Some of you might remember a post a month back mentioning that the Mid-Durham Area Action Partnership, headed up by Andy Coulthard, was working closely with the various communities in Esh - the schools, the churches, the Parish Council and the Residents' Association to name just a few - to help facilitate communications between local government bodies and the village.
Following a meeting in June between the AAP and Esh residents, an action plan was drawn up to help address some of the issues concerning villagers (the blocked drains - a popular topic around here! - dog fouling, overgrown verges, road safety, and horse droppings on the roads and pavements being just a couple). An up to date copy of the action plan can be found on the blog detailing the progress made so far... as you'll be able to tell from the plan, Andy and his team have been seriously busy in the last 6 weeks and made huge strides already!
Lots of recent village projects, events, and collaboration with the two village schools, Esh CofE Primary School and St Michael's Esh Laude Primary School, have only been possible due to a generous grant from the BIG Lottery Fund. Check out the new slideshow on the Gallery page for a few shots of what the grant went towards...
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Yesterday, a momentous happening occurred in Esh: the road drains were cleared! The Residents' Association had been in regular contact with the County Council for several months regarding the blocked drains and localised flooding, and yesterday afternoon all the accumulated surface debris, horse manure and mud was cleared out and the drains restored to sparking (and fully-functioning) condition... just in time for a downpour to give their newly-acquired drainage power a test-drive! A big thank you to the brave souls from the Council who grappled with the grates, the garbage, and the grime to free Front Street from the floods and floating manhole covers.
Some of you might remember a post a month back mentioning that the Mid-Durham Area Action Partnership, headed up by Andy Coulthard, was working closely with the various communities in Esh - the schools, the churches, the Parish Council and the Residents' Association to name just a few - to help facilitate communications between local government bodies and the village. 
