MEMBERS of a town forum cannot decide how to prioritise its spending.

The Newton Aycliffe Area Forum will have about £100,000 to spend on the tidy estates initiative next year, plus about £12,000 left over from this year's budget.

At a meeting this week, some members expressed concern about how the money was being spent.

Councillor George Gray said he remembered an agreement that 75 per cent of the money would be spent in the town's west ward.

"That's not happening. I would say 75 per cent is going to the other side of town and the west is getting very little," he said.

Councillor Bob Fleming said he also recalled the agreement, but there were insufficient suggestions being put forward on how to improve the west ward.

"It appears to me as if it has become a case of first come, first served - those people who put the bids in early have had the work done or are being approved, and the late ones are being held back."

He said that different areas would have different needs, making it difficult to prioritise schemes.

Councillor Don Fraser said he would bring forward any schemes which people in his Woodham ward wanted to see realised.

There was also some concern expressed at the forum meeting that only three schemes, for a road repair, new footpaths and dropped kerbs, had been completed to date.