Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Preston Park

Yesterday and today I've been involved in a series of meetings about the Park and the Hall, the developments going on right now and the vision for the future.  They've been in turn confidential, robust, comforting and exciting.  The way in which the story of the Hall and Park will be told in the museum when it reopens, the ideas for celebrating harvest in the kitchen garden, the new settings and opportunities for weddings in the Hall, emerging plans for celebrating 200 years of the railway in Eaglescliffe, the gateway to Tees Heritage Park - all have been part of the discussions but there's been much more too. 
Years ago when I was first elected the relationship of ward councillors to council officers over the park seemed to be almost constant conflict.  It's taken hard work on both sides to reach the point we're at now, but it's been well worth the effort, and now we have a more or less shared vision which is developing in exciting ways - new ideas for events and for activities in the heart of our community.
Preston Hall & Park is the jewell in the crown of the borough, and long may it remain so.

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