It must have been great having a pub crawl along Lynn Street before the match starting of course at the North Eastern.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYLk45N2e98

Hartlepool not the only place where the 60/70s town planners thought it better to construct a soulless wind tunnel concrete structure called a shopping centre along with the obligatory multi storey car park.

Yep even posh Harrogate has an awful wind tunnel with empty shops in the centre.

I remember Lynne St as a child. I loved the smell of toffee apples from the indoor market and of course looking at the toys. I remember a butcher and a cafe in the corner. I remember Biancos cafe with its red leather seats. I enjoyed the ice cream and lemonade. I remember Dovecots and am I right in believing there was an iron mongers and jewellers. My memory stretching back 55 years now . I think Woolworths too but maybe I am wrong. The new shopping centre built in the 70s soulless shit. Happy days

Yes the town planners try to pretend that everything ok in wealthy Harrogate . Many shops closed down because of the high rents. We still get a lot of visitors but not for the shops. I never really liked the design of the new shopping centre in Harrogate either. Very conservative and boring.

I have just watched the video which I have seen before. All the buses went down there too and I think the depot was there. It would be great if the town council did the shops
Up like they where. A bit like Beamish Museum

https://youtu.be/yab09GM862E

Makes your hair stand on end

Worked for a bank in Harrogate on and off for ten years plenty of lovely people but a lot of ten Bob millionaires.

to be fair it was looking a bit shabby in the end. saying that i,m sure it would have been cheaper to re furb it than bring in the concrete mixers to create the middleton grange lack of shopping experiance. you knew you were in lynn street and hartlepool but could be anywhere in the country in the other. very few towns escaped the town planners and the national obsession to modernise. halifax is one of the few i can think of where they kept what the had but added to it below the old town centre. when i drive up church st. i have a look down lynn street and thank god i have the memories.

If Lynn St had been pedestrianised with half of those many pubs becoming eateries or bars it would have been a cracking place with new developments around it….instead the dim Councillors chose to build a U boat pen instead.

Absolutely true and Mr Starmer wants to give more autonomy to councils like Hartlepool. God help us. Are we really prepared to let these people loose to run our economy. Mind you Labour are already beginning to shoot themselves in the foot so even they must realise, in their heart of hearts, that the task is simply beyond them.

I’m with you Derwent Hartlepools demise is totally down to Kier Starmer

I never said that sunbeam but what is certain is that if Starmer gets in and Hartlepool continue to elect a Labour council then more responsibility will be allocated to the council causing further demise to the town. In my lifetime a Labour controlled council has existed in Hartlepool on more occasions than not. The big question is has Hartlepool benefited from that. I don't live there so I am not directly affected by council decisions but I feel sorry for fellow Poolies who have had to put up with it. If that is what you are happy with then good luck to you. I think the town deserves better.

I never said that sunbeam but what is certain is that if Starmer gets in and Hartlepool continue to elect a Labour council then more responsibility will be allocated to the council causing further demise to the town. In my lifetime a Labour controlled council has existed in Hartlepool on more occasions than not. The big question is has Hartlepool benefited from that. I don't live there so I am not directly affected by council decisions but I feel sorry for fellow Poolies who have had to put up with it. If that is what you are happy with then good luck to you. I think the town deserves better.

Hartlepool is not in demise.

Wow petal there’s more if buts or maybe permutations in that post than Pools battle to stay in the league, for clarity I dislike the majority of politicians and certainly don’t like Starmer I just thought it odd that in a post about Lynn Street you l wanted to somehow turn into it’s his fault in the future.
I’ve not lived in Hartlepool for nearly 30 years it has its ups and downs but I certainly wouldn’t point the finger on who the townsfolk decide to vote for, be that the MP or the council that’s democracy

do know in my lifetime everywhere i have lived i have had more gripe with council decisions than those of national government. councils affect our lives much more and if any party wants to give more power to the amateurs who run the shows who think after getting voted in they are experts on everything, then my vote will go the other way no matter what that party,s other policies are.

Hartlepool currently is not controlled by a Labour Council, looking at the candidates in the local elections Reform U.K. have candidates standing in every ward, basically far right Tories.

what is their policies at local level or are they just using people to promote the party for the general election. really the question is for them and the rest, whats actually in it for you, when they come a knocking.

I think the question to be asked is what have the conservatives at a national or local level(tories and plastic tories camouflaged as Independents) done in the past decade for Hartlepool.
The town has been economically and socially ran into the ground IMO.

There has never been a Tory council in Hartlepool in the last decade or even decades and only a Tory MP for just over three years, so any run down of the Town is down to others.
On reflection perhaps the town should give the Tories a shot at it. If you are right that the town has been socially and economically ran into the ground then what have you got to lose by at least trying something else. Just because the Town has a monkey hanging reputation there is no need to extend that accolade by continuing to elect them.

Nail in the head Mr Accy. Bunch of amateurs is the correct description.

The conservatives have been in power nationally for 13 years.The MP has been with us for 3 years and has done nothing. There has been a conservative and neo conservative coalition since 2019 (independents who are really tories standing as Independents as they would not get in as tories) .

The discussion about Lynn St and it's demise turned to decisions made by the council. I merely pointed out that if Starmer was elected in the next GE, he and his party are committed to giving more power and decision making to the council. I am suggesting that if people are concerned about "amateurs" running their townships, their concerns could be magnified by Starmer's promises. Hope that throws a bit of light on why I introduced Starmer. I am not asking you to agree with or even understand my point but I think my point is extremely relevant. In other words if you want to be subjected to more Council mayhem (whichever party has overall control) vote for Starmer and his party cos that is what he is promising.
As for ifs buts and maybes and the myriad of permutations within, isn't that the basis of all debates and speculations.

And in all the years Labour have been in power in the council chamber what have they achieved.
I don't recall the Tories ever having overall control of Hartlepool Council in my lifetime (78 years).
The Tories have only had overall control in Parliament since 2015 and even part of that they were propped up by the DUP The first 5 years of the 13 you outlined we had a coalition with no single party majority.
Being in power within a coalition framework and being in overall control are not the same concept. The best you can say is they were the major part of a two party coalition, basically at the mercy of the Liberal whim, which is the achilles heel of all coalitions, which Labour discovered when the Lib/Lab pact was formed.

In all coalitions the conservatives have been in the driving seat both locally and nationally. They sunk the Lib Dems as a party over tuition fees.They gave Northern Ireland billions to get the support of the DUP.
During the time of Blair and Mandleson (i know you are not great fans of Peter &Tony) were in power, money was pouring into this town and for the past decade its been sucked out.
Now that is not just my thoughts or any party its from the very top of the leading lights in finance in the town and i experienced it at organisations i worked for in the town.
Maybe how money has been spent is another argument.
The odd £25,000,000 capital we get is tiny compared to some of the spends elsewhere. One project that completely went under my radar was London Bridge station at a mere £1,000,000,000.

Why give more power to the Council basically part timers who have very little knowledge of how to run a business never mind a town. They have over the years removed funding to Councils forcing them to put Council Tax up to cover the shortfall. We have a few employees on 6 figure salaries who are supposed to advise the Council are they not ?
TBH how many people vote in the local elections, less than 30%,the rest moan about what goes on in the town. How many attend Council meetings although a while back they were deliberately organised during the day making it impossible for people and some Councillors to attend due to work commitments.

The council has very little to spend on discretionary issues as they have statutory duties (childrens services etc ) which burn up the majority of the budget. If the government element of funding is cut they have virtually no where to turn as the increases they are allowed in council tax are limited to around 5% (inflation 10%). Other funding sources have to be bid for and are effectually controlled by the government.
Yes turnout is very low and you do question why you need 3 councillors per ward and a top heavy management along with regional mayors who call the shots on the big stuff. The whole set up may be in need of restructure.
Shall we asked the turkeys to vote for Christmas?

Personally I wouldn't trust them to do my weekly shop but Uncle Keir reckons that's the answer. Expense accounts will rocket.

as well as your council rape tax as somebody has to pay even more when others drop through the trapdoor of not paying their full whack. its like a lot of things in this country where the more people shout about the lack of services the less they want to pay for them or do not pay anyway.