Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Myplace
As part of the Government's multi million pound commitment to deliver world class places for young people to go to and call their own, Cabinet have, following consultation with young people and the community, agreed a preferred option for the location of a new myplace facility within the Borough.

Government grants are available between £1m and £5m to facilitate a transformation in the way facilities and services for young people are planned and delivered. Funding guidance indicated that a new myplace facility must provide a wide range of high quality activities and opportunities available for young people. A number of exciting concepts had emerged from discussions and it was intended that the facility would provide a wide range of key services and provisions to young people delivered in a partnership approach, and would potentially include a designated young people's health centre, high quality sports and leisure time activities, arts and culture services, dedicated young people's support services, vocational and non vocational opportunities, information advice, guidance and support services and socialising events.

In addition to the core services, other concepts were currently being explored which included developing the venue as a Centre of Excellence for Innovation, Commerce and Industry, working alongside secondary and further education establishments.

The preferred location for the facility was for it to be co-located alongside the development of the proposed North East Sports Academy within central Stockton.

Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
At the same meeting, Cabinet was advised of how £23 million of Neighbourhood Renewal Funding (NRF) has been spent in the Borough since 2001 as part of an initiative to tackle deprivation.

In 2001, Stockton was ranked as the 75th most deprived area nationally; thus qualifying for NRF monies to be targeted towards intervention in the top 10% most deprived areas in the Borough. By 2008, thanks to utilisation of NRF funding and programmes within our most deprived areas, Stockton had improved its ranking by 23 places and was now ranked as the least deprived borough in the Tees Valley.

As part of the Council's aim to improve the quality of life for people in the most disadvantaged areas, Cabinet also approved a Neighbourhood Element Delivery Plan for the St. Ann's area of the Borough, covering the Portrack and Tilery and Mount Pleasant neighbourhoods for the period 2008-2010. The Board received £1.6m of funding for the four financial years 2006/07 to 2009/10. The allocation for the year 2008/09 was £412,800.

Stockton Town Centre
Cabinet also agreed the necessary legal authority to proceed with the acquisition of land on the site of the proposed Southern Gateway entrance to the town, formerly the Glynn Webb retail site near the 'Riverside Roundabout'. The acquisition of the land was essential to the proposed re-alignment of the road junction required as part of progression of the Tees Valley Major Bus Scheme.