Calendar shows village squalor

Calendar shows village squalor

The calendar is in the office of the local council leader

A rundown housing estate is the star of a new glossy calendar featuring monthly scenes of dereliction and neglect.

A fed-up mother living in Pelton Fell, County Durham, made the calendar in the hope it would goad council officials into action.

Christine Grimwood, 35, was allegedly told by the local authority that it could not afford to tidy the streets where she lived.

The calendar starts with January, showing a boarded-up house and ends in December depicting a burst water main that she says was left for eight weeks.

Copies of the calendar have been sent to Malcolm Pratt, the leader of Labour-run Chester-le-Street Council, the council's head of housing, and to her local MP Kevan Jones.

Mrs Grimwood, who has three children, moved to the estate in Pelton Fell - which she refers to as "Beirut" - with her husband 12 years ago.

Dumped settees

She said: "It's like living in the twilight zone, this side of the estate is just a dump. The calendar was a last resort."

Mrs Grimwood said she had even offered to trawl the housing estate and collect an array of dumped settees and other household items ready for collection.

The council said it was sympathetic to the plight of the Grimwood family but is currently drawing up extensive redevelopment plans for the area.

Mrs Grimwood added: "I know of the regeneration plans but what I can't accept is that I have to live in this squalor while waiting for it to happen."

'Biggest scheme'

Chester-le-Street District Council leader Malcolm Pratt, who has the calendar in his office, said: "It was a very innovative way of highlighting her concerns and full credit to her.

"We have been working on regeneration plans for Pelton Fell for some considerable time and it is a huge task.

"We are trying to take a holistic approach to the problem, not just renovate single streets, and it is the biggest scheme we have ever undertaken.

"I sympathise with her, and all other residents, but we need to consult with them all to provide what they need."