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29.04.2008 Tristar
Meeting held with Tristar to arrange a joint VPRA and Tristar Fun Day in the Village Park on July 31st. 12 noon till 3pm. Details to follow.
27.04.2008 River Walk Survey
Members of the VPRA committee spent the afternoon checking the footpaths from the Black Bobbies Field down to Cornfield Road Fields.. The path has eroded in some parts along the allotment paths and there is a large amount of debris building up on the Thornaby side of the river. This consists of large amounts of plastic bottles and tins, plastic bags and building materials. Further along towards the new Surtees Bridge there are large amounts of discarded building materials blocking of a channel under the bridge.
British Waterways are to be asked again to look at this problem. A visit was also attempted to the blocked public path into Thornaby Place but this is impassable at the moment due to remedial work at the railway bridge.
26.04.2008 Speed Indication Devices,
Sought by the VPRA at the Eastern Area Transport Meetings last year were put into action on Thornaby Road, near the airman statue.
25.04.2008 VPRA Meeting
Full open meeting of the VPRA with Ms Dari Taylor MP. The meeting decided to follow up the fight for Parkview care home through to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Other issues discussed were the new development for the Sand D printers on Millbank lane, the plans for Fordy Grove, the opening of the section of the Thornaby Trail which was being blocked off by the developer on Thornaby Place, and the Village Park.
25.04.2008 Rights of Way
Discussion with the Rights of Way officer who is working to get the footpath open into the Thornaby place section of the Thornaby Circuit. It became evident that there was no real reason why this footpath should be closed off as it is part of an official walk way.
24.04.2008 Visit to Laburnum Avenue.
Following complaints from residents in Laburnum about the need for a traffic calming hump around the Park Road area of the avenue, as the gap between existing humps is too great and has actually got people speeding up between humps.
23.04.2008 Thrive Open Day
VPRA attended the Thrive open day event in Newtown Community Resource centre, organised by Gregg brown. This was an excellent event which illustrated the important work being carried out in our area to empower and help local people and local organisations. The representatives from Women Of Thornaby were among the many Thornaby people who were keen to support Gregg in his work. For an insight into the Thrive project
visit http://www.thrive-stockton.org.uk/news
22.04.2008 Eastern Area Partnership
VPRA reps attended today’s EAPB meeting
20.04.2008 In Bloom 2008
Potting on for another two trays of French Marigolds, a tray of Asters for the Jollies area and a tray of Cornflowers and 2 trays of Nasturtiums for the Holmes Close Wild Garden. There are also 60 Sunflower plants potted on ready to give away in May, June for our Tallest Sunflower competition.
19.04.2008 Tees Heritage Park
VPRA attended the Friends of Tees Heritage Park, an organisation which the group has become a member of and which has given us its full support in dealing with such issues as the clearing of waterways and our ongoing fight to have the footpath through Thornaby Place made open after being unfairly closed by a developer.
It was discussed today as an issue and local councillors have confirmed that it was a condition of planning permission that the footpath be made good. Other items included the development of the whole network of footpaths and bridges across and along the tees and the Connect 2 committee, dealing with them. The VPRA has a voice on the Connect 2 group (Via EAPB) to give its residents a chance to air their opinions direct.
18.04.2008 VPRA Calendar
Site update , new calendar page added. If you need to check a date you now dont need to leave this site to do it.
16.04.2008 Speed Indication Displays
One of the SIDS (Speed Indication Displays) is being installed by the Airman statue. This is the first of the two for Thornab
 y Road which was organised by the VPRA and SBC through the Eastern Area Partnership Board.
12.04.2008 Nature Reserves.
VPRA met with local police to discuss the plague of fires in the green belt areas. PC Baldwin was keen to offer support and will be responding to concerns of residents from the Chesterton Drive and other places involving the destruction of our shared environment. he was keen to emphasise the destruction of grass land on the Holmes(Horse shoe bend) was wiping out Skylark breeding grounds as had been pointed out by resident and member of the TTC Environment Committee, Mrs. Pat Bell.
12.04.2008 Thornaby Town Centre.
New plan online for proposed layout and shops, if it does pan out then Thornaby folk from the top end of Thornaby will not need to go to Stockton. Click here for scan of plan.
11.04.2008 Sad News
VPRA informed of the sad passing of Mrs Edie Gillings, of Richardson Road, Thornaby. Edie was one of the first people to move into the houses on Richardson road back in the 1950's and was a much loved and admired member of the community.
She was seen as a warm friendly figure whom many turned to in times of need or with problems. These ranged from a kiddie with a scuffed knee to others with more serious illness. Edie, who was 92, had moved from the Erimus when her home was demolished and described herself as an Erimus Lass, and Thornaby through and through. She will be sadly missed by us all. She is survived by her son Keith and a whole host of grandchildren and great grandchildren
11.04.2008 BBC Radio Tees
VPRA on BBC Tees Radio promoting the fight for Parkview and the website www.vpra.org.uk along with the activities of the group
10.4.2008 Parkview Call In.
VPRA attend the Executive Scrutiny Committee in the Baptist Tabernacle, Stockton concerning the threatened closure of the Parkview Care Home, along with various members of the community and our local Councillors.
The meeting refused to accept that there was sufficient reason to send the decision back to cabinet. There is still a possibility of the decision being halted, through a judicial review, potentially being called for by the local councillors or the parliamentary action from MP Dari Taylor
09.04./2008 Eastern Area Partnership
VPRA SEC, one of the two community sector representatives on the Eastern Area Partnership Board,went through his induction today, given an introduction into his role as the community sector representative on the EAPB. This will include his liaising with a number of community groups in the area.
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 9.04.2008 Parkview Home.
The VPRA Secretary and Chair have contacted MP Dari Taylor through her Thornaby office about the Thornaby Labour Party leaflet currently being delivered. We believe it is misleading to the public about Parkview Home especially as the final decision has not yet been made by the Executive Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet after the Call In.
Dari Taylor has since contacted the VPRA to stress that this publication is not her doing and she has backed the fight to save Parkview from day one.
Since the initial publication on this item on this page we have had an e mail from James Wharton (Prospective Conservative MP ) that he is unhappy with and totally rejects the Labour newsletter.
08.04.2008. Thornaby Town Council
The VPRA Chair and Secretary attended Thornaby Town Hall for a Special Full Council meeting to hear discussions about the call ins for both Parkview home and the Town Hall sale. This meeting was followed by the Leisure and then Environment meetings. Thanks to Thornaby Town Council for making us welcome and allowing us to have some valuable input into the meetings.
06.04.2008 Village In Bloom 2008
Potting up of bedding plants ready for Mid May planting at the Jolly Farmers lay by bed began today with Geraniums, Petunias, Asters and French Marigolds big enough to pot on despite the snowy condition. This will continue for the next couple of weeks to ensure we have a good selection of plants at an advanced stage ready to plant out. Total cost so far is under £10 for seeds and compost. All pots are recycled from our previous years as well as recycled pots from local residents.
05.04.2008 Parkview and Thornaby Town Hall.
Paperwork received by the VPRA from SBC concerning the "call in" for the decision on Parkview Care Home made by Cabinet on March 13th 2008. This extensive document explains the reasoning behind the Borough Council officer's decision to recommend the closure of Parkview and the process followed to date. Local, Thornaby, councillor's arguments for recalling the decision are also explained. These papers will form the foundations of the meeting of Stockton Borough Council's Executive Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, 10th April in the Upper Hall, Stockton Baptist Tabernacle, The Square, Stockton-on-Tees TS18 1TE at 10.00 a.m.
This is open to all residents to observe and contribute if They wish to do so.
04.04.2008 Thrive Project.
VPRA contacted by Gregg Brown of the Thrive Project
Last year Thrive conducted a round of research, "Voices for Change", in the Newtown area of Stockton. The research was an in depth exploration of the struggles local people face and the strengths they draw upon in order to 'get by'. Volunteer researchers gave up their time to carry out the work and found it really rewarding. They interviewed 25 households for 2-3 hours at a time, so were able to get some really interesting information which, whilst maintaining the confidentiality of those involved, has been used to highlight some areas for action. Some of the key issues to emerge were around debt and financial exclusion the money difficulties people face. Other issues included health, caring responsibilities and the effect on households of a poor local environment and anti-social behaviour. Often, people were so overwhelmed by these issues that a return to work for them seemed difficult.
Thrive will be training up volunteer-led action research teams to visit households across Stockton, with a view to building more sustainable livelihoods for people in the local area. The aim of the action will be two-fold:
- To make changes on areas of deprivation and make life better for people in their community to link people to services and create new opportunities.
- To break down misconceptions about poverty, and build networks of trust and learning to overcome isolation and provide greater life choices for people locally.
- Thrive invited the VPRA to participate in an event on Wed 23rd April and advise on how they should take this process forward.
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03.04.2008 Park Road
VPRA rep and Parks met earlier in the week regarding vandalism to the Park Road entrance to the Village Park, which included damage to the private property of a resident living alongside the gate. Parks Dept have agreed to make good this situation, visiting the site today, senior members of the Parks/CFYA dept were able to make resident confident that the repairs would reduce vandalism to his property.
03.04.2008 Martinet Road
Representatives of DKS Architects acting on behalf of development company Kube², met with VPRA today concerning the new development intended for martinet road. Meeting on site there was a frank exchange of views and opinions reflecting the comments of residents to date, both in person and via the VPRA forum. The DKS representatives were keen to emphasise their willingness to meet with the residents and the local ward councillors at a meeting to be held at a future date. They also made it clear the design plans are not set in stone, requesting that local residents keep an open mind
until they are given a full presentation.
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02.04.2008 VPRA contacted by Cllr Mr Roger Mosely to be informed that the fencing erected across the footpath which ran along the south bank of the tees and along to and through Thornaby Place, which the VPRA and Thornaby Town Council have long been fighting to see opened up, is now opened to be used. It is as yet uncertain if this has been done by the developer or a passing axe man.
02.04.2008 Village Park
VPRA contacted by Ground Works, concerning the future works in the Village Park and other areas to which the VPRA are committed, to discuss the future of the relationship between the group and the body. A new manager is being sought for Ground Works in the Thornaby/Stockton area. When this post is filled later this month, it will be possible to take issues further.
02.04.2008 . Sure Start
VPRA contacted by the Thornaby Sure Start team, Via SRCGA Ltd, concerning an event to be held this month asking for help with publicity.
There will be a fun day at The High Flyer's Children's Centre, Tedder Ave Thornaby, on Tuesday, April 8th, 12:30 to 3:00 pm. This will be open to families with children under 11. They want you all to go along and give them your ideas about what you would like to
see happening in Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick.
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