Springwell Village Residents Association      

Meeting Held on 9th July, 2024

Present:                   
Angela Silk                  Chairperson

Liz Reid                      Vice-chairperson                          
Christine Brown          Secretary               
George Martin            Treasure

Pauline Cooper            Committee Member

Lesley Pickup               Committee Member

Alison Nairn                Committee Member

Keith Nairn                  Committee Member

Matthew Purdy          Committee Member

Mark Curry                 Committee Member                          

In Attendance:            

Harry Trueman           Ward Councillor

Dorothy Trueman       Ward Councillor

Jimmy Warne              Ward Councillor

Richard Johnston        Project Manager, Northumbrian Water

Sarah Jane Parvin        Lead Customer Liaison, MMB

Apologies:                   None

Residents in Attendance: 57 plus Committee Members

1.     Minutes of previous meeting proposed and seconded. Approved.

2.     Update from Richard Johnston:-

Richard reported that the reservoir was now 50% completed.

Road closures – Springwell Road will be closed from the 22th July for 4 weeks.

Peareth Hall road will be closed from 19th August for 4 weeks.

The plan is to work at weekends to speed up the work. They have consulted with bus companies. Any disabled or elderly residents needing help should contact them and individual arrangements will be made.

Northumbrian Water have tried to minimise disruption and to keep to planning constraints.

a)     Destruction of hedgerows – Planning permission has been granted for this and the hedgerows will be restored upon completion of work. This should be next Spring to Autumn but it will take a few years to recover.  Pre and post pictures will go on the portal

b)    Removal of trees – Surveys have been undertaken to check for any preservation orders. Again, these will be replaced but possibly with different varieties as the need to ensure the roots etc. will not interfere with the pipeline. 

c)     Mount Lane resurfacing – From Rockcliffe Way to Gateshead boundary will be resurfaced this financial year. Angel Rise to Mount Lane will be resurfaced the next financial year. Potholes will be repaired as and when necessary.

d)    Noise and dust – Sunderland Council has imposed conditions re dust suppression. Monitors are on site and rotating fans have been installed to give out mist when conditions are dry.

e)    Noise and vibration. There are no Planning constraints but they are having to use generators for temporary power supply. Where possible, they use the generators during the day and quieter batteries at night.

f)      Weeds and rats – The bund had become overgrown and has now been cleared. Rat boxes have been installed in an attempt to deal with the rats in Broome Court. Monitoring will continue.

g)     Comments re poor communication – Northumbrian Water update their Portal weekly and email residents who have requested this. Bi-weekly drop-in sessions are held at the Community Venue on Thursdays. At the Open Day only 20 people attended. They will look at revising arrangements for next time. A quarterly newsletter is planned.

h)    Northumbrian Water are working with the Village School to help install a building to be used as a library for the children. They plan to install a cabin during the school holidays.

i)      Rights of Way – There have been delays in the Eighton Banks area, two parts of the Right of Way are about to be reopened but they need to be inspected first. The Right of Way in Peareth Hall Road should be reopened in the Autumn. This has been closed for public safety. They will also be closed temporarily when the compounds are closed down and removed.

There were some questions from residents.

Asked when road signs about road closures would go up, Richard said in the next few weeks.

It was noted that there are problems with workers crossing the road without looking, causing drivers to brake. Richard will discuss this with the workers. The issue of lorries parking overnight on Angel Rise was raised. Again, Richard said he would follow this up as it should not be happening. He suspected drivers bringing deliveries from Northern Ireland were the problem here.

Overnight concreting sessions problems were raised. Workers shout and talk and loudly at night, waking residents and causing dogs to bark.

The Chairperson thanked Richard and Sarah for attending.

3.     Proposed Solar farm

Dorothy Trueman left the room to avoid conflict of interest with her Council position. There was no news. The application has been deferred until September to allow applicants more time to provide information, thought to be about ecology issues.

4.     Thompsons

Two Committee Members had attended a meeting with the Site Manager. The bund which is being erected to reduce noise and dust will be 3 metres high and grassed and shrubbed. Residents noted that they seem to have stopped cleaning Springwell road as often. The Site Manager had informed the Committee Members that they clean their site every day and clean the road from the Quarry to the Council Waste Site 3 times a week. Residents complained that the dust for pedestrians using that road was horrendous. This issue will be taken back to the Site Management. The state of the pavement by the Quarry was also raised. Bushes are overgrown, making the path a single lane for pedestrians. This problem appears to be on land next to the Quarry and it is not known who owns it. Residents were advised to report this issue to Sunderland Council via their website.

5.     Bowes Railway

The state of the Bowes Railway is causing concern to some residents. Tracks are very overgrown and the site is beginning to look dilapidated. It was agreed a letter will be sent to Sunderland Council raising these concerns.

6.     Annual General Meeting

The Chairperson thanked everyone for their work aver the year, particularly Liz Reid and Pauline Cooper.

a)     Volunteers. The Chairperson thanked them for their help with distributing leaflets, which is very much appreciated.

b)    Treasurer’s Report

The accounts were audited in February. There was £1199 in the bank at that point. £203 has since been spent on paying for the website, printer ink and paper.

c)     Annual Report

Northern Powergrid attended a meeting and did a presentation to residents. At the time, they offered to return if wanted.

A vote was taken and no residents expressed an interest in them returning.

A meeting had been held with Committee Members, Councillors and Traffic Officers from Sunderland Council to discuss parking and other traffic issues around the School. Also discussed were upgrading of signs, the zebra crossing, loading restrictions near the Chapel and changes to the chicane. Residents raised concerns over parking on pavements near the Community Venue and an abandoned van. The issue of speed cameras was again raised. Residents were told that this was very unlikely – problems had been encountered with faulty cameras which needed replacing first. The use of the Speed Van was raised but these are Police vans and there is a lack of resources. Residents monitoring cars and speed was suggested but it was pointed out that this was a legal minefield and not possible. The situation is expected to get worse as more new houses are being built in Usworth. Sleeping policemen were discussed but many residents were against them as they created a lot of noise, vibration and damage for nearby houses. There used to be ramps but these were replaced by the chicanes.

A vote was taken as to whether more speed ramps should be explored but only 6 residents voted in favour. The Council is to come back with suggestions. These will be posted in the Community Venue for comments.

d)    Constitution

The Association was set up in 1976. Its main objective has always been to protect the Greenbelt, keeping Springwell Village separate from other developments. There have been successful campaigns keeping most of the Green Belt. The Association has a mandate from residents to object to any Green Belt developments. Attendees showed much support for this.

e)    Committee

Two Committee Members have resigned for personal reasons. The two alternative substitute members  (Matthew Purdy and Martin McKeever) therefore became full Committee Members.

At this point the Committee resigned (according to the Constitution) to enable a new Committee to be elected. Harry Trueman proposed the previous Committee be re-elected and thanked the Committee for their work in the last year. This was seconded by Dorothy Trueman. No objections were raised and the Committee was then re-elected. Deborah Gallagher offered to be a new substitute Committee Member – a second substitute is needed.

7.     The Chairperson thanked everyone for attending.

8.     Date and time of next meeting to be confirmed.