31.   A meeting of the parish council held last week launched a new Low Coniscliffe and Merrybent community group.

32.   Anyone who still has ideas about the group but has not yet passed them on should contact the clerk to the parish council.

33.   Barton parish council is the trustee of the hall and is concerned about the roof, woodwork and damp.

34.   The parish council will not meet again until the end of April as the parish AGM is taking place on Saturday.

35.   The council backed local residents and Heighington parish council who expressed fears about increased noise and traffic the course and attached golf school would generate.

36.   The parish council decided on Monday to ask English Heritage for help in funding the repairs.

37.   Last month the parish council chairman, Coun.

38.   John Weighell, said the pump house faced dereliction if repairs could not be funded.

39.   Now the former chairman of Merrybent parish council has written about his struggle against heart disease in a medical journal.

40.   Hurworth and Neasham parish councils have objected to the plans and Darlington Environmental Watch feels the development would be wrong for a rural area.