Crossgate Community Partnership: Minutes

Minutes of the meeting, 7th May 2026

1. Attendance

Roger Cornwell (in the Chair), Joan Adams, Lesley Aers, Robert Banks, Ann Evans, Andrew Moore, Pat Mussett, David Ramsden, Jean Rogers, Alan Shearer, Ann Stokes, David Toll, Joe Witherspoon.
Cllr Carole Lattin,
Cllr Liz Brown

2. Apologies for absence

were received from: Max Arnold, Gillian Banks, Morag Crichton, Alastair Edge, Simon Priestley, Malcolm Reed, Sarah Wilkinson,
Cllr Toria Ashfield, Cllr Susan Walker.

3. Minutes

The minutes of the April meeting; were approved as a correct record.

4. Rowanwood as a holiday let

There is a planning application pending for Rowanwood (at the bottom of Clay Lane), to demolish and replace with nine (reduced from the previous 10) HMOs containing a total of 52 bedrooms. The CCP has already objected to this. In the interim, an application has been submitted for a certificate of lawful use as a holiday let, on the basis that this is equivalent to the status of a domestic house. There is no specific planning class of "holiday let," but Andrew Moore, the direct neighbour, did not think this accurately described activity at the premises. In fact it was currently advertised on the internet as being suitable for contractors, and previous customers had left reviews which made it clear that the house had been subdivided and was not being let as a single property. It was agreed a) that the CCP should object to the certification, on the grounds that the application misrepresented the current use, and that b) we would welcome regulation of holiday lets in the next iteration of the County Plan.

5. Bus Station update

Cllr Liz Brown read out an update she had received from Kevin Lough, Interim Head of Corporate Buildings at DCC, ahead of an announcement to be made in the following week: the principal contractor, would commence works on 18th May, and the works would take approximately seven months, with practical completion scheduled to be issued on 18 December 2026. These works involve the removal of the current cladding system which will be replaced with a new cladding system. The replacement is required due to the defective installation of the original cladding system by an external contractor and the council continues to take legal action against that contractor and the clerk of works that was appointed to oversee the original works. The works would involve the removal of the current scaffolding which has been in place to protect users of the bus station. There will be a new protective scaffolding system erected to enable the removal and replacement of the cladding system. The works would involve a lane closure to facilitate the site hoardings on North Road. This lane closure will be temporarily reduced during the Miners Gala and reinstated thereafter, as requested by the police.

6. Report from County Councillor

Liz reported that the full council meeting for March had been cancelled, for want of business; the next full council meeting would therefore be in May. This was extremely unusual. In addition, she was a member of the Durham (South) planning committee, of which three meetings had been cancelled.

Ann Evans asked whether there had been any progress on repairing the pavement at the top of the Avenue: Liz would raise this again with the officers.

7. Reports from Parish Councillors

a) Cllr Toria Ashfield had submitted a written report, which was circulated before the meeting. It was noted that the report that Durham had been named the top national heritage site in the UK referred to an article about UNESCO World Heritage sites in Countryfile magazine. David Toll asked for clarification of the item about the police budget: the police had returned the underspend on Operation Lentil.:

b) Cllr Carile Lattin endorsed Toria's report, and added:

that the Parish was drawing up a 'Blue Plaque trail' around Durham. They were hesitating between restricting it to the 13 plaques installed by the Parish, which would omit some interesting sites, or trying to include every plaque, of which there are over 100.
the Parish had been approached by the Durham City Riverscape Community Group, who have undertaken extensive litter picking around the station and its approaches, uncovering and removing significant levels of waste. The Parish Clerk had engaged with key stakeholders, including London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and others, who are now working to develop a long-term maintenance plan (full report in Parish Newsletter),
She canvassed opinions about the "carpet bed" decorative planting at the top of Gilesgate. DCC were no longer prepared to maintain it, and invited the Parish to take over, at an annual cost of £4,000. Would members be in favour of this expenditure, or could they suggest anyone who might be interested in sponsoring it? It was suggested that there might be potential for partnership with the nearest neighbours (the Territorial Army? Chapel Heights student accommodation?).

c) Roger gave an update on some planning cases. Rowanwood had already been discussed (see above). Cllr Grenville Holland would oppose the application for 23 Mistletoe Street, as Roger had a conflicting engagement.

8. Other business

Joe Witherspoon has tickets for the Friends of Flass Vale raffle. He also reminded members of the Friends' coffee morning the following Saturday.

9 Date of next meeting

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 2nd June 2026.