Changes to library opening hours throughout Stockton Borough

Following on from Stockton Council's decision in May to cut library provision across the borough, a review of the borough's library services has now been completed and the opening hours at five community libraries will change from Monday 6th January as follows:

Fairfield Library

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Current	10-7	10-7	10-7	10-12.30	10-7	10-12.30
New	10-1  2-5	Closed	10-1  2-7	Closed	10-1  2-5	10-12

 

Egglescliffe Library

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Current	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30 1.30-7	Closed	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30
New	10-1  2-5	10-1  2-5	Closed	2-7	Closed	Closed

 

Roseworth Library

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Current	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30 1.30-7	Closed	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-4
New	1-7	9.30-3	Closed	9.30-3	Closed	Closed

 

Thornaby Library (Westbury Street)

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Current	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30 1.30-7	Closed	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30 1.30-7	10-12.30
New	10-1  2-5	2-7	Closed	10-1  2-5	Closed	Closed

At Billingham (Bedale Avenue) Library, opening hours will also reduce whilst the new Billingham Central Library is constructed in the town centre.  The pattern of opening will be as follows:

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Current	10-7	10-7	10-7	10-12.30	10-7	10-12.30
New	10-1  2-5	10-1  2-5	Closed	10-1  2-5	Closed	Closed

In addition, the current Sunday openings at Stockton and Thornaby Central Libraries will be discontinued from Sunday 22nd December – all other opening times at these libraries will be unaffected.  Ingleby Barwick Library will remain open on Sundays as normal, from 11am to 4pm.

Although the cuts are extremely disappointing, we have worked hard to ensure they are not as bad as first feared.  Our libraries are without exception well used and relied upon by very many people, and we will continue to campaign to prevent any further cuts to these vital services.

"Yarm for Yorkshire"? Why not rescue Thornaby too...

During this week's Yarm Town Council meeting, a number of residents once again reiterated their desire to see Yarm returned to the control of a North Yorkshire council (read the Gazette's report here).




Yarm Town Hall flying the white rose of Yorkshire

Of course, Yarm - along with neighbouring towns south of the River Tees - forms part of the ceremonial North Riding of Yorkshire, and always has.  That is not the issue.

Whilst once a borough in its own right, and more recently falling under the control of Stokesley Rural District Council, in 1974 Yarm found itself no longer governed by an authority rooted exclusively in North Yorkshire.

On April Fools Day 1974 (an apt date, as it was surely a cruel, cruel joke), Yarm awoke to find itself within the district of Stockton-on-Tees, governed by the newly created Cleveland County Council.

The situation deteriorated further in 1996 when, following the Banham Review, the widely unpopular Cleveland Council was abolished and Yarm found itself governed by one of four newly created unitary authorities in the north east, Stockton Borough Council.

Whilst much of the motivation to have Yarm 'returned to' Yorkshire is driven by enormous public discontent at recent decisions imposed on the town against residents' wishes - Stockton's proposed parking tax and earmarking of land for thousands of new homes being two of the most notable - it is foolish to think this is the only reason.

For many, it is a simple matter of identity.  Towns such as Yarm and Thornaby, not to mention the likes of Redcar and Middlesbrough further afield, remain for the most part fiercely proud of their Yorkshire roots.  The very suggestion that they are no longer, at least administratively, part of Yorkshire is anathema to them.

For others, their motivations are much more pragmatic.

You don't have to speak to many residents of Yarm or Thornaby to hear evidence of the widespread discontent at the way those communities south of the river have been neglected by Stockton. A complaint you'll often hear around Yarm is that Stockton Council treat the town as nothing more than a cash cow.

What better example can there be than the way Ingleby Barwick has been allowed to develop? Stockton Council was quick enough to cash-in and sell land to housing developers, and has since gleefully pocketed ever increasing council tax receipts, but has left the town pitifully short of community facilities, most notably with a chronic shortage of secondary school provision.

Granted, there is nothing new in Labour councils bleeding dry areas where they have scant support in order to subsidise their client base in Labour controlled wards but, as last week's by-election in Thornaby clearly showed, residents have had enough.

That is why this campaign may develop into one to see not just Yarm liberated from Stockton Council's vampiric embrace, but all communities south of the river.

In the next few months, I would hope to see Yarm Town Council approaching its counterparts in Kirklevington, Thornaby, Ingleby Barwick and others with a view to arranging an indicative referendum throughout all communities south of the river.

"Yarm for Yorkshire" is not a new campaign, and it is not going to go away any time soon...

Forget Thornaby; build it in Stockton or don't build it anywhere...

Last week, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed an appeal that would have seen the derelict former Springs Leisure Club at Teesside Park (which has stood empty since 2007) brought back into use, and £7.5 million of private investment and over 60 new jobs brought to Thornaby.

James Wharton MP stood outside the derelict Springs site.

The developers had hoped to build a new Travelodge, a Nandos restaurant and a Harverster pub/restaurant on the site which has been an eyesore for many a year, standing as it does at the entrance to Teesside Park.  Despite the urging of Conservatives on the committee and the ever robust leader of the Thornaby Independents, Steve Walmsley, the Labour members on the planning committee ensured, for a second time, the application was refused.

In hearing and dismissing the appeal, the planning inspector found the economic benefits of the scheme were "not significant", despite earlier stating that "the site is located within one of the worst 10% of nationally ranked deprived wards with a current unemployment rate in excess of 9%".

It makes one wonder just how deprived the ward would need to be for £7.5million to be considered a significant figure? Or how many Thornaby residents would need to be unemployed before 60+ new jobs was regarded as a significant benefit to the area and the town?

Stockton Council's primary argument for rejecting the application - on both occasions it has been considered by the planning committee - was the risk it would pose to their attempts to regenerate Stockton High Street. As pointed out by James Wharton, MP for Stockton South, it goes to show just how fragile Stockton Council believe their own economic model to be.

We all know Stockton High Street is in a dire state, but if Stockton Council really believe a small hotel, a restaurant and a pub being sited at Teesside Park would undermine their £20million regeneration plans (plans some may describe as necromancy) an urgent rethink is required.

Of course, no right-thinking person gives any credence to the Labour run Council's professed reasons for opposing the application. In reality, Labour councillors would much rather see the new jobs and investment going to Stockton instead of Thornaby (or instead of any other part of the borough for that matter).

In their representations to the planning inspector, Stockton Council suggested a number of alternative sites which are, they claim, sequentially preferable to the Springs site.  It is telling that every single one of these suggestions are located within Stockton; no consideration whatsoever was given to any other part of the borough, let alone Thornaby.

It's perfectly understandable that many Labour councillors feel driven to prove their former leader, Bob Gibson, wrong (after he described Stockton High Street as being "beyond redemption"), but to do so by deliberately eschewing any proposals to bring investment to any part of the borough outside of Stockton town centre is tantamount to an act of vandalism.

Following hot on the heels of charging the people of Thornaby £100,000 to regain control of their Town Hall (despite Stockton Council having complained for many years about the estimated £15,000 p.a. it cost for the building's upkeep!) it's clear that Labour led Stockton Council doesn't give a damn about Thornaby, and cares not a jot for its history or its future (something all residents south of the Tees will find familiar).

One can only hope that the residents of Village ward think long and hard before the election on 7th February, and tell Les Hodge and the Labour Party that enough is enough.