Spring in the Air

Today has been a lovely sunny spring day, the kind that lifts the spirits no matter what is on the agenda. The spring bulbs which we arranged to have planted as part of our small environmental improvements are looking wonderful - hosts of golden daffodils along roadsides, swathes of purple and white crocus and the green of the grass. A very visible sign of what some of the money was spent on, and I'm pleased with the result. I hope residents are too. The photograph of Durham Lane was taken by my colleague, Cllr Alan Lewis.
There was a meeting of the Fairtrade Steering Group today which gave a chance to reflect on the successes and disappointments of Fairtrade Fortnight in Stockton as well as starting to plan for the coming months. A stall in Preston Park during the Greener Living Roadshow on June 8th is the next event so watch this space for more details.

All the consultation has been done now on the footpath from Finchfield Close to Birchfield Close, and no-one was against the idea of having a light installed. One or two were a bit concerned about people hanging about "under the light" but as one lady pointed out - there's a light at one end of the path which has a convenient garden wall to sit on and no-one causes problems there so why should they in the middle of the open space. For better or for worse the form has gone in now, so that the costs can be worked out. Then we'll see how much we have left for anything else and we can chase up replies on the Butts Lane triangle and Railway Terrace.
This evening's Western Area Partnership Board meeting was taken up with a consultation on the Building Schools for the Future programme. Every house in the ward should have received their booklet by now and we hope that everyone will respond. The options in this ward are limited, because Egglescliffe is such a good school and can't therefore be closed or reduced in size except if parents stop sending their children to it. Similarly Conyers in Yarm has to stay in existence. Egglescliffe desperately needs new buildings and the proposed site is the Allens West playing fields, with the 6th form and some sporting facilities remaining on the present site. Of course that depends on getting the cash from central government and on planning permission being granted. Both bridges to be crossed after the consultation has finished, so watch this space.