Chair of Health and Wellbeing Board, Councillor Dickinson, visited the Aln Valley Railway project this week to see first- hand how the community project is helping adults with learning disabilities to shine.

Councillor Dickinson visits Aln Valley Railway community project
17 October 2013

Chair of Health and Wellbeing Board, Councillor Dickinson, visited the Aln Valley Railway project this week to see first- hand how the community project is helping adults with learning disabilities to shine.

Railway themed snacks were dished up at the Aln Valley Railway Café as part of a partnership project with Northumberland County Council learning disability day services. Bright flowers and plants also adorn the flower beds surrounding the café, thanks to the hard work of the Aln Valley Railway volunteers and adults with learning and physical disabilities based at Pottergate Pantry and Pottergate Potting Shed day services run by Northumberland County Council.

The two projects have teamed up to work at The Aln Valley Railway tourist attraction in Alnwick which is being restored by the Aln Valley Railway Group to offer a railway link to Alnmouth to join the East Coast mainline. The original steam engines are being restored at the attraction which was open this summer for visitors to enjoy.

The site received a visit from Councillor Scott Dickinson, Chair of Northumberland’s Health and Wellbeing Board, who was keen to see how this scheme is combining enhancement of the county's tourist attractions with greater inclusion for adults with learning disabilities.

Councillor Scott Dickinson said: “I visited Pottergate earlier in the year and met the people who work at the day service there. Both the Café and gardening projects at the Aln Valley Railway are a great way of giving the clients experience in customer service and working as part of a team on a local project. The project is also helping the Aln Valley Railway to offer a good range of services for visitors.

“This project demonstrates what can be achieved when we work together. It is a good example one of our five key priorities which is ‘supporting people with long term conditions to be more independent’ and is ultimately helping to improve the health of the adults who take part by helping them to have full choice and control over their lives’.”

The Health and Wellbeing Board has been established to improve the health and wellbeing of Northumberland residents and to reduce health inequalities by encouraging better partnership working between organisations involved in buying and providing health services, adult social care and children’s services.

The visits by Councillor Dickinson are part of a rolling programme and will continue throughout the year.

Cllr Dickinson said: “Now that the Health and Wellbeing Board has moved from being in shadow form to fully fledged, I think it is really important that as the chair I come out and visit each service and talk to staff and patients.

Chair of Health and Wellbeing Board visits front line health services
Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board Councillor Scott Dickinson has been out on a series of visits to see first hand how our staff are working to support patients and service users.

The Health and Wellbeing Board is the a statutory body set up to oversee the integration of health and social care services, and wider integration with other public services to support ill and disabled people. It brings together organisations involved in buying and providing health services, adult social care and children’s services

The visits which took place in August have so far been to Wansbeck General Hospital and Blyth Community Hospital.

Cllr Dickinson said: “Now that the Health and Wellbeing Board has moved from being in shadow form to fully fledged, I think it is really important that as the chair I come out and visit each service and talk to staff and patients.
“I’m going to be out and about on more visits in the future because I am determined to make sure that I know how communities feel about their services , what's working and what needs improving. I hope to be able to use these visits to become the ‘voice of the patient’.”
Cllr Dickinson visited Foundry House in Bedlington, Northumberland to meet the contact centre telephone staff for Northumberland Telecare Service, the Single Point of Access, the Out of Hours Nursing Team and the Emergency Duty Team and occupational therapists from the Short Term Support Service. Cllr Dickinson also stopped by to meet the nursing team at the TESA (Treatment, Education, Support and Advice) Unit, Blyth Community Hospital.

Sister Rexie Akwei, team leader at the TESA (Treatment, Education, Support and Advice) Unit, said: “We are a busy unit seeing around 900 patients a month and so it’s great that the chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board has taken the time to come and see how we work and values what we do.”

The rolling programme of visits is ongoing and Cllr Dickinson has also Northumberland County Council day services at Pottergate Centre and Hepscott Park, specialist mental health and learning disability services at Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and the North East Ambulance Service in August.

Pupils from Grange View First School in Widdrington Station being presented with certificates from Coun Scott Dickinson after completing the Summer Reading Challenge.

Young readers claim their medals

Pupils from Grange View First School in Widdrington Station being presented with certificates from Coun Scott Dickinson after completing the Summer Reading Challenge.

Published on the14 October 2013

Morpeth Herald

YOUNG bookworms have picked up prizes after enjoying a summer of reading.

A record-breaking number of children took part in Northumberland’s Summer Reading Challenge this year to read at least six books during the school holidays.

The scheme, co-ordinated by the Reading Agency, was taken up by 3,657 youngsters aged four to 11, and included games and crafts in libraries.

All of those completing the challenge received a medal and certificate, including several pupils from Grange View First School in Widdrington Station.

County council Policy Board Member for Culture Val Tyler said: “I’d like to congratulate every single child who took part.”

Northumberland County Council’s business chairman Scott Dickinson

Next step for £30m Morpeth road scheme

14 Aug 2013 Journal. A £30 million road scheme to tackle traffic hold-ups in a busy market town have reached the next stage

Northumberland County Council’s business chairman Scott Dickinson

A £30m road scheme hoped to alleviate traffic in a Northumberland market town has reached a significant milestone.

The Planning Inspectorate has announced it is to carry out a detailed examination of the proposal to build a northern bypass for Morpeth, where traffic hold-ups have been a controversial issue.

An 11 month long examination and determination process, will culminate in a decision on the scheme by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles.

The bypass has been welcomed by community leaders in Morpeth, where there has been major controversy over congestion, delays and rat-runs since the introduction of new traffic lights in the town centre last year.

Scott Dickinson, the county council’s business chairman, said: “This is a key milestone in building this much-needed and long-awaited bypass, providing a key link between the A1 and Ashington, reducing through traffic in Morpeth and creating development opportunities to the north of the town.

“The £30m project will also create jobs and training opportunities for local people and provide opportunities for local suppliers during the construction phase.”

Public consultations started more than five years ago, and included a series of exhibitions

The matter was raised at the council’s petition committee last week. Chairman Coun Scott Dickinson said afterwards the working group would report to the policy board on whether changes could be made to the council’s approach.

Journal
20mph limit review after Wylam petition
2 Aug 2013 08:30 Northumberland County Council members will visit other authorities as part of a 20mph speed limit review


Councillors in Northumberland are to visit other local authorities as part of a review into their policy on 20mph speed limits.

Members of Northumberland County Council and an officer will visit other areas to look at their stance on where the limits can be imposed. It comes after councillors agreed to review their policy after officers deemed a request for a 20mph zone through Wylam to be unsuitable, saying reductions are not suitable on village main roads.

That request had come after numerous near misses involving pedestrians and vehicles in Wylam, and following an incident where schoolgirl Evie Moffat, 16, was knocked over as she crossed the road to her school bus stop in December.

The accident encouraged villager Lynn Clarke to start a petition to the council calling for 20mph limits to be introduced at the site of Evie’s accident and two other areas of concern on the main road through the village.

It was signed by more than 600 people and was backed by the county councillor for the area, Paul Kelly, as well as Hexham MP Guy Opperman, who sent a letter of backing to the authority.

However, in a report to the council’s West area committee, officers stated that it was council policy that 20mph limits should not be introduced on major routes, such as the main road through Wylam. The council’s report revealed there had been seven injury accidents in the village in the last five years – one serious – with the majority said to have happened on the main road.

Coun Kelly persuaded the committee to call on the authority’s policy board to review its stance on where reduced limits can be imposed and agree they should be assessed on a case by case basis – potentially allowing them to be introduced at the areas of concern at Wylam.

The policy board/area chairs working group then agreed to recommend to the policy board that the 20mph policy be looked at. The policy board since agreed a small member working group should visit other local authorities, with an officer, to investigate “effective and affordable solutions to this particular issue.”

The matter was raised at the council’s petition committee last week. Chairman Coun Scott Dickinson said afterwards the working group would report to the policy board on whether changes could be made to the council’s approach.

“Ultimately the authority’s priority is 20mph limits outside schools and old people’s homes,” he added.

From The Ambler

Plans submitted for ‘seafood town’ development

Posted by theambler on August 21, 2013 • Categorized as Amble Development Trust,News,Northumberland County Council

Proposed site of new Quayside plans

A new proposal to bring investment into the Friendliest Port has just been announced. A planning application to regenerate part of the Quayside has been submitted to Northumberland County Council, which will include a seafood centre and incubator units for small business startups.

Originating from two strategic reports from last year; Amble Development Trust’s regeneration document ‘Amble 2020′, and ‘Amble: The Seafood Town’ of May 2013 by Team Tourism Consulting, the plans have been developed in consultation with local landowners and leaseholders. The Ambler understands that the main objectives of the plans are to create opportunities for Amble’s fishing industry and startup businesses.

There will be an opportunity for the public to review and discuss the plans with members of the development team on Friday 27 September between 9am – 4.30pm at Amble Development Trust’s offices, Fourways2, Dilston Terrace Amble.

The proposed Quayside project has been developed by Northumberland County Council in close partnership with Amble Development Trust and in consultation with Warkworth Harbour Commission, Amble Boat Company and Coquet Shorebase Trust.

The planning application comprises proposals for several different pieces of work which together represent a cohesive development proposal in response to the report ‘Amble: The Seafood Town’ of May 2013 by Team Tourism Consulting.

That report followed extensive consultation and close partnership working with Amble Development Trust, and addressed opportunities for economic development and associated employment generation through co-ordinated initiatives in the sectors of tourism and hospitality, the fishing industry and aquaculture, as identified within “Amble 2020”, the latest regeneration strategy for the town, written by John Shutt and Julia Aston.

Overhead plan of quayside development

Julia Aston, Director of Amble Development Trust said: “The Development Trust has worked closely with Northumberland County Council and submitted an expression of Interest to the Coastal Communities Fund and the European Fisheries Fund. We are unlikely to hear whether we have been successful until January. We have formed positive working relationships with County Council officers to develop this concept.”

The report identified the potential to create a unique selling point for Amble as ‘The Seafood Town’, the authentic place to go to sample fresh, locally caught sea-food, based on its nature as a working port, taking advantage of the nation-wide and Europe-wide tourism trend in favour of authenticity and local foods. The report’s main recommendations support this single, simple concept, from facilitation of access to the harbourside to training of restaurant staff and support given to start-up businesses.

Councillor Scott Dickinson, Business Chair of Northumberland County Council said: “The Council is working with Amble Development Trust, James Calvert Spence College and other partners to explore how Amble can develop a more sustainable future and stronger economy. Discussions and research have taken place over the last six months to identify how this might happen. On this basis, we have chosen seafood related tourism as the way forward as we believe it offers some real opportunities for the town. We are now working with the wider Amble 2020 partnership to secure the necessary external funding and planning permission to progress this work. Major funding bids are being submitted to try and achieve this and we hope they will be successful, as we want the people and businesses of Amble to benefit as much as possible from the jobs, training and trading opportunities which could arise out of this project.”

http://www.theambler.co.uk/2013/08/21/plans-submitted-for-seafood-town-development/

He has received backing from Northumberland County Council’s business chairman, Coun Scott Dickinson.

Berwick old Kwik Save to be demolished to make way for a coach parking facility.

Berwick Chamber of Trade chairman John Haswell believes it is the ideal town centre site, especially if a toilet block is built too.

“I see it as a win-win situation if we can get rid of a derelict building and replace it with a much-needed coach parking facility,” he said.

He has received backing from Northumberland County Council’s business chairman, Coun Scott Dickinson.

“I know the council has been looking at potential sites for a coach parking facility, including The Parade and Chapel Street but I think it would be much more preferable to tear down Kwik Save and put it there,” said Coun Dickinson.

He now plans to take the idea to Arch, the development company set up by the council, which has made the Kwiksave site one of its top priorities for the months ahead.