Committee committed to GTFC

THE council chamber.
Years ago as a trainee reporter, I would walk in with trepidation. These people were powerful, they had the clout, they were the councillors.
As you get older, and wiser, you realise that they are community-minded folk there to represent us. Their views are no different from the rest of us, they have interests they treasure, thoughts and views.
Not many bigger decisions than this cross their paths. So in the impressive theatre that is Grimsby Town Hall, the debate was heard before a standing-room only crowd.
Hi-tech presentation in such a grand old room, filled to the brim with people – 230 to 20 in favour of a new stadium and a future for the football club.
So the fixture was set, the officials announced. One team of 11 to decide, two five-a-side teams to kick the issue around. Objectors, the passionate Great Coates Parish Council, and a couple of residents.
For the application, football club chairman John Fenty, the supporters’ trust chair and the closest link to God Grimsby has – Canon Michael Hunter.
Last rites or divine intervention was my pre-meeting thoughts... powerful persuasion about the good of Grimsby was the reply.
The fans did their club proud, and it was only one villager, via false yawns, exaggerated chortles and fervent head shaking that showed any of the oh-so-feared anti-social behaviour.
Back to the pitch, and there were worthy comments from all sides. One particularly that will be followed up by the Telegraph concerning Great Coates Station being unable to handle people with disabilities. Surely in a village where with the help of a train elderly residents can reach a seaside stroll within 400 yards, it should already be in place. To ask the football club to fund it, and barriers to cross the whole of the road – which by villagers’ admissions is already a lot busier than it was thanks to the success of south bank industry – appalls me. It should certainly be part of the plan, but for the club to fund? I think not. Isn’t that what part of our ridiculously expensive train fares are for? Failing that why not have some of the money made from road tax, fuel tax, speeding fines etc, not from a club that is trying to encourage fans to go black, white and green.
And so the vote: Coun Pickett – yes, Coun Colebrook – yes, Coun Mills – no, Coun Powell – yes, Coun Beasant – yes, Coun Barker – yes, Coun Little – yes, Coun Shaw – yes. Then those who hadn’t already indicated... Couns Parkinson, Pidgen and Jackson all raised hands. 10-1. The best Town result in modern history.
Greeted with a euphoric cheer and a realisation that the hard work is still to come.
As people filtered out Coun Dickerson’s tone worried me. Baiting the club chairman with the suggestion of opening a betting book to see whether it would ever be built was not befitting of a former mayor. Worse perhaps, earlier in the evening was the suggestion a chemical disaster on the south bank could create another ‘Hillsborough’ from Great Coates resident Bill Childs. The days of football fans being locked behind cages are well gone, and I wonder how much research he did, especially when the proposal is outside of the HSE’s immediate consultation zone.
Now, Mr Fenty begins the intense and commercially sensitive behind-closed-doors work to make this dream a reality, and we wish him and his team well. But tonight, and this season on, there are some major footballing challenges to hurdle if this stadium is to happen and the town – as Canon Hunter rightly said – gets what it deserves.

Thumbs up (for) the Mariners!

YES!
Officers at North East Lincolnshire Council have recommended approval be granted for Grimsby Town's new stadium at Great Coates.
You'll know how much I want this, we now know the MPs want this, business wants it.... and the council appears to as well.
Now it is up to the elected members to make the decision.
With the club languishing in the worst position I can recall in 18 years of actually supporting them, it is desperately needed. Any good news could be a shot in the arm to survive the biggest threat - not stadium objectors - a drop into the non-league abyss.
You only have to look at Cambridge and York to see no return ticket is guaranteed.
I've been accused of being too close to the club before, but I think pillars in the community need to stand together to support it. I see the Telegraph, the council and the football club as such pillars.
Yes we have to provide effective opposition in times when there isn't really one for the local authority, but we also need to stand united as one true voice for the good of Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Immingham and all that we call home.
If those within do not champion the community, exactly who will?

Going green for Grimsby's greatness

IF you haven't caught on to the clear agenda for 2007, then I question where you've been or what you were drinking on New Year's Eve!Climate change, carbon neutral, bio-everything, global warming.... more seems to have been written and broadcast on this in the past month than when the Kyoto Agreement was, well, agreed.This is no time for burying our heads in the sand and leaving it for our grandchilden to suffer. Action is required, but how great that the companies seeking to make a business out of helping us go green are seeing the Grimsby-area as the place to start.EnCycle, Helius and now Abengoa - Europe's biggest bioethenal producer - on its way.jobs, jobs, jobs, positive green jobs that will add another specialism to our already diverse industrial make up. Planners please welcome them, their technology and infrastructure.

New year hopes are high

Happy new year to one and all.
Well 2006 was a vitally important 12 months for the Grimsby area.
I have written in great detail about the ports expansions that came to fruition last summer, but the impact they can have, not only in extra handling ability - but the spend raising the profile of the Port of Immingham and surrounding arrea - has really brought northern Lincolnshire to the fore.
And in the closing months of the year we saw how attractive it is proving.
Major companies are heading this way, with the ports a key part of the pull here. Also, the big players that are here already are developing further too.
Major names such as ConocoPhillips, Total Lindsey Oil Refinery and Novartis are all expanding.
In 2007 we should go a long way to seeing these new plants and operations realised. While no one development is a major jobs provider, they all play their part. We quickly amass more than 100 roles, and then there is the construction element too. Granted, these are not all local jobs, and obviously not permanent, but there is the local spend while they are here.
On what was chiefly a positive year, the saving of Courtaulds once again was a great way to end the past 12 months. Let's hope that this time round the company can progress towards the levels of success many associate with the fibre great in years gone by.
Perhaps this year we could see a resolution on exactly what will happen with the fish docks, and a furtherence of the commitment by the regional development bodies to strengthen and promote the key sectors of food, chemicals and logistics.
Then there's the environment too, and clean energy. So much attention has been given for the need to change our ways these past few weeks, and rightly so. Global warming and climate change are massive issues that simply cannot be ignored. Here again, this area is well placed to offer assistance, and the number of bio-plants and associated operations springing up is testament to that.
So here's to 2k7, may it be a happy and prosperous one for all, we here at the Grimsby Telegraph certainly hope so.