Forest Giraffe moves in to Yarm's Leven Park!

Earlier today, Leven Park welcomed a new resident - a Forest Giraffe!

In recent months, Yarm councillor Andrew Sherris and I have sought feedback from residents on the new play area at Leven Park.

Almost without exception, residents replied they wanted to see equipment suitable for younger children.

Responding to this we drew up a shortlist of potential new pieces of equipment and asked youngsters at Levendale primary school to select their favourite. Their overwhelming favourite was the Forest Giraffe which Cllr Sherris and I agreed to order, paid for from our Community Participation Budget.

With work having commenced earlier today, it is hoped the new equipment will be 'bedded in' and open for use well ahead of the school holidays.

With Yarm Town Council having wasted over £40,000 of the council's reserves on a futile judicial review grossly mishandled by two Conservative councillors (and then a further £13,000 spent on the cost of the by-election forced by the two councillors' resignations), the council is sadly no longer in a position to replace, renew or add to the town's facilities in the coming years.

It therefore makes it all the more pleasing we have found room within this year's budget to provide this welcome addition to Leven Park.

Although there remains little scope for further schemes this year - with funds having been set aside to replace many of the small, post-mounted litter bins throughout the town which are not fit for purpose - please feel free to contact me with any suggestions for further projects.

Post by Cllr Mark Chatburn.

New footpaths and cycleways proposed for Levendale Estate, Yarm

We are pleased to announce that in conjunction with Stockton Borough Council we will shortly start consulting residents on proposals to create a new footpath and cycle way linking parts of the Levendale estate to Levendale Primary School.

Levendale Primary School, Yarm

Constructed during the 1970s, the Levendale estate lacks the traffic-free cycleways and 'safe routes' to the centrally located primary school that would today be insisted upon.  Not only is there no dedicated pedestrian route linking the estate to the school, neither does such a route exist linking much of the estate to the local shop.

At a meeting attended by Councillor Sherris and I, draft plans to build a new footpath & cycleway running through what was the pylon corridor linking Kirk Road with Glaisdale Road, and running east/west linking the aforementioned path with the primary school and continuing on to Mount Leven Road, near Bankside, were discussed in detail.

In order to further enhance the safety of children travelling to school, plans to implement a 20mph zone in the vicinity of the school are also to be consulted upon.

The necessary £150,000 funding for the scheme has already been secured, following a successful bid to the Department for Transport Links to Schools and Communities budget (managed by Sustrans) with matched funding being stumped up by Stockton Council.

In addition, Sustrans have also allocated a further £8,500 to promote the scheme and to work with pupils and staff at Levendale Primary School.

It is important to stress that no decisions have been taken at this stage and we are extremely keen to hear residents' views on the key principles of the scheme.

Following our success in, eventually, securing the funding for the new play area at Leven Park, we are delighted we have now been able to secure this additional money for further infrastructure improvements in Yarm.

We hope to shortly announce the date of a drop-in consultation at which residents can view the initial draft scheme and to make their opinions heard. Should you not be able to attend the forthcoming consultation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly for further details.

Finally, a mention and our thanks should go to Jonathan Kibble at Stockton Council for all his hard work in securing the funding and progressing the concept thus far.