Church Street

[steveL]

The official Press Release, just in case you've been waiting for it.

HARTLEPOOL COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE

Embargoed until 00.01hours on Thursday 28 January 2016
Title: Huge Boost for Church Street

COUNCILLORS in Hartlepool were celebrating today (28 January) following the news that the town is set to receive a £1.2m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant to breathe new life into the Church Street area.
The project will conserve and rejuvenate historic buildings within Church Street, improve the local environment  and see the creation of new community projects – all aimed at raising awareness of the history and heritage of the area and the significant role it played in the development of Hartlepool today.
Described as "a huge boost" by councillors, it follows hard on the heels of the successful £5.5m Local Growth Fund allocation from the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership announced last year.

The Church Street area is one of eight locations identified by Hartlepool Council in its Hartlepool Vision to spark regeneration, create jobs and ensure future prosperity for the town.

Known as the Church Street Innovation & Skills Quarter, exciting new developments are already under way which include a new £11m state-of-the-art Cleveland College of Art and Design.

Councillor Stephen Akers-Belcher, vice-chair of Hartlepool Council's Regeneration Services Committee, said: "The £1.2m Heritage Lottery Fund grant represents a huge boost to our exciting plans to enhance the heritage of Church Street to create jobs and improve the local environment.

"Together with the £5.5m Local Growth Fund grant, the funding will help enormously to turn our exciting vision into reality and transform a key part of our town for businesses, residents and visitors."

"Preserving and enhancing heritage is important for the future of the town and this is an opportunity to work with communities, businesses and visitors to improve this significant Conservation Area."

The £1.2m HLF money will be used to help bring empty buildings back into use, improve the appearance of existing buildings, and enhance the street with new surfaces and street furniture.

Councillor Jim Ainslie, a local councillor for the area and the Council's Heritage Champion, commented: "I am delighted that we have been successful in attracting further investment to develop the Church Street area.

"This is an area which is steeped in history and with some fantastic buildings which we must preserve for future generations.

"The aim of the Church Street Innovation and Skills Quarter is to create a vibrant environment where new businesses can thrive, creating job opportunities for the people of our town."

Heritage Lottery Fund Chair, Sir Peter Luff, said:"Historic town centres are the beating heart of communities, so where they fall into disrepair, the community pays a heavy price. Research shows that this can be changed and that even small changes - improving shop fronts or restoring architectural features - can make a real difference.

"That's what the Townscape Heritage scheme does so successfully, providing a boost for local economies, with vital employment and training opportunities, start-up spaces for small businesses and enhanced public places for residents and visitors.

"Townscape Heritage funding has made a huge difference to communities across the UK and this is only possible thanks to National Lottery players."

The Council has already consulted the Church Street community on its plans and further consultation is planned in the weeks and months ahead.

For more information, contact Hartlepool Council on 01429 523531or email rob.smith@hartlepool.gov.uk

Notes to editors
•   To date, HLF has invested more than £270m regenerating towns that have suffered serious social and economic decline. The next application deadline for HLF's Townscape Heritage programme is 1 September 2016 with decisions being made in January 2017.
About the Heritage Lottery Fund

From the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife, we use National Lottery players' money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about. www.hlf.org.uk.

For more information please contact Alastair Rae at Hartlepool Council on 01429 533510 or Elaine Cooper/Katie Owen at HLF press office, on 020 7591 6143/6036 or 07973 613820.
Picture Caption – Councillor Stephen Akers-Belcher, vice-chair of Hartlepool Council's Regeneration services Committee (right) with Councillor Jim Ainslie, a councillor for the Headland & Harbour Ward and the Council's Heritage Champion.

Press release PR16306    27 January 2016.
Issued by Alastair Rae, Public Relations Manager, on 01429 523510.[/color][/b]

[Land Phil]

What happened to the Mail article that repeated the press release ?
Has the money gone walkies already ?

Personally it looks like a repeat of past mistakes.
Church Street has been tarted up over and over again.
Once more won't change a thing in the long term.

[fred c]

Nothing is ever mentioned by the Visionaries about the problems that will occur when the traffic that uses Church St can no longer do so.

If only they could construct their visions with Bu**s**t, we would be living in utopia.

[Alnwickist]

 


       Church Street is well beyond the point of repair with the sums they are talking about. It's another pointless
       in their deluded world.All the empty shops are privately owned, bed sits and a beautiful pub. All know who owns
       that.

       You can tart it up but its reputation is well known. Most of that reputation has been the fools in the planning
       committee decisions.
       
       
       

[steveL]

If the College of Art were to expand well beyond its present ambitions; if Durham University was to build an Engineering or Green Energy Faculty behind Church Street or on The Marina land then I could see some merit in trying to convert Church Street into some sort of Student Quarter - but let's think about what's actually happened here.

The College of Art decided to upgrade its facility and, working with Bournemouth University, designed some degree courses that hopefully will attract a few out-of-town students. All good stuff, in my opinion, but then suddenly HBC latched onto it and started talking about an 'Innovation and Skills Quarter' in the same way that they latched onto silly talk about a 'Cafe Culture' and 'Boutique Hotels'

The bottom line is that HBC is just clueless when it comes to new ideas. They either latch on to a single event and suddenly declare it to be a new beginning of something much bigger or just regurgitate something that has already been tried and failed - or in this case, both.

Look closer at some of the phrases in the Press Release.

"bring empty buildings back into use, improve the appearance of existing buildings, and enhance the street with new surfaces and street furniture."

"create jobs and improve the local environment"
"transform a key part of our town for businesses, residents and visitors."
"breathe new life into the Church Street area."
"conserve and rejuvenate historic buildings within Church Street, improve the local environment  and see the creation of new community projects"
"spark regeneration, create jobs and ensure future prosperity for the town."

£1.2m is the equivalent of building three, loss making Cafes in a Cemetery so O wouldn't expect much more than a new coat of paint, a few extra planters on the pavements and another Cranney CIC Company.

[Inspector Knacker]

Champagne ideas, lemonade money and the 'vision' of a blind mole in a coal house at midnight.
When an earlier bunch of councillors had the 'vision' to build the shoping centre instead of doing what every authority did and develop the area adjacent to its existing shopping area they uprooted everything and made a right hash of things...if it had been left alone Church Street would be a very desirable bit of real estate, but when councillors get a vision head for the hills.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have this depressing parade of grinning politicos enactig some groundhog farce that is repeatedly proclaimed with a preening fanfare that produces nothing, no details, just vague 'visions', on the road to nowhere.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Maybe people who have 'visions' should remember what happened to Joan of Arc?  .... 

[Johnny Bongo]

Does anyone here know if the Heritage Lottery Fund actually checks where the money goes, ie, costs, materials, names of firms given the contracts, etc?  Will this info be available to the Hartlepool public? The money should actually be spent on having the clowns sectioned under the Mental health act, as they are obviously both deluded and pathological liars!

[Inspector Knacker]

The Church Street thing has become a mantra, I'm convinced that if politicians say sonething repeatedly with a few 'bonny pictures', the dimmer end of the voting spectrum are impressed in the way a small child is impressed by a flashing lights. The constant repetition gives the impression that things are happening when all that happens is nothing.
One good thing about these presentations, is that the samw smug faces turn up, giving us someone to point the figure at if it all goes t**s up. People should remeber when they push to the front to take the credit that they get the flak when it crashes and burns.

[steveL]

One good thing about these presentations, is that the same smug faces turn up, giving us someone to point the figure at if it all goes t**s up. People should remember when they push to the front to take the credit that they get the flak when it crashes and burns.

I think you're being a bit optimistic there, mate. You must have noticed how 'good news' is presented by councillors, usually those up for re-election, while 'bad news' is handed over to 'council spokesmen' to announce.

In the case of SAB and Ainslie, tagged onto this story in The Mail, BOTH are up for re-election this year and SAB is in The Mail again tonight prattling on about 'The Vision'. Also, isn't it pretty obvious by now that, with the total complicity of The Mail, they are holding back on the H&M announcement until nearer the elections - the vacancies are on INDEED, for heaven's sake - can't The Mail read?

Even ward clean-ups are focussed on which coalition councillors are up for re-election (aren't they Ray).

Interesting question actually, how they continue to get away with using a publicly funded resource (i.e. the council's PR Department which is funded by the taxpayer), for overtly political announcements in the rush before purdah.

[DRiddle]

Interesting question actually, how they continue to get away with using a publicly funded resource (i.e. the council's PR Department which is funded by the taxpayer), for overtly political announcements in the rush before purdah.

On that note, last year councillors were asked to add any newsletters and things like that to their part of the council website (where it displays our photo, contact details etc.)

I produced an 'annual review' which was basically a double sided electronic flyer flagging up the thing's I'd done and tried to do in my first year as a councillor. I spent time writing it and pull the content together then paid a graphic designer a fee to make it professional and high resolution so it would be easy to read and access as a PDF on the site.

Despite all of that, and every minute of time and every penny of cost being my own, I was told I could NOT have it on my part of the website as it would be using a publicly funded resource (the council's website) for political gain.

The fact that (a) the council had requested it (b) my part of the website already exists and the council are legally obliged to maintain it and (c) I'd paid for it to be designed myself rather than ask an officer to do it (as some do), was irrelevant apparently.

So that wasn't allowed.

However, getting a full time council press/public relations officer to help you spread a totally disingenuous press release about completely made up council tax rates.... IS allowed.

Funny old world.

[steveL]

When I'm Prime Minister, I'm going to ban the use of the word 'disingenuous'  for two reasons:

1. There's a large chunk of the population out there who haven't a clue what it means.

2. I've noticed the word is used when people really mean 'lie', 'lying', lied etc but fear there is someone watching every word ready to pounce if ever someone is called such a horrible thing.

Here at The Post, we are of course, a totally loose cannon, so to assist those who struggle to understand what the word 'disingenuous' actually means (and I hope I'm not touching 'a rare nerve' there, Stephen):

"Alistair Rae is a f***i*g liar...."

There.....I think that clears things up. 

[DRiddle]

There are lots of other words you'll also need to ban then Steve ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCdF1gDrDmY

41 minutes 17 seconds into this clip for example, until 41 minutes 43 seconds, I think there are about 18 or 19 words to add to your banned list.

I wonder if anyone will utter the 'L' word in the meeting on the 18th about the council tax rise. 

[mk1]

What strikes me about the opening bit of that film is the displacement activity of SAB. Clearly agitated and can't stop pulling faces, playing with his pen or staring at Riddle. He is also unsure which of his ample  ar*se-cheeks is taking his  weight and which one will overhang. It appears he  has  drained his water jug which explains the  perspiration cascading down his face. The man is a time-bomb just waiting to explode........

[Ryanokees]

had a chuckle at your last post steveL