Seaham and Peterlee news
GREEN PLANET BRAND
GROWING IN PETERLEE
Multi-million pound train station
puts Horden back on track
A
new train service to East
Durham which opened this
summer is expected to carry
more than 70,000 passengers
annually, boosting tourism
and business, once social distance measures
are relaxed.
The first scheduled train stopped at the
new Horden station on June 29, marking
the entry into service of the £10.55m
development near Peterlee.
Located on South East View, the station
provides a long-awaited link from the East
of the county into the local, regional and
national rail network.
Longer-term it will support the wider
regeneration of the area and encourage
growth.
The development was a joint project
between Durham County Council, Network
Rail, Northern and Story Contracting and
was funded by the council, with an extra £4.4
m from the Department of Transport’s New
Stations Fund and a grant from the North
East Local Enterprise Partnership.
Coun Simon Henig, leader of Durham
County Council, said: “This new facility
will open up significant opportunities
for communities across east Durham, by
providing a direct transport link to Teesside,
Wearside and Tyneside.
“It is going to provide a major economic
boost to the county.”
Work on the station began in January and,
thanks to changes to working practices in the
light of government guidance on Covid-19,
continued during the lockdown period.
Jason Butterworth, CEO of Story
Contracting, said: “The new station looks
fantastic, providing improved connections
where there were no immediate rail links
before.”
A leading UK catering firm based in East
Durham has successfully launched a
dedicated eco-friendly brand to cope with
industry demand.
IG Group, with headquarters in
Peterlee and London, has set up its Green
Planet division with a whole range of
environmentally friendly products divided
into “compostable”, “recyclable” and
“reusable”.
Products available include hot and cold
cups, cutlery, tableware made from natural
resources such as naturally fallen palm
leaves and sugar cane and replacement
options for fast food boxes.
Environmentally friendly pizza boxes
and kebab cartons are part of the recyclable
ranges, with a huge selection of plant-based
cleaning products also on offer.
Encore packs highest
grades in audit
NEW HOMES
SELLING WELL
Well over half the homes at
Byron Heights development,
just off Dalton Heights Road,
have now been sold.
In a sign of how popular
a draw Seaham is becoming
to house buyers, three of
the plots in the 75-house
estate sold off-plan during
lockdown.
And housebuilders
Bellway Durham is confident
the new three and fourbedroom
houses, with prices
starting from £169,995, will
continue to sell well.
Oliver Wray, sales
manager, said: “The fact sales
have remained consistent
shows there is still a high
demand for new homes in
the area despite the uncertain
times we have all faced.”
Redevelopment drive in heart
of Seaham progresses
A long-awaited redevelopment drive in the centre of
Seaham is continuing apace with the hope of boosting
business and the appeal of the town.
The beginning of work on the project, centred around
the town’s North Terrace, was delayed by the Covid-19
pandemic.
But now the development of the new mixed-use
development, which has been on the drawing board since
2017, is now becoming a reality.
Supported by Durham County Council, the project
will see the creation of office space, restaurant, café
and bar units, indoor-bowling lanes and residential
apartments in a three-storey building.
A Peterlee-based supplier of
packaging has been awarded one of
the industry’s highest accreditations
following an intensive audit process.
Encore Packaging Solutions, part of
The Encore Group, has been awarded
the BRC Global Standard’s highest AA
grade for the third year in a row.
Encore produces solid board
boxes, direct mail packaging and
e-commerce solutions for its North-
East base, as well as corrugated
packaging.
The audit involved a number of
stages, from checking paperwork and
touring the site to completing a full
trace test, where a job is tracked from
beginning to end, including where
the raw materials come from and all
relevant documentation to support
transactions.
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