CURRENT PARISH NEWSLETTER
Quarterly Parish Council Newsletter No. 43 (2019)
May 2019
Dear Parishioners
Councillor Alan Richardson
The Parish Council is saddened to report that Alan Richardson, a long-standing member of the Parish Council has recently passed away. We extend our sympathies to Alan’s family and friends and he will be greatly missed by his friends and colleagues at Cassop-cum-Quarrington Parish Council.
Retirement of Parish Clerk
As you will be aware, Peter Thorpe retired from the position of Parish Clerk on 31 March 2019 after 18 years of service. The Parish Council have recorded their thanks and appreciation to Peter and presented him with a gift to mark the occasion.
So this means that I am writing my first newsletter as the new Parish Clerk! My name is Gillian Kelly and I have worked in local government for 19 years but this is my first position with a parish. I hope to follow in Peter’s footsteps and provide effective and efficient support to the Parish Council.
A New Piece of Art for Bowburn
Discussions have been ongoing for some time around developing a piece of public art for Bowburn and a number of consultations and surveys have been carried out to gauge the support and interest of local people.
The last Parish newsletter reported that the Parish Council had decided to proceed with the Coal Column project, however it was acknowledged that there was some opposition to the proposal and that the support of the village was needed in order for the project to be a success. It was decided that a further questionnaire should be issued to give a final opportunity for residents to have their say and this was distributed to every home receiving the Bowburn Interchange.
The deadline for returning the questionnaires was 11 May and the Parish Council were delighted to receive 703 responses. The message was clear that a new piece of art should celebrate Bowburn’s mining heritage but the proposed Coal Column sculpture was not so warmly received. The Parish Council would like to thank the residents who took the time to respond to the questionnaire and for the suggestions which have been put forward for the artwork.
The Parish Council, working with Groundwork North East and Cumbria, will now review the project and hope to develop a brief for artists to come back with proposals which will then be developed alongside the community.
Neighbourhood Plan
Over recent years a Steering Committee of the Parish Council has been involved in developing the Cassop-cum-Quarrington Neighbourhood Plan. This plan is intended to capture and respond to the aspirations of the local community about the future development and conservation of the Parish. Once the plan is operative, it will form part of the statutory planning framework and the policies will be used by Durham County Council in the determination of planning applications within the area.
It has taken a lot of hard work but the Neighbourhood Plan has now reached the pre-submission draft stage. This means that Durham County Council have received the plan and will carry out a ‘health check’ of the document, make comments and then enable a draft version of the plan to be publicised for a period of six weeks. Local people will have an opportunity during this period to make comments on the contents of the plan before it is formally submitted to Durham County Council later in the year. Further information will be published on the Parish Council website once it is available.
Gillian Kelly
Clerk to Cassop-cum-Quarrington Parish Council
