Latest news with #ChrisMcEwan
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Darlington Borough Council called 'woke' for green spaces plan
A council's plans to protect and restore green spaces has been approved despite being labelled "woke" by opposition Borough Council has declared a Nature Restoration Emergency to improve the area's depleted wildlife over the next 15 Party councillor Kate Mammolotti said developing the plan would be a "win for nature".But local Conservative leader Jonathan Dulston said the council should focus on improving people's lives and criticised the local authority for using its stretched resources on "areas that will make very little difference". Under the council's plans, it will develop a Nature Restoration Action Plan, which will aim to improve the borough's green spaces by will mean areas of depleted wildlife will receive extra protection through the council's proposals and decisions, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. A 'crucial time' Labour councillor Chris McEwan said the council should "lead by example" by including targeted and site-appropriate measures on council-owned land and communal Dulston described the motion as "daft" and said he was concerned it showed the local authority was not aligned with the public."We are a small council, a relatively small town, but we have lots of people facing inequalities," he said. "The full resources of the council need to be focused on that, not pie-in-the-sky green and woke agendas."Labour's Mary Layton said the plans were not "woke" but would underpin everything the council did for the future of the Green Party leader Matthew Snedker said the motion had been made at a crucial time."We need to strengthen the protection for wildlife and restore our precious natural environment," he said. "Right now, there is significant pressure from house builders and landowners to water down the protections for our natural world." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
29-01-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Darlington council welcomes Amazon drone delivery plans
A councillor has welcomed Amazon's plans for a town to become the first in the UK to offer deliveries by Borough Council's deputy leader Chris McEwan said there was a "long journey to travel" but described proposals as "quite interesting and exciting".He also said he understood apprehension around the potential impact on delivery jobs, but said "significant opportunities" were available within Amazon and across Darlington.A spokesperson for the local authority said: "Amazon's plans are at a very early stage and will be subject to the same approval process of any commercial development." McEwan, who is also the council's lead for economy, said: "This isn't going to be happening tomorrow as we rightly need to go through a rigorous process."There are a lot of approvals and consultations to go through to understand how and where it will work."Amazon has a fulfilment centre on the outskirts of the town. It still needs clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to use the has been chosen by the regulator to take part in new trials, along with five other organisations, to expand the use of drones in the UK. Divided opinion McEwan said the Labour-led council expected to receive more details of the online giant's plans and its timetable over the course of "the next couple of weeks".He said the proposals helped to cement Darlington's reputation for being "at the forefront for many things", but outstanding questions could not be addressed immediately."It's very early days, we need to see the detail and understand the lessons from the United States," he drone deliveries in a couple of states saw Amazon deliver free items, such as cans of soup, to proposals were met with a mixed reaction when BBC Tees spoke to people in Darlington town Gend said she embraced new technology and would welcome the drone deliveries providing Amazon was "sensitive to the people in the area and the people who work for them"."If it's quicker and more accurate, I'm up for a trial, it's the only way to go," she Dixon said he would prefer to rely on local shops when he needed items in a hurry."I'd rather actual people do the job," he said.
