Latest news with #ClevelandBoroughCouncil
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council to cut post-16 school SEND transport
A local authority is to cut the amount of subsidised transport it provides to post 16-year-old pupils with special educational needs (SEND) travelling to school. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said it was spending an "unsustainable" amount on the scheme for 105 students and that costs were expected to rise in the future. It said it cost about £4,700 to provide the travel arrangements for each pupil, a total of about £500,000 a year. As part of the cuts, transport will only be available for pupils who need to travel more than three miles. Post-16 SEND pupils currently receiving transport help will not be affected by the new policy unless they need to make a new application. However, discretion may be applied in certain circumstances, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The local authority will also ask parents to give evidence as to why they cannot provide transport for their children themselves. It said work and other childcare commitments would "generally" not be considered a reason for the council to provide subsidised transport. It also will not provide assistance for pupils enrolled in education providers outside of the borough, except for specific circumstances. The new policy should take effect from the start of the next academic year. The council has no statutory duty to provide transport for post-16 SEND pupils and receives no specific funding for this, it says. A report detailing the plans also noted that many colleges and special schools already offered subsidised transport. It also said the new policy would help young people aged 16 and over to develop independent travel skills. The local authority said it would aid this work with the use of "independent travel trainers". Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Decision to scrap post-16 SEND transport delayed Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Demonstration against waste incinerator plans
Demonstrators gathered outside a council meeting to protest against plans for a waste incinerator. Campaigners claimed the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF), which would be built at Teesworks in Grangetown, Redcar, was "unfair and dangerous". Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is one of seven across north-east England that would use the facility, burning up to 450,000 tonnes of waste per year to generate energy, according to plans. Protestor Dr Matthew Keegan said he believed it would directly impact on the community's health. Developers said it would be safe and sustainable. As well as Redcar and Cleveland, the incinerator would take waste from homes in the Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton council areas. Redcar and Cleveland Council was due to vote on the plans but a decision is yet to be made. Ray Casey, from Stop Incineration North East, said councillors needed to "pause" and have a "rethink". He said: "We don't need an incinerator right now. "We are not advocating landfill either, what we are advocating is more modern material recovery facilities. "Recycle all of this material without landfilling it, without burning it". Independent councillor Tristan Learoyd, who brought the motion against TVERF, said: "There is nowhere in the world where there is a higher density of incineration than here in Teesside. "The massive carbon output from this incinerator will be larger than the whole of Redcar and Cleveland combined." Grangetown has the highest death rates from respiratory disease, and lowest average healthy life expectancy in England, according to a report on Left Behind Neighbourhoods by The Local Trust, a charity that funds community projects. Dr Keegan said there was a correlation to lung disease and development issues from outputs generated by incinerators, such as nitrous oxide. The price of living next to a 'monster' incinerator 'No alternative' to incinerator, council says Project partners from TVERF said facilities like the planned Energy from Waste (EfW) incinerator were a "reliable and safe technology" which have been subject to "intense regulatory and academic scrutiny over decades of operation". "The project represents the safest, most reliable and most sustainable way to manage our region's residual waste," they said. "Facilities are subject to constant monitoring throughout their operational life to ensure adherence to strict environmental permit conditions." Backers of the plan claimed it was "a continuation of practices that have taken place in Teesside for many decades without incident or concern". Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Burning your rubbish: The UK's big polluter Hazardous waste treatment plant plans denied Incinerator plan sparks health fears protest 'No alternative' to incinerator, council says TVERF Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Redcar incinerator council meeting demonstration
Demonstrators gathered outside a council meeting to protest against plans for a waste claimed the Tees Valley Energy Recovery Facility (TVERF), which would be built at Teesworks in Grangetown, Redcar, was "unfair and dangerous".Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is one of seven across north-east England that would use the facility, burning up to 450,000 tonnes of waste per year to generate energy, according to Dr Matthew Keegan said he believed it would directly impact on the community's health. Developers said it would be safe and sustainable. As well as Redcar and Cleveland, the incinerator would take waste from homes in the Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton council and Cleveland Council was due to vote on the plans but a decision is yet to be made. Ray Casey, from Stop Incineration North East, said councillors needed to "pause" and have a "rethink".He said: "We don't need an incinerator right now. "We are not advocating landfill either, what we are advocating is more modern material recovery facilities."Recycle all of this material without landfilling it, without burning it". Independent councillor Tristan Learoyd, who brought the motion against TVERF, said: "There is nowhere in the world where there is a higher density of incineration than here in Teesside. "The massive carbon output from this incinerator will be larger than the whole of Redcar and Cleveland combined." Grangetown has the highest death rates from respiratory disease, and lowest average healthy life expectancy in England, according to a report on Left Behind Neighbourhoods by The Local Trust, a charity that funds community Keegan said there was a correlation to lung disease and development issues from outputs generated by incinerators, such as nitrous oxide. Project partners from TVERF said facilities like the planned Energy from Waste (EfW) incinerator were a "reliable and safe technology" which have been subject to "intense regulatory and academic scrutiny over decades of operation". "The project represents the safest, most reliable and most sustainable way to manage our region's residual waste," they said."Facilities are subject to constant monitoring throughout their operational life to ensure adherence to strict environmental permit conditions."Backers of the plan claimed it was "a continuation of practices that have taken place in Teesside for many decades without incident or concern". Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Scrapping of Teesside hydrogen plant plans 'disappointing'
BP's announcement that it had dropped plans for a "green" hydrogen plant has been described as "bitterly disappointing". The multinational had previously sought planning permission to build a power plant in Redcar, which would have produced hydrogen by breaking down water using as part of a shift in strategy away from renewables, the firm has now scrapped the scheme. Leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Alec Brown, said that despite the "blow", BP remained committed to "innovative projects" in the region. BP had previously said the construction of HyGreen would create up to 500 jobs with the likelihood the "majority" would be taken by people living in the Middlesbrough and Stockton electricity used at the plant would have mainly been derived from low carbon sources and the hydrogen would have been used by firm said it would now be focusing on other projects in the area including Net Zero Teesside and a blue hydrogen plant. 'Decarbonisation blow' Brown said: "This is bitterly disappointing news - but we remain optimistic about the future."He said his administration would support all those, including BP, working on green energy projects in the region. Brown also said these schemes would "help secure jobs" and have "huge potential".Prof Sara Walker, who is leading a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) project into the integration of hydrogen into the wider energy landscape, said the news was a "blow to the decarbonisation of Teesside and to the overall development of green hydrogen in the UK".However, she said that the government had backed another green hydrogen project in Teesside, developed by EDF. Tees Valley Mayor Houchen said the combined authority had seen "incredible progress" in its plan to develop Teesside as a "global centre for green energy" and there remained "huge interest" from investors. But he did not provide a comment on BP scrapping a scheme he had previously described as a "coup for the region" that would create "well-paid, good quality jobs". Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
