St Michael & All Angels, Whats On

Breathing Space SHOWCASE WEEK

Showcase Week 13th-17th June

Come and join us for a week long taster of activities from Breathing Space Project at St Michael & All Angels Church

Monday 13th:               Tai Chi in the Churchyard!
Tuesday 14th:               BBQ @ The Men’s shed
Wednesday 15th:       Get Active Free Taster @                                                                   Methodist Chapel
Thursday 16th:             Woodland Wonders Taster
Friday 17th:                    Sensing the Seasons Walk &                                                           Folk singing

This is the 4th Year of the Breathing Space Project and the Trustees and team would like to invite you to see what we have been doing. Please visit the Church this week to find out !

During the summer months the church will be open between 9am and 4pm.

Men’s shed

The Men’s Shed has been going over 3 years and has a regular group of volunteers from Changing Lives homeless project and Free the Way . The Men’s Shed is being supported financially through Durham County Council Cree project fund and Awards for All lottery fund.
The project runs on a Tuesday 11.30am-1.30pm and 1.30-3.30pm
Gillie and Dave work alongside the group to support Friends of Witton Dene to manage the nature reserve by doing maintenance work to keep the pathways accessible.

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Join us on Tuesday in the Churchyard 12.15– 2.15 for a BBQ and to see the work so far!

Tai Chi

Join us on Monday 12.15-1.15 in the Churchyard for an outdoor session of Tai Chi!

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Get Active Again

Get Active Again is a Gentle exercise group aimed at those who want to start to increase their physical activity. It is suitable for older members of the community and for those who are recovering from illness or those who just want to enjoy physical activity in a safe and supportive atmosphere. Led by Sandra Mountjoy the sessions are enjoyable, fun and challenging. The sessions operate 2-3.15pm on Wednesdays at the Methodist Chapel( normally £2 per session).

Join us on Wednesday at the Methodist Chapel 2-3.15pm for a free taster session

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Woodland Wonders

Family activity encourages shared experience and can support the development of positive relationships within the family unit. Within the Woodland wonders programme there are opportunities for families to work together to problem solve and to create.

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Join us on Thursday in the Churchyard 3.30-4.30 for a free taster session

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a really useful tool to support the development of positive health and wellbeing. The monthly Sensing the Seasons sessions use the mindfulness techniques to enable the participant to be aware of themselves in the present and to allow judgmental thoughts and negative emotions to flow through.

Join us on Friday 10-11am to experience the calm

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Folk Singing

The Folk Singing and Songwriting course is a partnership between Breathing Space and Colour Your Life and has been a huge hit.
The activity is currently running on Fridays 1-3pm in the Church.
Benny Graham a local Folk Singer and Songwriter has given us a great insight into local folk music tradition and has led us in songs from The Lambton Worm to the Sandgate Lass.

Join us on Friday 1-3 for a free taster session or simply come along and enjoy the singing!

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To download the full Leaflet click the link below

Breathing Space Showcase Leaflet

Contact information

Gillie Boggon, Project Officer.
Phone: 07508 471522/01913711387`
E-mail: breathingspacedurham@gmail.com

Web: wittongilbert.durhamnorthteam.org/breathingspace/

St Michael & All Angels Coach Lane
Witton Gilbert DH7 6SX

Village centre project

Village Centre: Another step closer to reality

A well-attended public consultation event was held at Cooper Hall on Saturday 23 April to give our Landscape Architects SouthernGreen the opportunity to get the residents comments and ideas in an informal venue where opportunities and risks could be discussed face to face.

A short questionnaire was completed by all who attended and the responses and verbal comments will all help to inform the design proposals.

village centre plan SG 4

We would like to thank all those residents who attended and Simon Green of SouthernGreen  for preparing the discussion boards and for his time on a Saturday morning.

Next stage

Following this and the previous consultation events the design team will take the design brief and the residents input and begin to prepare outline design proposal.

So please look out for the next public meeting where these outline designs will be presented.

Consultation Boards

Neighbourhood Plan

First Draft of the Neighbourhood Plan available to download.

The first draft of the Neighbourhood plan has been prepared in preparation of another public consultation phase. We will be holding drop-in events where you can ask detail questions and give your views on the plan. A copy of the plan will be available in the following location for you to examine or you can read it on line on this web site by clicking the link below.

link to Draft Plan page

 

Village centre project

Village Centre: Workshop Event 23 April 2016

Witton Gilbert Parish Council invites you to a public consultation drop-in workshop in relation to improving the land adjacent to McColls .

Your views will inform the proposals before a design is finalised. Come along and let us know what you would like the village centre to include.
The event will be held at Cooper Hall (Community Centre) on Saturday the 23rd of April 2016 between 10am – 1pm

Village Centre Project-leafletVillage Centre Project-2 leaflet

Village centre project

Village Centre Funding

Village Centre Consultation, Funding & Parish Precept 2016 – 2017

 

The formation of the Parish Plan was launched in October 2009 with a well attended public meeting in the Witton Gilbert Village Hall. The steering committee designed a questionnaire which was sent to every household and establishment in the parish in June 2010. The completed questionnaire was collected through the cooperation of the post office, parish church and shops. There was a disappointingly low but nevertheless significant return. The data was analysed and in January 2011 a second public meeting was held to give the community an opportunity to see the preliminary results and to make further comment. Additionally, local businesses were approached for further input and the Village School and Fyndoune Community College were invited to put forward their views. Following this consultative process, focus groups were set up to look more closely at the individual sections arising from the questionnaire and with a view to developing future strategy. The published plan is derived from the comments arising from the meetings and interviews together with the results of the questionnaire and a copy of the Parish Plan was delivered to every household in the Parish.

The consultation showed that there is a desire for more local shops and the community also expressed a need to provide a focus, a meeting point, a concentration of activity, where the Community could encounter each other, all ages and social groups. There were many comments on the unsightly appearance and siting of the White Tun and options and opportunities to recreate a Village Centre.

A new and attractive Village Centre has been the talk of residents for some time and the Parish Council with the support of the Neighbourhood Plan team held consultation events in Cooper Hall on 30th November 2014, 21st February 2015 & 30th May 2015.

On 19th December 2015 a consultation meeting was held for residents to view and discuss the proposed plans to improve the area around McColl’s new shop. Many people left suggestions on landscaping, access, traffic calming and footpaths particularly linking Durham Gardens and Brookside. The Parish Council have a few legal issues to resolve with McColls and have appointed a design company to take the project forward. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and Parish Council members feel that we must get it right.

Funding the project is an issue and whilst the Parish Precept has not risen for 8 years the Council will have to find a substantial amount of money so an increase this year has been unavoidable. In January this year the Parish Council in creased the precept from £29,500 to £65,500 to provide extra money to fund the design and initial construction works for the scheme to start in 2016 with the remainder of the funding to come from grants and a loan from the Public Works Loan Board, which will be paid back over the coming 5 years

It is estimated that the Village Centre could cost around £120.000 and funding will be sought from the Durham Area Partnership, our County Councillors Neighbourhood Budgets, Section 106 money from the Wallnook Grange development at Witton Station and other sources.

At the Parish Council meeting on 8th February 2016 the Parish Council appointed Southerngreen Charted Landscape Architects to design the Village Centre who from Spring 2016 will be preparing, briefing, consulting and developing a Masterplan ‘Concept Design’ to allow for additional funding bids to be sought and prioritisation of work then the development of a detailed design of the full scheme with a works value of around £120.000, submission of planning and assistance with funding bids through to commencement of work. During this process all residents will be able to participate in design workshops and be able to make a contribution to the final design of the Village Centre Project.

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