“NEW DOUBLE CROSSING FOR THE TEES” If elected as Tees Valley Mayor in May, I will promote a new double road and rail crossing of the River Tees to improve transport links and boost economic regeneration. The Tees Valley Devolution Agreement merely calls for ‘an additional Tees River Crossing’, but I believe we much be much, much bolder and go for a double road and rail crossing, This would not only boost transport and jobs over the next ten years, it would continue to underpin the local economy for decades ahead, even for the rest of this century. Everyone agrees that an additional road crossing is needed right now to relieve traffic congestion, but I firmly believe that we also need a new downstream rail crossing to complete a loop Metro system, similar to that on Tyneside.
I would also introduce an Oyster card with concessions to greatly enhance the ability of all our people to travel quickly and easily to work, to school, to hospitals and for shopping, sport and leisure. The whole of the Tees Valley is in effect a single journey-to-work area and should be planned and developed as such. Many people live in one district and work in another. Creating better transport links will enhance people’s education and job opportunities and enable everybody to use more facilities.
While some people support a second crossing close to the existing A19 across the Tees near Middlesbrough - a job I worked on, by the way - that would do little or nothing for Redcar and Hartlepool who need to be much more closely connected. I will press for the second crossing to be downstream of the Transporter Bridge, in the South Bank area somewhere near Tees View Point. I have walked the whole length of the Tees from the source to the mouth, and this seems the logical place for a new downstream crossing. A new, double crossing would not only boost Hartlepool and Redcar, it would help the Tees Valley as a whole and would encourage new industrial development on both sides of the river on brownfield sites and other unused land.
As Tees Valley mayor I would make full use of my powers to set up one or more Mayoral Development Corporations to speed progress and make full use of public and private finance which will be made available to us under the ‘Devo Deal’. These could benefit from the new Tees Valley Investment Fund, which will include the additional £15m a year for the next 30 years promised by the government. @chris4teesmayor (former civil and bridge engineer)
I would also introduce an Oyster card with concessions to greatly enhance the ability of all our people to travel quickly and easily to work, to school, to hospitals and for shopping, sport and leisure. The whole of the Tees Valley is in effect a single journey-to-work area and should be planned and developed as such. Many people live in one district and work in another. Creating better transport links will enhance people’s education and job opportunities and enable everybody to use more facilities.
While some people support a second crossing close to the existing A19 across the Tees near Middlesbrough - a job I worked on, by the way - that would do little or nothing for Redcar and Hartlepool who need to be much more closely connected. I will press for the second crossing to be downstream of the Transporter Bridge, in the South Bank area somewhere near Tees View Point. I have walked the whole length of the Tees from the source to the mouth, and this seems the logical place for a new downstream crossing. A new, double crossing would not only boost Hartlepool and Redcar, it would help the Tees Valley as a whole and would encourage new industrial development on both sides of the river on brownfield sites and other unused land.
As Tees Valley mayor I would make full use of my powers to set up one or more Mayoral Development Corporations to speed progress and make full use of public and private finance which will be made available to us under the ‘Devo Deal’. These could benefit from the new Tees Valley Investment Fund, which will include the additional £15m a year for the next 30 years promised by the government. @chris4teesmayor (former civil and bridge engineer)
More than half the spending on transport infrastructure in the UK goes to London. Research by think-tank IPPR North shows that an average of £1,943 per person is spent in London, compared with £427 in the North. London and the South East is already congested. New road building there only adds to the congestion, resulting in traffic delays, increased pollution, more ill health and cost on the NHS, increased house prices, longer travel to work times. The south enjoys low unemployment, leading to competition for staff and higher wages, drawing yet more people into an already overcrowded region. In the North, all these factors are reversed. Relatively small amounts of spending result in proportionately greater benefits. In recent decades our region has suffered a huge amount of depopulation. We have room to grow, and the more we can develop here, the less pressure there is on the over-heated south east.
Five new Grade A office blocks are to be built in the centre of Middlesbrough, creating 2,000 jobs and boosting trade in the town. Yes, we will lose open space in the centre, but there are plenty of other green spaces in Mbro and the River Tees is not far away with great riverside walks. Hard decisions have to be made, but for me jobs come first. As for other offices currently empty, you can’t wait for them all to be filled before you start building new ones. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/centre-square-offices-first-look-12599696
Darlington Schools are bottom of the league for underperforming secondary schools, according to the Department for Education (DfE). Darlington has a national ranking of 2nd with three out of seven schools (42.9%) underperforming. Stockton is ranked fifth worst, three of eleven schools (27.3%) underperforming; Middlesbrough 12th 2/8 25.0%; Hartlepool 21st 1/5 20.0%; Redcar & Cleveland 23rd 2/10 20.0%
EAST MIDDLESBROUGH BY-PASS - BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD No end to “Marton Crawl”. Bellway Homes have started work at Rosebery Manor, a 19-acre housing site at Swans Corner, Nunthorpe. This is the final nail in the coffin of the East Middlesbrough By-Pass, first proposed in the 1966 Teesplan. The decision by the National Trust in 2009 not to sell land at Ormesby Hall, and planning permission given for 164 homes at Low Gill off Gypsy Lane in 2014 also hindered plans for a by-pass and link roads. Yes, we need homes and new development is to be welcomed, but it’s “back to the drawing board” for a much-needed by-pass. (10.02.17)
GAS TERMINAL TO RE-OPEN Good news for Teesport - a major gas terminal is to re-open. Swiss company Trafigura is to invest £24m in the port to reopen a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal that closed two years ago. Trafigura has agree a long-term lease with PD Ports. Operations. Operations are expected to start next year. (09.02.17)
DURHAM TEES VALLEY AIRPORT The expansion of Heathrow airport will be a boost to Durham Tees Valley Airport as a regional “hub” with extra flights to and from the capital. The government has issued plans for Heathrow’s long-awaited THIRD RUNWAY for public consultation over the next four months. (02.02.17)
SEATON CAREW UPGRADE Hartlepool Council is bidding for a £600,000 grant from the Coastal Communities Fund to upgrade its seaside facilities at Seaton Carew (including the Crazy Golf!)