Another incident of fly tipping at Redcar

I have today reported, for investigation and removal as soon as possible, yet another incident of fly tipping at the rear of Easson Road and Westfield Avenue.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Publication Local Plan Consultation

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has begun to undertake consultation on its Publication Local Plan. The consultation period began on Tuesday 6^th December 2016 and will finish at 5pm on Tuesday 31^st January 2017.

The Local Plan includes a vision for how the Borough should be in 2032 and sets out a strategy for growth, identifying appropriate areas and sites for development, as well as the necessary infrastructure to support this growth. The Local Plan will also be used to make decisions on future planning applications and, once adopted, will replace the Council’s existing planning framework set out in the Local Development Framework Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD) and Development Policies DPD, 2007, as well as a number of ‘saved’ Local Plan Policies, originally adopted in 1999.

The Publication Local Plan is the version of the Plan which the Council wishes to adopt. The Council has previously consulted on the Draft Local Plan (from 27 June to 8 August 2016) and representations received on that consultation have been taken into account, alongside other considerations, during the preparation of the Publication Local Plan.

Following this consultation, the Publication Version Local Plan will be submitted, together with the representations received in this publication consultation, to the Secretary of State for Examination in Public.

Alongside the Publication Local Plan, the Council is also publishing the proposed Policies Map for consultation. This sets out, on an Ordnance Survey base map, where the site and locationally specific planning policies will apply.

The Council is also publishing the Publication Local Plan 2016 Sustainability Appraisal and Appropriate Assessment reports for consultation.

The Publication Local Plan, and all of the associated documents, can be viewed online.

Copies of the Publication Local Plan can also be found at all of the borough’s libraries, and at the Council’s offices at: Redcar and Cleveland House, Kirkleatham Street, Redcar; and Belmont House, Rectory Lane, Guisborough.  The Sustainability Appraisal and Appropriate Assessment reports can also be viewed for comment online and at Redcar and Cleveland House and Belmont House. 

Have your say on Redcar and Cleveland Council's budget plans

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has launched its budget consultation exercise, following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday 6 December.

As part of setting its financial plans for the next three to five years, the council would like to gather the views of the borough’s residents on various capital investment proposals, plus their thoughts on council tax levels, adult social care precept and changes to its council tax support discount scheme. 

Residents can get involved by downloading the questionnaire or by completing it online on the council’s consultation webpage.

The council will also be hosting four face to face consultation events in Guisborough, Eston and Redcar. More information on these can be found below:

·              Guisborough – Thursday 5 January, Sunnyfield House, at 5.30pm;

·              Eston – Tuesday 10 January, Inspire2Learn @ Eston Civic and Learning Centre, at 5.30pm;

·              Redcar – Tuesday 10 January, Redcar & Cleveland Leisure and Community Heart, at 12pm;

·              Redcar – Wednesday 11 January, Redcar & Cleveland Leisure and Community Heart, at 5.30pm.

Residents interested in attending the consultation events can register their interest on the council’s webpage.

The council will also be consulting with partners and seeking the views of local businesses.

The consultation will end on Wednesday 11 January, and the results will be fed in to the cabinet meeting on Tuesday 24 January 2017. 

Christmas Tree Switch on Roseberry Shopping Centre, Redcar

Christmas Tree

Switch on

Roseberry Shopping Centre, Redcar

Thursday 8th December 2016

at 5pm .

Supported by Scrumptious,

Sainsbury’s, Cleveland Police and Redcar and

Cleveland Borough Council

Christmas Carols

Free hot chocolate and mince pies

Come along and join in the fun

TIME TO RAISE THE ROOF ABOUT THE LACK OF POLITICAL BALANCE IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS

I have just been out to find a copy of Issue 75 of Coastal View as I have started to advertise for electrical work in it again. It is not distributed where I live but is available from a few reasonably local outlets.

I could not believe my eyes when I looked through it. 17 of its editorial pages had items about the two Labour MPs and various Labour Councillors and that included FIVE full pages and THREE that were at least half pages full of Labour propaganda.

The Lib Dems had ONE item about the possible closure of Laburnum Library sent in by Josh Mason. I accept my item about the proposal to move the books out of Roseberry Library may have been after the deadline for this issue but I understand we sent out a few items that didn't get in.

There are a handful of items concerning Independent Councillors in the popular local paper and a couple of letters from UKIP. Nothing from the Conservatives.

We don't all have the staff paid out of the public purse that MP's have to spend all day writing articles for them but we are involved in quite a lot of things that are just as newsworthy but are ignored by the local media.

Our answer is as always we do the hard work of keeping in touch with our electors ourselves. There are quite a few newsworthy items which go out regularly in my ward newsletter Focus, on this Facebook page, and my blog. They are about local campaigning, holding the Labour Council to account and making proposals for actions that seek to make a difference for local people.

Surely it should not be down to who can afford to pay staff to feed newspapers but it clearly is you know. We no longer have an MP so we expect to have less coverage but what is happening with Labour coverage is not fair at all. Nobody else, as far as I know, is asked to comment on the claims in these Labour biased items.

We do send out press statements as well but very little gets in these days. It seems to me that newspapers no longer even try to provide balanced coverage.

The Gazette, which is Trinity Mirror owned, gave up on balance years ago. They only balance articles critical of Labour but they no longer ask opposition members to quote on items put out by the local Labour Councils.

I am sure it will turn out to be our fault as it always is but I ask myself what would Labour say if one of the other political groups got 17 pages of coverage in one local newspaper? They would raise the roof and never stop going on about it.

What the Liberal Democrats believe

Thank you to Mark Pack for this useful document. Click on it for an expanded view

Redcar Lib Dems fight for Roseberry Library

Labour-run Redcar and Cleveland Council appears to want to split Roseberry Library up with the books going into the 25K Community Centre, the IT section staying where it is and Adult Education taking over the purpose built Library building, as part of the Council’s cost cutting Shaping Our Future 3 programme.

But the possible partial closure of the library is unacceptable. My Newcomen Ward  Lib Dem Community Campaigners Laura Benson (pictured centre) and my daughter Kelly Seaman (left) have joined the campaign and hope to encourage more people to sign our online petition.

The Council should leave Roseberry Library intact as it currently is. More should be made of its potential as a meeting place. Roseberry Library is in the best possible position for the area it has served for around 50 years.

It had been the hub of the former Roseberry Square Shopping Centre and is now an important feature of the modern Roseberry Shopping Centre.

Losing the Library will also have a negative effect on the businesses that operate in the Shopping Centre.