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.

Yarm Residents Association - Missing in Action

At last night's Yarm Town Council meeting, the so-called residents' association demonstrated that all their talk is exactly that - talk.

In readiness for Yarm Gala held each June, Yarm Town Council is obliged to fence off the part of the High Street the Gala occupies. This work has previously been undertaken by volunteers, although numbers have dwindled in recent years.

So much so that last year only two other town councillors in addition to myself (cllrs Andrew Sherris and Bob Wegg) turned up on the day to erect the barriers, and the following day to remove them. (It's worth noting that there were more relatives of Mrs Milburn, the council's clerk, helping out than there were councillors!)

Concerned at the lack of volunteers, Yarm Town Council sensibly asked Stockton Borough Council to quote how much it would cost us to pay them to do the work for us. The answer: a staggering £580 plus VAT.

Given Yarm is still licking its financial wounds incurred in the disastrously mishandled Judicial Review (mishandled by disgraced ex-cllr Jason Hadlow, the 'brains' of Yarm's so-called residents' association no less), it was out of the question that we inflict this additional cost on our town.

So, as last year, I suggested that we undertake the work ourselves, and as last year councillors Sherris and Wegg readily offered their services.

However, when I asked for further volunteers from the members of the public present - including the three candidates in this month's by-election standing under the banner of the so-called residents' association - I was greeted with a stony silence. Not one of them was prepared to give up just a couple of hours of their time for the good of our community.

In stark contrast, I am delighted to confirm that all three of UKIP's candidates in the by-election have confirmed they will be helping out on both days. Unlike others, we recognise that talk is cheap, and that actions speak louder than words.

YRA? MIA.

Government recognises the true Yorkshire boundary

To celebrate Saint George's day, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (and a proud Yorkshireman to boot, hailing from Keighley - the town of my father's birth), announced the Government will formally acknowledge traditional county boundaries. (This piece in the Dalesman summarises matters beautifully).


A map of traditional county boundaries © Copyright the
Association of British Counties



As a consequence of the Local Government Act 1972, many parts of Yorkshire were carved off and swallowed up by newly created entities (into the so-called 'county' of Cleveland, for example). Yarm-on-Tees was one of the victims of this ill-considered piece of legislation. A brief summary of the administrative changes affecting Yarm can be found here.

Of course, this announcement will not materially change anything. The cross-county atrocity of Stockton Borough Council, created in 1996, will continue to exist in its current form. For now...

The announcement is, however, a powerful acknowledgement of the role of traditional counties throughout the history of our nation. Indeed, many of our traditional counties (including Yorkshire) predate the very Kingdom itself. It is also a welcome recognition of the key role of traditional counties in the shaping of individuals', and our nation's, identity.

Furthermore, there was one comment in the Government's announcement in particular which made the heart sing:

"He [Eric Pickles MP] will encourage local residents to continue to champion such local identities, irrespective of current tiers of local administration."

Many in Yarm (including the town's self-styled "mayor", Jason Hadlow), having seen the growing groundswell of residents keen to see Yarm once again under the control of an administration rooted firmly and entirely with North Yorkshire, are keen to jump on the bandwagon. It is telling that many of those now espousing recognition of the town's Yorkshire roots have hitherto done nothing whatsoever to mark or achieve this.

So, as a quick and easy first step, I have an idea...

The current signs 'welcoming' people to Yarm (below) completely fail to reflect the town's historic roots. Whilst mentioning the town's recent links to the towns in France and Germany with which it is twinned, it mentions nothing of our centuries old ties with the North Riding of Yorkshire. (That's not to mention the tired state of the signs, to put it politely.)


The 'welcome' sign for residents entering North Yorkshire
from County Durham over the River Tees from Eaglescliffe

At the next meeting of Yarm Town Council I will therefore be asking the council to consider replacing the current tired, old signs with something much more in keeping with our historic town and which highlights, loud and proud, that Yarm lies, as it has always lain, within the North Riding of Yorkshire.

Granted, it's a small first step, but might oaks from tiny acorns grow.

Stockton Conservatives to boycott council AGM

As a result of Stockton Council's refusal to hold a minute's silence in memory of Lady Thatcher at its AGM to be held next Wednesday - the same day as Lady Thatcher's funeral - Conservatives on Stockton Council are set to boycott the meeting.

Lady Thatcher, the UK's first woman Prime Minster

Following such a disrespectful decision from Stockton Council, it was out of the question that I would attend the AGM.  Largely a ceremonial event nowadays for the nodding dogs to welcome the new mayor for the forthcoming year, to refuse to hold a minute's silence for the country's first and only woman Prime Minister demonstrates what a callous and childish bunch make up, for the most part, Stockton's councillors.

Earlier this week I was proud that my request at Yarm Town Council to stand for a minute's silence was agreed unanimously and observed impeccably by all councillors and members of the public present.

Not all those in attendance were Conservative, or even small 'c' conservative, by any stretch of the imagination. Many at the meeting disagreed with some of her policies fiercely and remain bitter about them to this day.

It is a measure of those that attended the meeting that they were decent enough to mark the passing of such an historic figure, the like of whom we are unlikely to see again.

The outgoing Mayor of Stockton, councillor Lynne Apedaile, has been exemplary in the way she has conducted herself during her mayoral year. I would hope all councillors, irrespective of political persuasion, would agree that she has been an example for all future mayors to emulate and she should look back on her year in office with great pride.

However, the response to be issued by Stockton Council in the event of any media enquiries is pretty shameful. It reads,

"I believe there are more appropriate forums and enough other opportunities for local politicians to express their own respects and thoughts to the news of Baroness Thatcher’s death."

Quite how or why it is felt 'inappropriate' for the council to acknowledge the passing of Lady Thatcher at its first meeting since her death is not explained.

It is a sorry state of affairs, and just the latest sad indictment of some of the characters we have on Stockton Council, that they can't even bring themselves to stand for a minute's silence. This is party political bitterness from the Labour benches to a degree that I have never before experienced, and would hope I never have to witness again.

I regret that I will not now be attending the AGM, but I am proud my fellow Conservative councillors do not wish to have anything to do with the meeting either.