Had to do a double take whilst reading two stories that were side by side in last weeks Teesdale Mercury.

The first one - which I was aware of - concerned the demise of Cockfield football team. Michael Hallimond (Former CFC Chairman) explained in the paper that he felt let down by the parish council as he’d had no help with funding to repair and maintain the changing rooms at the Hazel Grove ground; round the rec to you and me!

Brenda Singleton (Parish Council Chairwoman) strongly refuted this saying ‘they hadn’t charged them a penny and had always tried to help’.

I didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of this argument and to a degree I still don’t, but then I saw the Mercury’s story just underneath this one; of which, I wasn’t aware!

It turns out that the parish council have finally sold the old community centre and are holding a public meeting on Wednesday to decide how to spend the ‘tens of thousands’ of pounds that will be generated by the sale!

Cllr Singleton says the money must be spent on a community project and hints on a new community ‘facility’ - wait for it - round the REC!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for new facilities, but IF a new centre is to be built round there, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the football club and the council to get their heads together and see if they can incorporate some showers and changing rooms into the place. The ultimate decision on what happens however, will be down to local residents.

If you have any idea’s as to how you would like to see the funds used, please try and attend Wednesday’s meeting, after all, it’s YOUR money!

The public meeting takes place on Wednesday 22nd September at 7.00pm in the Methodist chapel meeting room.