Mr Letimers latter

[Lord Elpus]

Great letter from Steve Latimer, (letter writer of this parrish) in the 'Northern Daily Mail' today on the vision.

[one direction]

Nice to know. Shame I don't buy or read this august publication!

[fred c]

A plagiarised copy of the aforementioned letter would be nice 

[mk1]

A plagiarised copy of the aforementioned letter would be nice 

LEAVING IN DROVES   

READERS may remember that a few years ago, The Vision for Hartlepool centred on the redevelopment of Victoria Harbour.
We were shown inspiring artist's impressions of the finished article, told of the thousands of jobs that would be created, and even asked to imagine ourselves strolling across the footbridge that would link the new development to the Headland.
For a while it seemed like Hartlepool Borough Council vsianted to talk about nothing else.
Then in 2010 Teesside Re-generation, the forerunner to the current Tees Valley Unlimited, suddenly and unceremoniously scrapped its Victoria Harbour plans,  promised instead to make the Hartlepool docks area the hub of the UK wind turbine industry.
This Plan B, we were told, would generate an estimated 8,000 jobs, and would be so successful that it would likely spill over onto the nearby Oakesway industrial estate.
The plan claimed some credibility because of the already declared intention to build the world's largest off-shore wind farm on Dogger Bank, which lies about 63 miles to the east of Hartlepool.
Little has been heard of Plan B since, and there is good reason why not. A couple of weeks ago planning applications were submitted to Redcar Borough Council for the on-shore infrastructure needed to support the 2,000-turbine Dogger Bank project.
Offshore wind developer Forewind is also proposing to put on public display its Teesside A and B wind farm plans at a series of events in Redcar.
lt's currently estimated that the development will bring 5,000 jobs to the Redcar  and Eston areas.
Hartlepool council has remained conspicuously silent on the matter despite the promises previously made to the town.
It's almost as if it has  completely forgotten such promises were ever made. Instead, it has moved on to yet another "vision" of its own.
Once again we've been treated to the artist's impressions and the promise of thousands of jobs.
The Vision, or shall we call it Plan C, is the council's unrealistic plan to remove anything resembling ambi- tion from our young people and prepare them for a life of servitude as bar staff, bed- makers, shelf stackers and receptionists as Hartlepool abandons its manufacturing roots to become the centre of the North-East tourist industry.
These are all low-paid, often part-time jobs, many of which are offered on short-term, zero-hour contracts. Such jobs fall well short of providing either the income or the stability to support a family and regularly require    the subsidy of tax credits and other channels of the benefits system to enable families to survive at all. Mortgage companies will not entertain people in these circumstances and affordable credit is almost impossible to obtain.
If this is The Vision for Hartlepool then it's hardly surprising that qualiiied young adults are leaving the town in droves for more aspirational towns and cities. Recently it was revealed that the number of people in low-paid work has soared in recent years to five million. Up by 250,000 in the last year alone.
The Hartlepool Vision, which enjoys the full support of the council's £140,000 chief executive, Dave Stubbs, and of course the leader himself, Christopher Akers-Belcher, appears to be the council's contribution to this movement.
We need a different vision. Come to think of it, we need a different leadership.