Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Thornaby Consultation

Extensive consultation with residents of Brus and Appleby House maisonettes, commercial tenants, the general public, The Thornaby Regeneration Partnership and key stakeholders has formed an integral part of the regeneration proposals for Thornaby District Centre.

Initial consultation

Detailed community consultation on the previous WD Ltd scheme was undertaken before the Authority's partnership with this developer was terminated. Before the town centre was remarketed the residents of Brus and Appleby Houses were consulted to determine whether they would be in favour of moving. A public meeting was held, with focus groups in November 2001 and a subsequent information sheet and questionnaire was also sent to all residents. The majority were in favour of moving out and subsequently this was then incorporated into the development brief. During the process of finding alternative premises for the residents, regard has been given to residents preferred areas of relocation choice.

Consultation for the present scheme

In 2003, following the appointment of Thornfield, a major consultation exercise was carried out in August and September 2003 in order to ascertain the views and level of support of the general public in respect of the proposed scheme. A special edition of Thornaby Light (a free leaflet delivered to all households in Thornaby) was published outlining the scheme incorporating a questionnaire to be returned by freepost to an independent company North East Market Surveys (NEMS) market research for analysis. It was delivered to around 11,000 homes and businesses in Thornaby. In addition a three-day public exhibition/consultation was held in a vacant retail unit in the town from the 28th - 30th August 2003

NEMS market research analysed the results, which showed overwhelming support for the scheme. Of the 618-strong sample, 97% of respondents agreed that the 'range of shops in Thornaby Town Centre needed improving' and more than three quarters of the sample agreed strongly with the statement 'I support the plans for the improving the shopping environment', with 82% of respondents felt that the plans for the design and layout of the Town Centre were good

The full consultation results are available to dwonload at the bottom of this page