A rather odd day yesterday, which left me disinclined to write anything last night. The morning was spent cramming in family things which usually run on into Thursday afternoons so that I could spend the afternoon at a family funeral. Not someone to whom I was close, but nevertheless an important part of family life. I was struck by a story which I heard many years ago but had forgotten - that this lady was taken on a plane trip over Stockton, seeing Ropner Park from the air soon after the war at a time when many people hadn't seen a plane on the ground, let alone thought of flying in one. She had an adventurous spirit which didn't leave her until her last few years.
With the funeral safely over it was time to go to the Cabinet meeting to present the report on Wastes management and recycling which the Environment select committee had produced. Thanks to much work before the report was finalised the recommendations were accepted in full so the next stage is to approve an action plan and get things moving. I also sat through the rest of the meeting so that I could see what was said and whether there were any changes to the recommendations in other reports. I was pleased that the recommendation to allocate some funding to the Western Area Partnership Board to combat unemployment (or worklessness as it's now called) went through. It's the first time that this area has had such funding and it will need to be very carefully targeted to make the most of it.
Even during a day like that e-mail is never far away, thanks to modern hand-held equipment, so I discovered that the planning application for 690 Yarm Road has gone to appeal. The appeal will be decided by way of a public hearing, rather than written submissions so that will require a lot of work on my part. I know I can rely on support from my fellow ward councillors but it was also nice to get a message of support from a neighbouring councillor.

This afternoon was taken up on Parish Council business, trying to ensure that if the Allen's West development gets approval it's on the best possible terms for the area while not taking away from the fact that the Parish Council has registered its objections to the application.