Seaton

[testing times]

After years of nobody doing anything much now we seem to have a battle developing over the future of the Longscar. Laughable really. Seaton residents like me will take all of this with a large pinch of salt and wonder what the real story is but for me, if the Wilkinson's are serious about bringing the building back into use then they should be allowed to do so. Open air facilities have their uses on a warm summer day; but what about the other 364 days 

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/community/green-light-for-major-revamp-of-seaton-carew-seafront-beach-huts-market-and-events-space-on-their-way-1-7590651

[fred c]

In many ways i can`t argue with that, whats the alternative, another court case that cost the council tax payers even more money, lets face it HBC haven`t won many.

[Land Phil]

I just wonder who is going to benefit financially from the redevelopment.
I can't see any other reason for it happening than that.

[fred c]

If you look at some of the business collaborations that our council has entered into, you are right to wonder, how many of the towns assets have been sold off for a song, Melbourne Hotel,  Andersons Bakery, Morrison Hall, Seaton Carew Community Centre etc etc etc

[Alnwickist]

     The Wilkies tried before to make the Longscar work and failed. Hence how it looks now. If anything since it shut Seaton has slid further down so by doing a cheap and nasty paint job which is there usual way isnt going to change much if anything.
     Planning over the years with the toxic dumps, proposed wind turbines etc  etc has taken care of Seaton.

     It needs to come down and new start made, that's if you can get the money back out of Crannies pocket.

[the_exile]

If you look a short distance up the road to Seaham, a town that cannot compete with Seaton with regards to quality of beach and even ease of access to said beach.

You then look at the effort that has been put into making Seaham an attractive place to visit and then compare the visitor numbers at Seaham with Seaton Carew throughout the year, and the associated spend. There will be one winner by a Country mile, and it's not Seaton Carew.

That is due to a little bit of joined up thinking, an effort to attract the right kind of businesses and an emphasis on Quality.

It is surprising how many people from Hartlepool that you bump into when visiting Seaham and that says it all really.

Hartlepool Council and their masterplans/visions/vanity projects are being left behind by Towns a fraction of the size and who have been victim to the same savage blows from various Governments. Mind you I am not aware of any Seaham Town Councillors who allegedly like to feather their own nests to the detriment of the people that they represent, however I am willing to be corrected on that score too.

[steveL]

I went passed the other day and got a look inside as the doors were open. It's not in as bad a shape as some people think and there was certainly plenty of work going on. I'd say it was recoverable with a bit of effort. The Wilkies should think about getting a COSTA Franchise for part of it and yes, even Seaham has now got its own COSTA.

Everything changed at Seaham when the TOMMY sculpture was placed their temporarily. Visitors boomed and a public subscription was set up to buy the sculpture outright - £80,000, if I remember correctly. They exceeded it within a matter of weeks and it's now there permanently. Quality stuff too - if you haven't been to see it then get yourself up there.

I'm afraid HBC haven't got a clue; you only have to look at the neglect on The Marina to see that.

[marky]

I was down the Olde West Quay last night and had a little stroll. The street lights there blank out completely every 20 mins and stay off for a good 10 minutes before coming back on; they've been like that for years. The railings around the Premier Inn have never been painted and even the red oxide undercoat is now mostly missing. There's a 12 foot stretch where the paving stones are missing and a three foot gap in the railings just waiting for a child to fall through. HBC aren't interested because they never took over the area from Jomast and Mandale and those two cowboy operations don't give a f*c*.

Welcome to Hartlepool where visions are wonderful and reality sucks.

[steveL]

Jomast have a planning application in to turn the conservatory opposite into a tea-room.

[Johnny Bongo]

I'm afraid HBC haven't got a clue; you only have to look at the neglect on The Marina to see that.

Exactly, steveL. There's weeds right in front of the Historic Quay and non existent road markings in the car park.  Nothing that a bit of weedkiller and a few tins of paint can't fix....or maybe the mob have given up on it seeing as the Royal navy museum will be running it soon!

[fred c]

There is a big re-furb going on at the Marina  i cycle across there half a dozen times a week, for weeks now i have noticed 1 bloke, he is sanding down & painting some of the railings.

The big office blocks are getting a re-furb, new block paving on there car parks, not sure what they are doing inside though.

The Vision retail Park has come to a complete standstill, basically it is 1 building with the frontage removed, the only store open is B&M, Seymours were working on the car parking areas but that seems to have come to a halt now.

No sign yet of the Ferris Wheel going in, but speaking to a workman down there he reckons PD Ports are going to fill in half of Jackson Dock.... apparently they are going to use the B******t spewed out by Cwistopher & Co.

[Alnwickist]

All the proposed uses of the Longscar are already in Seaton ,run as family business to high standards.The lunatic town planning expert Wilkie sent to speak on his behalf of longco, stuttered and erd through 4mins plus time added on for mistakes. I was tempted to nominate him for a comedy Bafta.
I would trust Wells more than Wilko, so that really is slime.