Thornaby Pride Spring 2016

THORNABY Your Community News From Thornaby Town Council SPRING 2016 World Book Day at Thornaby Academy . e d i s n I Council 10 x £100 Sea Cadets Remember News/Comment Grants to give away Poppy Appeal When See pages 3 - 5 See page 10 See pages 26 & 27 See page 28 Thornaby Always Advancing Budget LIFETIME ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE GUARANTEE FOR OUR “NEW MAXXIS TYRES” 1556514 Budget £22.50 Riken £25.80 Maxxis £35.90 1956515 Budget £27.50 Riken £31.00 Maxxis £41.00 2055516 Budget £28.50 Riken £32.00 Maxxis £42.50 2254517 Budget £33.50 Riken £38.00 Maxxis £55.50 2254018 Budget £31.80 Riken £38.50 Maxxis £59.50 All Prices include fitting, balance, casing disposal & vat. THE MAXXIS GUARANTEE Maxxis will replace a tyre which shows irreparable damage resulting from use. Replacement is based on dealer assessment where a replacement value is calculated based on the amount of tread used. Station Street, Teesdale, Thornaby, TS17 6AG Tel: 01642 676 667 Email: [email protected] Visit www.tacgroup.info 2 Thornaby Always Advancing Council Comment TDMORTON FEEDALL OPTOMETRIST Pet Food Specialists DOG FOODS • HORSE FEEDS • BIRD SEEDS RABBIT FOODS • POULTRY FEED • BEDDING Specialists in Pet Food Nutrition • Diet Problems SPECIAL OFFER 15kg Red Mills 24% Protein Country Man £10.50 or 2 For £20 Hypoallergenic, Gluten Free, No Colours 2 x 12kg Chicken or Lamb for only £38.50 Monday to Saturday Open 10am-5pm 10%all full price OFF frames 01642 606255 Offer expires 30th April 2016 Douglas Close, Preston Farm, Stockton-on-Tees The Pavilion Shopping Centre, Thornaby 01642 760042 Est. 1999 10, Leven Road, Norton Village 01642 554313 Always Advancing Sculpture away from graffiti vandals. Once established in this central Many residents will remember what was often referred to place of prominence, the roundabout was tastefully as ‘The Spider’ in Thornaby Town Centre and recall landscaped and lights positioned to illuminate the children climbing the structure and sliding down it. But sculpture at night time. Unfortunately, weather and traffic few will have appreciated the quality of the sculpture, it’s fumes have had a detrimental effect and the structure is significance to Thornaby, or indeed who the artist was. now looking rather jaded. Perhaps residents would be surprised to learn that the And so TTC, in recognition of the heritage value of this artist was Brian Wall – a former assistant of renowned outstanding sculpture and the nostalgia it evokes, is in artist, Barbara Hepworth – who now has a studio in talks with SBC to give this treasured artwork a much Oakland, California, and has his work exhibited and needed facelift. It is TTC’s intention to revitalise the iconic acclaimed all over the world. work with carefully chosen specialised paint and lighting In 1968 Brian was paid the princely sum of £9,000 to that both compliments the sculpture and makes it highly create a sculpture representative of Thornaby. The result visible at night. Other work to the roundabout is also being was a large abstract steel structure painted black with two considered to really make a statement to enhance and sharp-angled geometric beams forming two letter ‘A’s and preserve such a valuable artwork for current and future with a supporting tilted central disc to symbolise the generations. Thornaby motto of ‘Always Advancing’. One 'A' of the structure was said to symbolise the old village of Thornaby, Shopwatch the other, the new town. Made to Wall's design at Head The Shopwatch Scheme is a partnership where retailers Wrightson's in Thornaby, the central disc was added to the unite in a communication network linked to police to design at the suggestion of a local art student. tackle theft from retail premises. The Shopwatch In 2002 during the redevelopment of Thornaby Town organization works closely with local authorities in a bid to Centre, the 13 ton Thornaby icon was moved from the reduce retail crime and antisocial behaviour and to help centre where it had stood since 1968 and lifted into its make shopping a more pleasurable, safer experience for new home on the town centre roundabout to move it customers and staff. 3 Thornaby Always Advancing Council Comment Some time ago at an anti-social behaviour meeting held in There are many representations which express concern in Thornaby, the need for a Shopwatch Scheme was raised by relation to a number of matters. Many of them refer to the Inspector Darren Birkett to help free up police time to site being within a Green Wedge, which I understand was carry out a whole range of other duties essential to previously the case. As I have indicated above that is not community safety. Darren informed the meeting of the now the situation, and the Council does not contest the pressure on police resources due to the reduction in police appeal on that basis. numbers as a result of the economic downturn and cuts from central government. And so it was agreed to I note that the review of Green Wedges in December 2014 investigate the scheme further. concluded that site is not easily viewed and that its development would not undermine the separation of built Unfortunately, funding was a major snag whilst businesses up areas or feeling of openness, subject to satisfactory needed to know the effectiveness of such a scheme before siting and design. The Green Wedge arguments therefore being able to justify any costs to them personally. carry little weight here. The Core Strategy gives an Consequently, Thornaby Town Council stepped in with a indication of the extent of the Green Wedge, but it clearly pledge to help pay the first year of such a scheme and excludes the appeal site. apply for match funding from a pot of money held by the Police Crime Commissioner. Ward councillors also agreed Teesdale Park (Thornaby FC) to donate from personal budgets to what is undoubtedly a truly worthwhile, cost effective cause. Hopefully, the Thankfully, plans to build 60 homes on Teesdale Park were scheme will soon be up and running. thrown out at a recent Planning Committee meeting and it is hoped that there will be no appeal. But this application Liverton Crescent once again shows that developers will target anything for huge profit – even a local park cherished by the whole Residents were understandably dismayed to hear news community as a place of recreation and leisure and a that an unelected Planning Inspector had turned over a planning refusal on land adjacent to Liverton unique haven for an abundance of common and rare flora Crescent/Cayton Drive. However, it was hardly surprising and fauna. They will also go to great lengths to achieve given the history of this plot of land and the weak their objective. protection afforded to it following the revelation that a So just to put the record straight, here are a few truths. move had been made to reintroduce it as development Once an open tip, the Teesdale Park and football facilities land by stealth. When this was discovered and reversed, are now regarded as the most improved in the north of residents took for granted that it would then be protected England. Vandalism, once commonplace, is now rare and by core policy and that it was green wedge lying within the the drug and prostitution pest once prevalent in the area Tees Heritage Park. How wrong they were and comments was snuffed out many years ago. But this was not the from the Inspector must have been a real eye opener picture portrayed by proponents of the housing scheme. proving that nothing is sacred – more so if so if policy and local plans are so ditched at a whim. The following are just Advocates in favour of development also stated that there some of the Inspector’s reasons for upholding the would be no overall effect in building on the upper pitch, developer’s appeal. but that too was exposed as utter nonsense. The two Reference has been made by third parties to the ‘Green pitches proposed to be crammed in next to the northern Wedge’ which is said to exist in this locality. However, I league pitch were not only much smaller, but would not have satisfied increased demand on the park for pitches of have taken account of the judgement in Tiviot that any a standard acceptable to stage competitive football. Green Wedge annotation in this locality fell away with Furthermore, it was only a short while ago that Thornaby the adoption of the Core Strategy. FC approached TTC for help in acquiring another piece of I am aware that the Council is preparing the Stockton-on- land for another pitch because of increased demand – Tees Regeneration and Environment Local Plan. This is at disproving the ludicrous developer assertion that there publication draft stage and as yet carries limited weight. was more than enough capacity. In any event, whilst it seeks to promote green infrastructure in the form of primary and secondary But perhaps worst of all was the tactics used by the corridors, there is no suggestion that the appeal site owner/developer in trying to bulldoze this application would lie within such a corridor, though the Tees Heritage through – typical of so many cheque book waving Park would. developers. Thornaby FC members were put under an 4 Thornaby Always Advancing Council Comment enormous amount of pressure – which an officer from But Thornaby Sport England was prepared to turn a blind eye to - and a was Ken’s threat was made to the football club to remove the licence true love and from the top pitches to stop juniors playing if the club was he put his unsupportive of plans.

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