James Wharton MP

Last night was busy, starting with a visit to “A Way Out” the charity in Stockton.  I was accompanied by the Leader of Stockton Borough Council Ken Lupton and Greg Clark MP, the newly announced Shadow Minister for Teesside.  Greg also holds a charities portfolio so it was a particularly useful visit.  The key message seemed to be that governments need to allow charities to get on with the job, setting too many restrictive targets and linking them to funding can seriously impede a charity’s work.

This was Greg’s last visit after three days in the region.  I have really enjoyed having him here and look forward to working with him over the coming years.

Last night I was joined by Greg Clark MP for a meeting with residents groups and the local CPRE in Eaglescliffe. Greg is the MP who has been doing the most to push the “garden grabbing” issue and fighting to have national guidelines changed to protect our communities from over zealous developers and the huge numbers of blocks of flats that we have seen built in recent years.

Greg has also just been announced as Shadow Minister for Teesside. This is an important appointment as it gives this area direct representation on the Conservative front bench.

The meeting went extremely well with a wide range of questions and discussion. Greg reaffirmed the Conservative commitment to change the planning guidelines if we are successful at the next election, in order to put a stop to the dreadful over development we have seen in recent years and to help protect our older detached houses.

This morning I visited an underused shop on Lanehouse road in Thornaby. 

There were a few notices in the window but it looked generally quite run down.  Clearly nothing much of note has gone on there for some time, which is a real shame. 

I will be working with local people to help bring about a change of ownership, the feeling from most of the residents I talk too is that it is long overdue.

I was a guest on the Matthew Davies breakfast show again this morning.  I always enjoy it and we discussed a wide range of issues from pancake day to drugs policy!

I was pleased to be given the opportunity to talk about Parkview home in Thornaby and to appeal for anyone who has evidence to give to the consultation to come forward.