since created a community to be proud of, through the hard work of groups such as the St Helens Residents' Association.

 

26/04/06

Historic railway will form main route of tourist trail

A DISUSED railway route is to form the basis of a 12-mile tourism trail. The Barnard Castle to West Auckland railway line opened in 1863 and closed in 1964. The proposed South-West Durham Heritage Corridor project will form an all-weather track suitable for cycling, walking and horse riding. The route the track takes is rich in industrial heritage, with a number of structures from the Stockton and Darlington Railway still present. The track will be complemented with improvements to the surrounding landscapes and restoration of many of the structures. Work on the £6.5m long-term project will hopefully start in 2008, and potential funding sources include the Heritage Lottery Fund and One NorthEast. The project is aimed at boosting trade and tourism in the area. West Auckland sits on the intersection of the A68 and A688 - popular routes for Northumberland, Scotland and the Lake District. The track will be based on the route of the disused railway but takes in a corridor on either side, travelling through Cockfield, Evenwood and Ramshaw. Associated regeneration schemes are planned along the route to improve specific areas. The trail will provide a relatively level off-road route and will cross a number of bridges and two viaducts, one of which is Grade II-listed. Durham County Council's cabinet member for the environment, Bob Pendlebury, said: "I am pretty confident that we will be able to pull this project together and it will certainly be a very attractive proposal."Many of the changes over the years across the county have been for the benefit of trade and tourism, as indeed this will be. "But it will also make a difference to the people who live there and hopefully give them a boost too." In a recent meeting, councillors agreed to acquire the land necessary to build the continuous trail and approved preparation of plans for the scheme.

 

02/04/06

Celebrating 50 years of marriage

A BUSY couple who devote their lives to public service celebrated their golden wedding yesterday. Councillors Sonny and Margaret Douthwaite spend many hours working for the community of St Helen Auckland, near Bishop Auckland. They are the only husband and wife to have served as chairman of Wear Valley District Council, where Mrs Douthwaite is still a member and chairs the licensing committee. Mr Douthwaite joined Durham County Council in 1997 and is now chairman of highways, one of the busiest posts on the authority. They met as teenagers growing up in West Auckland in the late 1940s and married six years after they first got together in 1950. Mr Douthwaite said: "We lead busy lives and rarely see each other during the day but it works for us. "We love our work in the community and we understand what each other does.  "It never stops being interesting." Source: Northern Echo

 

24/03/06	Female Volunteers Wanted
FEMALE volunteers are being sought to help with a community drop-in centre in West Auckland. The former village centre on Front Street will be used as a meeting point for youngsters when it reopens in a few weeks following an extensive renovation. West Auckland Community Partnership Group is looking for volunteers aged over 17 to help run the centre and its two age groups of seven to 11-year-olds and 11 to 18-year-olds. But although local men have stepped forward, no women have so far volunteered.   West Auckland beat officer PC Andy Hucker, who is involved with the group, said that they hoped to have volunteers of both genders as it will be a mixed centre. He said: "We are looking for females who have an interest in doing youth work. It's an opportunity to get into voluntary work and make a difference in the community." The centre is due to reopen at the end of May after grants worth about £30,000 were secured, and Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman has agreed to become its patron. Any females interested in working with the centre can contact PC Hucker on 0845 6060365 ext 2306. Source: Northern Echo
20/03/06	Dial A bobby
A NEW dial-a-bobby scheme has been launched allowing residents in West Auckland to leave messages for their local beat officers. Villagers can leave information or comments for PC Ian Nelson and PC Andy Hucker, who patrol the streets of West Auckland, on the recorded service. But PC Nelson, speaking at a meeting of West Auckland Parish Council, said that incidents should still be reported in the usual way.He said: "As we are not on duty every day, it's not always possible to contact us, but you can leave a message. "It's not a means for reporting an incident. Incidents would still need to be reported with the normal procedure, but if you want to leave a bit of information, this is the means to do that." Contact PC Nelson on 0845 6060365, ext 6232058, and PC Hucker on ext 6231710 Source: Northern Echo

 

13/01/06    Pension Crisis Threatens Jobs in West Auckland

A NORTH-EAST company last night became the latest victim of the UK's mounting pension crisis as it called in administrators, putting almost 50 jobs at risk. Aptec Technologies, in West Auckland, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, had a £14m pension deficit when it last filed its accounts, and the gap is believed to have been unsustainable, forcing it to call in administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers.In Aptec's accounts, filed with Companies House on December 31, 2003, it said that, as of March 31, 2002, its gap between the actual value of the scheme and the target value was £14.4m.Aptec, which has 47 workers at West Auckland and an annual turnover of £3m, appointed administrators on Tuesday, blaming a "significant" pension deficit for its problems.It was not clear last night what the up-to-date deficit figure was, or whether workers' pension rights would be protected. Ian Green, joint administrator and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "In common with many companies at this time, Aptec Technologies has suffered from the difficulties of a significant pension deficit, and the ongoing funding of this was the predominant factor in the directors' decision to seek the protection of the administration order."The business is operating with a full order book and manufacturing is ongoing."With the support of key customers and suppliers, we are hopeful of a sale of all or part of the business, safeguarding the jobs of the workforce."The pension deficits of large, FTSE 100-listed companies have been well documented in recent weeks, with British Airways' £1.3bn pension fund deficit prompting threats of strike action from pilots yesterday. With new pension legislation being considered by the Government, which would require employers to contribute more to final-salary schemes, business leaders are worried some small companies would be unable to cope.Andrew Sugden, policy director at the North-East Chamber of Commerce, said: "Any business with a final-salary pension scheme is going to have problems, and will have to face up to those issues." Source: Northern Echo 13/01/06

04/01/06       Grants Given to Renovate Village Centre

WORK to renovate a community centre will start later this month after a group of villagers raised enough funding for work to commence. Since 2001, members of the West Auckland Community Partnership have been raising money to give their village centre a much-needed refurbishment. They have received grants worth about £30,000 and now have sufficient cash for work to begin. Plans for the site, opposite the village green, include a kitchen, upgraded toilets, Internet access points and better accessibility. The centre has been used as a meeting point for people of all ages since it was launched as a pilot scheme five years ago, but has long been in need of improved facilities. John Niven, from the partnership, said that work was set to get under way within the next few days and should be completed within three months.

He said: "We hope to start doing refurbishment work by the end of January, with the aim being to finish by the end of March. We are still working to tie up a few loose ends but we now have enough money to start. "It would be somewhere where anyone could come, maybe just for a cup of tea, or for information about different activities - somewhere to bring the people of the village together." The centre is a former Co-op building and library which has opened sporadically for different uses over the past ten years, but recently it has been used during the week as a youth drop-in venue. The success of the pilot scheme has led to the community partnership deciding to use it as a full-time village centre. The money has been raised through grants, but the group is still hoping to secure more funding in order to complete the work. Mr Niven said: "The main funding we have had so far is from the Big Lottery Fund, which made up 50 per cent. Another 25 per cent came from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund." Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman has agreed to become patron of the centre, and will open it when the work is completed. Source: Northern Echo 03/01/06