Published: 26 May 2026
Your new team of Parish Councillors have made considerable progress on several big issues since the election last year, and Coxhoe Parish Council has continued to deliver good services to our resident in both Quarrington Hill and Coxhoe.
Particular thanks to Sophie our Clerk, and Nichola our Admin Officer for the support that they continuously give to Councillors, residents and community groups and organisations.
Our youth team have again given great support to young people in our communities. We are sorry that Sarah has decided to step back as our Senior Youth lead, we are grateful for the many years and great experiences she has led for our young people. We and they will miss her. We are delighted though that Jasmine her deputy has been promoted to replace her and having worked with Sarah for so long hopefully that will lead to continued excellent provision. The SEND youth provision which is now in its third year proving popular with young people and their families. The youth team also successfully bid for a continuation of the grant for another 3 years provision.
We continue to support the Coxhoe Community Pantry, and it has provided invaluable support to those who need it most. Over 1,000 different people from within and around our villages have used the Pantry over the last 5 years and in increasing numbers. Thank you also to the volunteers and everyone who has made donations of food. Thank you to County Councillors Jan Blakey and Gary Hutchinson for their financial support to help make the Pantry work for our rural communities this year.
Our annual fireworks display continued last year being enjoyed by up to 3,000 people. Sadly, because of the building of the new Gleeson Grange Farm housing estate next to the skate park where the fireworks are set off, we will not be able to provide this event this year. We continue to look for other suitable sites. So, to add to our list of events we will be hosting Durham Brass Festival events in both Quarrington Hill and Coxhoe for the first time in July this year.
A lot of people don’t realise that all the hanging baskets, tubs and main green areas on the estates around Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill are provided and maintained by the Parish Council. Durham County Council (DCC) don’t do any planting in our villages they only cut the grass on the housing estates and playing fields at the parks.
We also maintain Kingswood, in Quarrington Hill, a semi mature woodland to enhance the environment and prevent it becoming yet more housing. We have carried out some further major footpath improvements this year, and the creation of scrubland to enhance habitats for wildlife, all as part of our 5-year annual Countryside Stewardship Grant that we have been awarded to make further improvements. We have also been awarded £12,000 section 106 planning gain from the DCC Leachate Plant that is to be created at the recycling centre, which will be used later this year to fund further improvements to Kingswood. We have appointed a new grounds maintenance contractor who is a specialist in Woodland management to maximise the works we are able to do. We are also grateful to our team of Kingswood volunteers, and the recent involvement of volunteers from Breedon Quarry. If you’d like to get involved, please contact our clerk.
All these trees and the other 340 trees that we are responsible for across the Parish don’t just keep our villages looking green and lovely and prevent development, they also help with our contribution to the Climate Emergency. The Parish Council also maintains some of the countryside walks around our villages too.
Your Parish Council continues to pay annual grants to help sustain our community groups and facilities, to Quarrington Hill Community Centre, Coxhoe Village Hall, and Active Life Centre, and also rental income for them by basing our youth services there too. This core funding helps with the bills that they just have to pay for being there and help keep these community facilities viable. Small grants are also available to other community groups in our villages.
The Shaun Henderson Community Sports Ground continues to improve. This is already regularly being used by Coxhoe United, our youth services, and Scouts. We are delighted to have acquired the Freehold of this, to be able to guarantee long term community and public use. We are working with Coxhoe United to deliver further improvements too, potentially including significant drainage improvements, and make this a really sustainable recreation facility all year around. It suffered significant flooding in recent heavy rainstorms, which identified blockages in the stream adjoining the former railway track, which DCC are responsible for and resolved. They are going to ensure regular maintenance to stop this reoccurring. Thank you to Coxhoe United for their ongoing hard work and investment to improve this area which is enjoyed by the community.
We finally succeeded in installing of CCTV on Coxhoe Front Street to improve public safety, which was strongly supported by residents. Thank you to the Durham Crime Commissioner for a match funding grant to help make this possible.
Our intention’s last year to use lampposts for Christmas Lights in Quarrington Hill were halted due to not being able to gain permission from DCC and Northern Power Grid. We hope to receive plans from them soon to be able to install our own power supplies to enable festive lighting in the central area this year.
We have worked with the potential developers of the land behind Cornforth Lane to try to maximise community benefit if this land was to be developed in line with public consultations. We made significant representations to the planning committees in July and December when the application for nearly 100 houses was finally approved after significant amendments which were required by the planners. We didn’t get everything we sought, and the developer rejected requests to provide off-street parking for residents, largely based on unsupportive comments from DCC highways Department. The development will provide a 44-place Park and Stride school drop off parking area, and this and the estate will only accessible from the roundabout next to the school to minimise impact on Cornforth Lane, as we requested, in line with public consultations supported by nearly 90% of residents across the village who responded that they wanted to see traffic improvements on Cornforth Lane. Over 250 residents told us in 2024 that developers should contribute to make sure that the school grows appropriately with the community, and you will have seen our long battle with DCC Education and Planning Departments to secure this in Chronicles and on Facebook. We are pleased to advise that DCC has agreed to use S106 planning gain from the Barratts Bogma Hall, and Limes Developments, and monies potentially from this development and a contribution from their schools capital budget to fund the first phase extension of Coxhoe Primary School, to provide 2 additional new classrooms. Work on this will start in the May Half Term holidays. It is hoped with a S106 contribution agreed from this Miller Development for Early Years, and a Government grant to quickly follow this with the phase 2 development of a nursery at the school. Coxhoe GP Surgery also received S106 funding.
We were pleased to have worked with County Councillors Gary Hutchinson and Jan Blakey, and former County Coucillor Maura McKeon securing £66,000 investment in providing new play equipment for Coxhoe Park to replace old and condemned equipment. It’s a shame DCC removed even more play equipment from the park than was planned, but with S106 funding imminent from the Gleeson Grange Farm and the Millers Cornforth Lane development there will be more to spend on the park soon, and improvements to public open spaces in the village.
We have worked with our MP Alan Strickland, to seek long-term improvements to the Quarrington Hill Churchyard and a sustainable plan for its good maintenance and of the war graves in that churchyard. Although this is owned by and is the responsibility of Cassop-cum-Quarrington with Bowburn Parochial Church Council (PCC), Coxhoe Parish Council, with the PCC’s permission, have funded significant clearance of the older part of the churchyard. We hope to conclude discussions on the long-term future soon and we will continue to keep residents informed and involved. Thanks to those residents who joined our litter picking team there recently.
We finally completed works to improve the drainage and paths at Coxhoe Churchyard this year, significantly improving the environment and access for all. Offers of materials and volunteer support dwindled as the works grew in scale and complexity, and in the end the paths were installed by the specialist drainage contractor. Delays with getting the Faculty (permission) from the Church of England and potential sale of the Old School Site by the private land owner, which we needed access over to do the works, meant that works weren’t done when we would have chosen to have done them, but it was potentially a one off opportunity, so we had to do it when we could. Hopefully, you’ll agree it was worth doing.
Our drainage contractor also installed additional drainage in the parking areas in front of the Paving Factory and Basic Cottages to help alleviate flooding issues there. We are awaiting Government changes to the Planning Policy Framework (which are due to be implemented imminently) to submit a planning application to make further improvements to this area, as the current planning rules make any changes cost prohibitive. We will keep you informed when we are able to move forward with this, and particularly residents and businesses in the immediate vicinity.
With a specialist consultant’s assistance, and a Government grant which is funding almost all of the costs, we have prepared a first draft of a Neighbourhood Plan, identifying possible settlement boundaries to protect our village identities, and from even more housing, which was supported by 87% of residents in both villages. We had hoped to be consulting you on this soon, but our consultant has retired, and we are in the process of replacing her. We hope to complete this later this year, the final stage being a public referendum on the plan. Durham County Council are also working on a new County Plan and will shortly release details of potential housing sites that developers have identified across the County.
As you will know, from recent Chronicles and posts on our Facebook site we were again approached by a potential developer of the Old School Site opposite Coxhoe Village Hall this year with a plan from them to deliver a bungalow development and provide additional public parking by including adjoining Parish land in their development, working in partnership with the Parish Council. We were immensely disappointed when they unilaterally walked away from the scheme close to the point of signing agreements, because they said the proposed public parking spaces next to The Ginger Dog and Mel’s Travel (that they had proposed) made their scheme unviable. They have since lodged a planning application for 5 bungalows on the privately owned land between Mel’s and the Ginger Dog. The Parish Council have since had 3 expressions of interest in our Paddocks adjoining the churchyard, and we are considering these in detail and what if anything to do with our landlocked land. We await further information on these of potential proposals.
We were very proud to have taken a bold step to freeze our Council Tax again for 2025/6, due to the impact that the cost-of-living crisis was having on residents and when it matters. To do this involved making savings in some areas, but still investing in other priorities identified by our residents, despite costs rising considerably.
I hope and trust you will agree that Coxhoe Parish Council is continuing to work hard for you. As ever you are more than welcome to come along and talk to us at our monthly meeting or contact us at any time.
Stuart Dunn
Coxhoe Parish Council Chair