Proposal for lodge defended as 'right plan'

A REGENERATION leader has defended proposals to demolish a lodge at Preston Park as “the right plan” after the opposition denounced the scheme as “an assault on our heritage”.

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT Local democracy reporter

Proposals to knock down the South Lodge at the entrance to the Eaglescliffe attraction and replace it with a partial replica of itself were rejected by Stockton Council's planning committee last year, with some members suggesting the lodge be preserved.

Now the Labour-led council has submitted fresh but near-identical plans to knock down the 1930s-built lodge at the newly-extended park and put a metal structure in its place as a new visitor attraction and gateway to be used for events and education.

However Councillor Niall Innes, deputy leader of the Stockton Conservative group, has raised “serious concerns” about the plans. He had asked about £320,000 in levelling up funding attached to the project.

He said: “Residents will rightly be asking how submitting an identical application addresses any of the concerns clearly expressed by the planning committee when it refused the scheme last year. If nothing has materially changed, why would the outcome be any different?