Yarm & Green Spaces

A visit to the hospital this morning confirmed that the radial knuckle (elbow) is mended nicely but there's some inflammation of the tendons so the arm is still in need of a little tender loving care! Gentle stretching exercise is prescribed so if you see my arm waving in the air I am definitely waving not drowning.
A leaflet arrived through the letter box today about parking in Yarm. It's a topic of great interest to many people in this ward whether or not they park there, because one of the biggest causes of congestion in Yarm High St is people looking for parking spots. Although there are no new suggestions in it for some reason it had to be kept confidential and not mentioned to Eaglescliffe councillors until the public leaflet was ready and the display was being set up. As a result we couldn't let people know in time for today's exhibition in Yarm. There's a number of suggestions being made and it's worth looking at them and making comment. None of them will completely solve the problems but it's a serious effort to make a difference so please do have your say. If you haven't got a leaflet there's a section on the Council website about it so you can see what's being suggested there.
There was a drop in session for councillors this evening to discuss the various plans and strategies that are developing at the moment for all our green spaces around the borough. Although there was nothing new in there it was helpful to be able to see how everything is starting to link together. I've only been a councillor for a few years but in that time I've been frustrated on occasion by the fact that the right hand didn't seem to know what the left hand was doing on open space and green areas. It must be much worse for people who've been involved for much longer.
At last every bit of green is being recognised as having some value, whether it's in someone's garden, beside a road or part of a big park. That doesn't mean that we never remove green areas, but it does mean that we consider their value in relation to other values and make a more informed decision, or at least I hope that's what it will mean. It's certainly beginning to make a little bit of difference in planning committee meetings. It also means that green spaces and play areas are planned differently now, aiming to let young people take risks which a couple of years ago were frowned on - there's nothing new under the sun is there? Now we encourage them to climb trees etc. without doing a risk assessment first!
The session was also useful because I could make some enquiries about how things are progressing with the Parish Council's work on the Play Areas and remind some relevant officers of promises that have been made of further help for us.
There's an on-going consultation on our green spaces and what we want from them so if you haven't already done so please go to the website and have your say.