Leader Talk
April 2009
Area Action Partnership LaunchesFirst Meetings of New Unitary Council
Area Action Partnership Launches
27/04/2009
Yesterday I attended the launch meeting of Chester-le-Street and District Area Action Partnership (AAP). This was the latest in a series of 14 launch events and as with all of the others held so far it was a very successful event with well over 100 local residents in attendance.
These meetings are proving invaluable in allowing residents to help set priorities for their local area. At the end of each of the launch events five priorities are agreed which will be taken forward by the AAP Boards which will meet from June onwards. The Boards will be made up of one third local councillors, one third partner bodies such as the police and health and one third members of the public. I hope that as many people as possible will apply to join these boards as a member of the public.
AAPs are a critical means by which the new unitary council will engage with local people. The large turnouts so far suggest that local people are very keen to get involved and I hope that in the months and years to come County Durham will continue to demonstrate high levels of community involvement and show that local people can influence decisions.
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Add a commentFirst Meetings of New Unitary Council
15/04/2009
Today we held the first cabinet meeting of the new Unitary Council in Durham Town Hall. I am delighted that the first 30 minutes is now a public question and answer session where any member of the public is able to turn up and ask questions to myself or other members of the Cabinet. Questions today ranged from the future of croquet in Durham to the Mayor of Durham and Area Action Partnerships.
It is really important that members of the public feel they can question their elected councillors and over the next few months we will be going out to hold meetings across the County to enable this to happen.
We also had a very successful first meeting of the new Council at the start of April. I was pleased that the outgoing Chairmen of the seven former district and borough councils were able to join the outgoing Chairman of Durham County Council in a dignified ceremony to mark the formal handover to the new Council. There were more than 200 people in attendance including a number of former councillors and I felt it was very important to thank the outgoing councils and councillors for all their work over a period of 35 years. Whatever our previous views on whether a Unitary Council would be a good or bad thing, it is now here and all of us need to do all we can to work together to make it a success.
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