Stockton on Tees is a diverse Borough located at the heart of the Tees Valley. The area has a thriving population of over 187,000 people and is within easy reach of city shopping and leisure facilities, the coast and rural North Yorkshire. A mixture of urban centres, market towns and villages and with an expanding university, Stockton-on-Tees is a place with an exciting future.
The population of the Borough is increasing (up from 175,000 in 1991), and this rise is projected to continue. There is a unique social and economic mix, with areas of quite acute disadvantage situated alongside areas of affluence. Whilst fifteen per cent of the population live within the top twenty per cent of most affluent areas nationally, thirty four per cent live in the twenty per cent most deprived areas of England. Our strategy for transforming the area therefore needs to tackle these differences and provide opportunities for all local people.
Despite these levels of deprivation, a survey carried out in 2006 showed residents were more satisfied with the Borough as a place to live than they had been since 1998 (84% satisfied in 2006). In addition, more people feel that their area is likely to improve over the next couple of years.
