Down to earth with a bang on Tuesday morning with a message that Yarm School were holding a pre-application consultation on Friday for a proposal that had me checking the calendar.  No, it wasn't April 1st so this was serious.  Unfortunately it was also impossible to cross-check as the relevant people were on holiday for the Jubilee Bank Holiday.  It came from a usually reliable source and so I decided to let people know about it on our e-news.  Predictably, people were not happy.  The proposal is for car parking and sports facilities on the Egglescliffe side of the Tees and a footbridge to link it to the school.
On Wednesday came the information that although the consultation had originally been planned for Friday it was now going to take place at some time in the next few weeks.  A second e-news had to go out rapidly.  Fortunately our constituents are very understanding people on these occasions.
Lib Dem councillors understand that the pre-application discussions with planning officers are confidential but questions to Stockton Council officers about whether the applicants had been strongly recommended to involve ward councillors at an earlier stage have so far fallen on deaf ears.  So have questions about whether the applicants were told strongly enough that the area concerned is part of Tees Heritage Park and afforded some protection in the Core Strategy and the Green infrastructure strategy of SBC.  There's a sense of deja vu here - Preston Park and BSF funded school proposals spring to mind.
As soon as we know the date for the consultation we'll be letting people know - again!