(Image: Matt James Smith)
Redhills’ historic Pitman’s Parliament has reconvened for the first time in more than three decades, bringing together County Durham community groups to discuss rebuilding their communities.
The two-day Redhills Assembly filled the Edwardian debating chamber at the former Durham Miners’ Association headquarters with miners’ descendants and grassroots groups united by a vision of “Rebuilding Our Coalfield Common Wealth.”
Chris McDonald, the Stockton North MP, Redhills trustee and long-time supporter, opened the Assembly with a call to build a future based on shared prosperity.
A vote of confidence in County Durham's coalfield communities at the Pitman's Parliament (Image: Matt James Smith)
Mr McDonald said: "In their day, with the money they earned, the miners invested in care and education and social provision – the common wealth – but most of the money made from the coalfield left the area.
"Now, it’s about how we bring money back to the County Durham communities and keep it there.
"What are the ways that people and groups can come together to make that happen?"
County Durham MP, Chris McDonald, officially opens the Redhills Assembly. Pic by Matt James Smith (Image: Matt James Smith)
He said the Assembly’s aims matched the Government’s focus on devolution and empowering communities to help young people build futures in the region.
Andrew McIntyre, Redhills’ chief executive, said his team had spent two years organising the Assembly with community groups.
Mr McIntyre said: "It was a proud moment because people were very clear when we were restoring Redhills that they didn’t want it to be a museum or a place that looked backwards.
Adam Cooper talks about community solar putting money into people's pockets at the Redhills Assembly (Image: Matt James Smith)
"They wanted it at the heart of the community, and they wanted it to be forward-thinking and a place of hope, and with the Assembly, that’s what it was – people sitting in the Pitman’s Parliament, sharing ideas and conversations and looking to build a better future for the people of County Durham."
Redhills was once at risk of dereliction after County Durham’s coal industry collapsed, but a £14 million investment has transformed it, including £9 million from the National Lottery and £5 million from unions and the local community.
The building is now powered by geothermal energy.
The Redhills Assembly in action at the Pitman's Parliameny (Image: Matt James Smith)
Groups including Sacriston Youth Project, Horden Heat, Communities CAN, Durham Energy Council, Ancestral Reverb, Sea Change Hartlepool and the Sunderland Lit and Phil gave talks at the Assembly.
A delegation from Boston, USA, gave a presentation titled When The Community Owns The Money about building locally owned financial resources.
Adam Cooper of Threads in the Ground outlined plans for a community-owned solar farm in County Durham that would keep its profits in the community.
Mr Cooper said: "The last time the average person in the UK could really own their own energy was around the 1650s, when you could walk out to the commons, chop down a tree and burn it.
"For 400 years, all the wealth created through our energy has been captured elsewhere – by the landed gentry, the church, distant conglomerates.
"Now, for the first time in hundreds of years, it is possible for an average person, for a community, to own energy infrastructure in the shape of a solar farm."
Mr McIntyre said the Assembly marked a turning point for County Durham.
He said: "I’m enormously proud of how well the Assembly went.
"There was a real can-do feel about it and a sense of hope that, after so long, we can rebuild our communities.
"It’s all about developing links and networks, sharing ideas, pooling interests and working together. That’s exactly what the Pitman’s Parliament was all about.
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"The last time it was in session was in 1993.
"This was the first Assembly of the 21st century, but it won’t be the last.
"We plan to make it an annual event now, always conscious of the fact that the past we inherit, but the future we build."
Redhills is open to the public every Sunday from 11am to 2pm.