Barrage Housing Application

For a while now, the Homes and Communities Agency have been planning on building 150 homes at the Tees Barrage (Thornaby side) - these homes would not be social housing, that we are in desperate need of but private housing offering river views with a mix of 2,3,4 and 5 bedroom properties. But this week they have revised their application and it is now down to 96 dwellings, mostly thanks to Johnson Matthey Chemical Research who have highlighted the damages of living close to a chemical and research facility.

Now I understand that there is a shortage of housing, however I don't think new properties should come at the cost of green open spaces that are home to mixture of wildlife and places where families and individuals gather to enjoy the great outdoors.

It's my view that we need to start building upwards, Stockton Council has projected that an extra 21,000 people will live in the area by 2032 and its evident that there is a few brownfield sites available, however it comes at a huge cost to purchase and clear the sites such as the Tees Marshalling Yards in Thornaby. Once home to one of the biggest rail depots in Britain, now a derelict and unused piece of land. For me building a skyline is important, both in terms of what they offer and also it makes a statement, just look at Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham.

Having a long term vision is important for our area, but sadly this has come undone and we risk losing potentially millions of pounds of investment and growth.

Comments

Darlington Library

So Darlington Council have to make huge savings and doing so it seems their first target is the Crown Street Library. The plan is to sell the building and relocate services to the Dolphin Centre on a much reduced scale. This is to come at the cost of 25 jobs within Library Services and I am appalled that when the going gets tough, the council's get cutting. Instead of reducing the costs to the upper hierarchy of said council, it is the front line staff that are being sent packing. In my opinion services such as libraries should be the last thing to be hit when making cuts. Libraries have an environment that encourages thinking, reading and writing and allows imagination to run wild. Darlington Council will make their decision this Wednesday in a Special Cabinet meeting and I hope for the sake of learning and culture, they see fit to save this building and better still save the creative environment that comes with libraries.

Social Media

For those that don't know I have been blocked by Facebook, this has happened 3 times in as many days. Facebook says that is due to being reported and in my opinion I most probably know who by. But never the less, I will continue to inform people of what I do and what I think by other means. Twitter and Blogger are to become my main source of communication and to be truthful Facebook was beginning to get on my nerves anyway. Fake news at its finest. So from now on I will get family members and friends to post the links up to this blog and if you are on twitter you can follow me at @LukeJohnFrost where you can also send me private messages if you so wish to do so. I know there was a lot of people who relied on this on Facebook. But not to worry, if you are not on Twitter you can still request my email or catch me as some do in the Town Centre or Library.

Putting The Record Straight

Just to make something clear, I am not against investment in our area, far from it. I have signed many support comments for developments such as Aldi, Parade of Shops on the Industrial Estate and even supported the Hotel proposal and the Student apartments on Mandale Triangle. Saying that I have also objected to a few, such as the Mcdonalds on the centre and recently the two takeaways that where planned for Lanehouse Road, along with the proposal for 150 homes at the Barrage. In fact I am still the only objector on the Stockton Council Planning portal. I believe investment is great, when it is in the right area and with the right amount of demand, access and need. Over the years we have had a bombardment of planning applications go through Stockton Borough Council for south of the Tees developments that has seen the population swell and the infrastructure buckle under the weight of bad management and developers who constantly cut corners to make a quick pound or two. In the pas...

Luke John Frost

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