Date of announcement:   13 June 2020

Each year the Council’s Annual Return, which we published yesterday, is audited by an auditor appointed by Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited.  Any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the accounts to be audited and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts relating to them. For the year ended 31 March 2020 these documents will be available on reasonable notice on application to:

C Llewelyn, Parish Clerk Coxhoe Village Hall, Front Street East, Coxhoe, Durham, DH6 4LF 0191 3773658 or 07988 283287 or by email at clerk@coxhoeparishcouncil.gov.uk

commencing on 15 June 2020

and ending on   24 July 2020.

Local Government Electors and their representatives also have:

• the opportunity to question the auditor about the accounts; and
• the right to make objections to the accounts or any item in them.

Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the Council. The auditor can be contacted at the address below for this purpose during the inspection period identified above.  The audit is being conducted under the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2015 and the National Audit Office’ Code of Audit Practice.  Your audit is being carried out by:

Mazars LLP, Salvus Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS

This announcement is made by Claire Llewelyn, Parish Clerk

The Parish Council is having to restrict its activities due to the impact of the coronavirus.

Restrictions have been introduced for the moment:

• Council meetings will go ahead with precautions in place
• Committee meetings may be cancelled
• Youth Clubs are closed
• Volunteer litter picks are cancelled
• Parish planning events are postponed, and
• The Council will not open to the public on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The Council is working with Coxhoe Village Hall to support our communities.

You can contact the Parish Council Officers Claire and Angela on:

07988 283287 or 0191 3773658

E:mail clerk@coxhoeparishcouncil.gov.uk

 

After careful consideration the Parish Council has decided to cancel up and coming engagement events.

Engagement events for Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill were proposed to be held on the 26 March and 4 April respectively. In view of the worsening coronavirus situation it is considered that it would be best to delay none essential events such as this. Dates for rearranged events will be published in due course in the light of experience.

We are arranging two community engagement events to make progress on our third parish plan.

We have previously used the Parish Plan to set out the councils priorities after you have told us what you want us to do. By engaging our community we find out  your views. We are then able to develop action plans with you to achieve what you want us to do.

The next two meetings are to be held as follows:

• Thursday 26 March,  between 6.30 pm and 8.00 pm at Coxhoe Village Hall, and
• Saturday 4 April from 10.30 am  to 12.00 pm  at Quarrington Hill Community Centre

These meetings are to:

• begin the parish planning process
• understand community expectations
• be clear about what the Parish Council may be able to achieve
• find out who would like to join the working party
• decide who can help with surveys and other things, and
• how we can engage other people to become involved.

The meeting will explain the process and the role of the working group and about parish planning. They will  help everyone to think about the timeline and how we want the plan to look.

We need people to come along to our events and participate in the development of the Plan. Remember it’s Your Village, Your Future, Your Say.

Find out more about past plans and current plan on our Neighbourhood and Parish Plan pages

 

We have added the draft minutes of three recent Parish Council Meetings to our website.

You can access them from the links set out below:

Draft  Human Resources Committee Meeting Minutes 15 January 2020

Draft minutes of the Youth Strategy Group on 30 January 2020

Draft minutes of the Events, Environment and  Finance Committee on 10 February 2020

Please note that first set of minutes were initially published on 29th January 2020.

Coxhoe Parish Council is delighted to welcome our newest Councillor, Nathan Brown, on board.

Nathan has joined our ambitious Parish Council to help deliver our ever increasing workload. Nathan will be representing the Coxhoe ward. Chairman Councillor Stuart Dunn said, ‘We are really pleased that Nathan has come forward to fill the role left by Barbara Hepplewhite. We get through a massive amount of business for a vibrant and demanding community. It is great to have Nathan’s help as we progree into 2020. Barbara has been an excellent councillor for many years and we were sorry to see her leave. We wish her well in the future’.

Check out the contact details of Councillor Nathan Brown.

There are currently two vacancies for councillors to serve the Quarrington Hill ward.  One of these is available to be filled by co-option and we await the conclusion of the legal process at the end of this month to see how we might fill that vacancy. You can find out more about the councillor vacancy to be filled by co-option here.

You can access the legal notice in respect of the councillor vacancy  as a result of the resignation of Councillor Julie Smith here

We have written to businesses in the Parish to ask them to take part in our first Christmas Wonderland window competition.

This is open to businesses within the Parish and there is a prize of a quarter page advert in the March issue of Coxhoe Chronicle (artwork to be supplied to the Council). We would ask businesses to  return completed forms before 5.00 pm on Monday 18 November.  Competition judging takes place on the morning of 30 November by Councillors and young people from the Scouts.

We already have a number of entrants and there is now less than a week to get your entry in.

Please submit your completed form into the Christmas Post Box at Coxhoe Village Hall, Front Street East, Coxhoe; County Durham DH6 4DB, or  email it to clerk@coxhoeparishcouncil.gov.uk

If this is not possible then please contact us on 0191 377 3658 and we may be able to arrange for an elf to collect it from you. Please also contact us if you require another form.

Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill have both been recognised in Durham County Council’s Beautiful Durham Competition.

The Parish Council are pleased to announce that both Villages have received special commendations in this year’s Durham County Council’s Beautiful Durham Garden and Environmental Competition. Coxhoe received a special commendation in the Best Large Village category. Quarrington Hill won a special commendation in the Best Village category. We lost out to Belmont and High Shincliffe who were the winners in the respective categories.

The commendation reflect the work that the Parish Council and others are doing to make our villages looking good. Thank you and well done to all concerned.

Find out more about our open spaces.