James Wharton

I had an excellent meeting at Durham University Queens Campus to discuss the medical school and future plans and developments.  Durham has invested heavily in its Thornaby campus and is making a valuable contribution to the future of our community.

I attended a meeting of the offices of the local Conservative Party.  This was a good opportunity to discuss preparation for the coming election and how we are going to focus our efforts on campaigning.

Yesterday I took the 6am train down to London as I had a meeting which I needed to attend, only to get the 1.30pm back in order to get home in time for the public meeting about the Labour MP’s plan to relocate Egglescliffe School onto Preston Park.

I have never seen a public meeting so well attended and with such a unanimous view expressed. The Gazette claim there were 310 residents in attendance, this seems about right to me. Nearly everyone spoke out against the idea. Interestingly there was also strong support for Ingleby Barwick getting more school places on the estate. The only reason this is presently not possible are the strings which come with BSF funding. Hopefully if there is a change of government later this year and we get some common sense from London things can be resolved!

This morning I was interviewed on BBC Tees to discuss the results of the meeting.

The Gazette have printed details of the latest developments following my calls for an investigation into the gas storage opportunities in the Tees estury.

http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/2010/01/26/amec-s-key-role-in-huge-gas-project-51140-25687268/

I spent the afternoon in Ingleby Barwick, helping local volunteers deliver the latest edition of our regular intouch newsletter.  I spoke with a number of residents who were all pleased to see us and a few commented that they enjoyed reading intouch as they get so little from the Labour MP.