Talk of the Town Saltburn's local community magazine.
... News and views for local residents, low cost advertising for businesses and services in and around the Saltburn area.
Saltburn's much loved free magazine is now available to view online. The September 2010 edition is now available. You can enlarge it to read in a new full sized window by clicking on the link below.
Omissions from this month's magazine:
Unfortunately, due to constraints of time and space the following items were missing from this months publication.
Saltburn Pakistan Project
"Not another disaster!"
And this one really does dwarf Haiti's earthquake back in January -
over 20 million are homeless, and the effects are set to continue for years, not months. The
sheer scale of human tragedies like this can numb us into saying "What can one person do?" Saltburn
Pakistan Project aims to seek answers by bringing together our own community to explore how our skills,
experience and vision can make a difference to a specific project in Pakistan.
Please bring your
ideas, stories and enthusiasm to our launch meeting at the Community Hall (coffee room) at 7pm
on Tuesday, 14th September. For more information ring 07834 213543.
Mary Martin Buildings - Proposed conversion.
Such a lot of controversy and unfounded criticisms of recent negotiations to bring the above area back from its current derelict and unsightly condition have been aired that I feel it is necessary to make my case more available to the residents of Saltburn. The proposed new building is on the footprint of the existing one and would be constructed in the same white brick and stone as the award winning Outlook sited next door.
The current buildings were allowed to fall into disrepair under their previous ownership and their current condition is not the result of any neglect on my part. They were, and had been, owned by the local authority for the previous 78 years and any criticisms levied that I allowed this dilapidation to happen for some sort of future gain are both unfounded and untrue. Since purchasing the property I have negotiated with various departments of Redcar and Cleveland Council and have tried to keep local interested residents in the “loop” by distributing several ideas liberally by e mail, fax, by hand and by word of mouth. At no time was there any reason for any group or adjoining resident to claim that there was any intention, either by underhand deals or omission, to stop anyone having their input about how to improve these buildings. I strongly resent any insinuation that this may have been the case.
I purchased the buildings in 2008 in order to maybe, as I have done with the award winning adjoining property the Outlook, improve the standard of that part of Marine Parade. Since 1972 I have lived occasionally in Saltburn and have been involved in several projects and local groups. During this time several parish and local councillors, along with many local residents, will agree that I have shown a high regard for improving and preserving the buildings under my ownership on that side of Saltburn bank with the guidance and assistance of Redcar and Cleveland authority. Negotiation and common sense have always been the way forward with previous applications.
In today's economic climate there are no local authority funds available now or for the foreseeable future for the improvement, or even the maintenance in many cases, of prominent public areas in the town. Is it not therefore acceptable that private funds such as those that I am offering are used for a development which can only be of benefit to the presentation of Marine Parade particularly and ultimately of benefit to the town as a whole. Any accusations of private benefit are simply that, accusations, and need to be tempered with common sense. For instance, if the same funds were offered to many other local towns there would be no hesitation in grasping the benefits of such a co-operation. The proposed house will be a further boost to tourism in the town as is the tremendously popular Outlook, bringing much needed visitors and therefore revenue to the towns businesses.
The resulting property would be only slightly higher (one metre) than the original and will include the reconstruction of the attractive, original, decorative balustrade - a feature of the 1930's construction. YES there is a need to MOVE (NOT STOP UP as some scaremongering has suggested!) the public right of way to ONLY FIVE METRES further along the path, combining it with the existing adjacent set of steps. However, this would also be improved by the reconstruction, at my own cost, of the original cast balustrade. The argument that this would be any less accessible for buggies or wheelchairs is simply not true since one hundred metres further along the path towards the valley the path is already impassable for these, and two hundred metres towards the Spa hotel the same applies where a set of steps twice the length of those at the entrance would need to be negotiated.
The new project includes a commemorative clock to celebrate the 150 years centennial of the town and could and would be constructed in time for this celebration. At a recent Parish council meeting a recommendation of refusal to move the public right of way was voted. Surely common sense should prevail here and the improvement should be embraced, if not where next for these buildings and this area? Please make your feelings known to your Parish and local authority councillors or on line in the planning section of http://www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk. It only takes a few minutes and hopefully a stunning new, well designed property, constructed in sympathetic materials, can be on this site in time for the towns celebrations next year.
Harry Armstrong
View the proposed elevations and plans for the Mary Martins Buildings here.100th Edition
The October 2009 publication was the 100th edition of 'Talk of the Town'. Articles about the development of the magazine can be read inside this edition.
Saltburn's excellent and informative local magazine, Talk of the Town, won the category of 'Best Community
Magazine' in the Redcar & Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency's annual award ceremony in 2006.
The award was presented to the editor Ian Tyas, who has been running the magazine for the past 7 years.
The magazine is distributed freely to local residents and has a current circulation of @ 4,500. It has developed and grown a lot bigger since it's 16 page first issue. The March 2008 magazine, the 81st edition of 'Talk of the Town', had 56 pages. As well as keeping everyone up to date on local news and events the magazine has helped many businesses and services in and around Saltburn gain more sales.
Covering the whole of Saltburn over a monthly period, ‘The Talk of the Town’ magazine is distributed FREE and is a very low cost, effective way of letting people in Saltburn know just what your business has to offer. Businesses within Saltburn also receive a copy of the magazine, which is an added bonus, as many people living outside of Saltburn work in the town, so also get to see the magazine.
If you would like more information about advertising in The Talk of the Town magazine please contact Ian:
01287 623903
talkofthetown@tyasi.freeserve.co.uk
or write to:
The Editor,
- Talk of the Town,
- c/o Real Meals,
- 4, Station Street,
- Saltburn by the Sea,
- TS12 1AE
Please note that SaltburnbySea.com is not associated with Talk of the Town. If you would like to advertise in the magazine please contact the editor and not SaltburnbySea.com.