Crossgate Community Partnership: Minutes

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting, 13th January 2026

1. Attendance: Roger Cornwell (in the Chair), Lesley Aers, Robert Banks, Ann Evans, Chris Hugill, Pat Mussett, Jean Rogers, Ann Stokes, Ann Watkins, Sarah Wilkinson, Joe Witherspoon,
Cllr Liz Brown.
2. Apologies for absence: were received from: Joan Adams, Gillian Banks, Alan Doig, Martin Hiles, Margaret Jefferson, Paul Jeffersin, Simon Priestley, David Ramsden, Malcolm Reed,
Cllr Grenville Holland, Cllr Carole Lattin.
3. Minutes: The minutes of the December meeting were approved as a correct record.

Annual General Meeting

4. The Chair presented the Annual Report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting.: a) He added that Mary Foy MP had raised in Parliament the issue of unfinished building works in the City, but that no action had resulted from this.; b) Cllr Liz Brown updated the reference to food waste collection, which will be introduced in the coming year. Councillors will be briefed in February, after which officers will be happy to speak to the CCP and other residents' groups. It will also be the first item at the March meeting of DURF. At this stage, officers would still be listening to local residents before finalising how the scheme would operate.; c) The new shop was now open on the premises formerly occupied by Boots in the North Road.
5. The Financial Statement: Treasurer Sarah Wilkinson presented the Financial Statement, which had been circulated as part of the Annual Report: this was approved with thanks. The accounts, and the Report as a whole, were approved unanimously.
6. Election of Trustees: Nominations had been received for Roger Cornwell, Ann Evans, Chris Hugill, Simon Priestley, Sarah Wilkinson and Joe Witherspoon. The appointment of all nominees for the coming year was approved.
7. Membership of NORA (National Organisation of Residents Associations): Chris Hugill, who acts as our point of contact with NORA, confirmed that this continues to be useful, and the meeting approved the payment of the £25 annual subscription

Ordinary Meeting

8. Revised Rules for Parking Permits

a) The meeting heard a number of complaints about the current system. Ann Evans described her experiences, and it was noted that the requirement to repeat evidence of the same facts was unnecessarily onerous. More than one person had found the Parking Shop helpful to in-person customers, but the online system was very clunky. Roger and Liz would go through the Parish Council to raise issues resulting from the implementation of the online system without prior testing on actual users.

b) December's meeting of DURF (Durham University / Residents' Forum) had heard from DCC's Traffic Management team. Lee Mowbray had explained that the current parking document is nine years old and being reviewed: Parking Manager Peter Broxton added that the City centre is divided into zones to ensure residents can park in their areas; parking is on a first come first served basis, with restrictions to minimise dangerous and obstructive parking. The new policy would amend the '2000 rule': currently, due to limited space in the CPZ, permits were not issued for properties converted after 2000, but following consultation and a change in behaviours, as well as a recognised need for restoring properties, new conversions were now being considered on case by case basis.
Students have the same provision as other residents: preventing student car use is impractical and poses a risk of discrimination. As a primary stakeholder, the University is best placed to discourage students from bringing cars.
In addition to the comments recorded from residents present at the DURF meeting, the CCP noted that we had not seen any sign of the consultation referred to. The meeting was unhappy with the "case-by-case" determination, which requires the officer to make a judgement (there was no indication of the basis for this). Liz had already raised these queries with Kieron Moralee.

9. State of pavements

Ann Evans had first complained to DCC about the state of local pavements two years ago, and been told that they would be repaired in the next financial year; this had not happened. Where the surface was of asphalt, the condition was particularly poor: the stretch of the Avenue above her house, and on Margery Lane leading to St Margaret's Centre (this had been made worse since it was dug up for the traffic lights, since paving stones had not been reinstated but had been infilled with tarmac). Liz explained that there had been a moratorium on pavement repairs during the government roll-out of broadband; the Council will now resume work on pavements starting in January, and she would add our items to the list.

10. Salt Box for The Bowers

Following a recent accident, Joe Witherspoon had approached DCC about a salt box for The Bowers and Waddington Street, neither of which is gritted by the Council; his request had been turned down on the grounds of expense. Liz pointed out that they should also have considered "accident history" in making their decision. Joe would quote this back to the council.

11.Neighbourhood Wardens' Report

Liz pointed out that the imminent DCC budget is likely to include a reduction in Warden numbers as part of the drive to keep Council Tax down.

Ann Watkins noted that waste was generated by contractors and cleaners employed by landlords at changeover time; she was reminded that this is not domestic waste, and should be reported (via DoItOnline). Roger suggested that Wardens should be encouraged to send their reports to Palatinate, which might usefully remind its student readership that black bags left beside bins are treated as side waste, and incur penalties.

12. Report from County Councillor

Liz reported that enforcement action had been taken over the demolition of a wall in Atherton Street
The Council was about to enter a period of intense financial activity.

13. Reports from Parish Councillors

a) Cllr Toria Ashfield had circulated a report covering that day's meeting of the Environment Committee. This had included consideration of the judging criteria for the Durham City Student Landlord of the Year. The CCP felt that these might usefully include relations with the comminute / good communications with neighbours.
Work continues on planters; Liz felt that those currently on position were not large enough to be sustainable (to survive the inevitable periods of neglect).

b) Roger gave a verbal report:

there was a problem with bins on Albert Street;
the planning application for Farnley Tower was al long last set for determination;
the Government is planning legislation to control the growth of AirBnBs, but this will not be retrospective.

14 Date of next meeting

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 3rd February 2026.