We want to prevent a major tragedy by stopping children using the desolate area as playground.

And to lend your support, all you have to do is sign our petition.
Copies are available online, at newsagents, or by visiting the Mail reception in New Clarence House in Wesley Square.

+ Download Petition (pdf document)


+ Sign our online petition

Make sure that as well as getting a petition for yourself, you take plenty of copies to hand out among your friends.

Mail editor Joy Yates today urged people to back the cause.

She said: ''This is a chance for the public to make a difference.
''We have said for months this site is a danger which must be made more secure.

''We want readers of the Mail to take advantage of this chance to have their say, and sign our petition, either by calling in to the Mail or visiting our website.''

For months, the Mail has highlighted how children have used the old Steetley site in the West View area of town as an "adventure playground."

Town resident Neil Robinson proved it by taking photos of youngsters exploring the abandoned works.

Now comes your chance to make a difference.

Our Sort out Steetley campaign has clear goals to make the site more secure, clear the debris, speed up the administration process, publicise the plans for the site, and redevelop the area.

Culford Properties submitted a planning application to Hartlepool Borough Council in 2005 to build 500 houses on the site, but the plans are yet to be considered.

Nick Blezard, an agent for Culford, said recently: "Once we receive permission, we could start work in a matter of months. Until then we are doing our best and are as concerned as anybody else about the safety of the site."

The company has recently removed leaking oil safely from the site and plan to build a wall across the entrance at Old Cemetery Road. A council spokesman previously said: "The site is privately owned and people should not trespass on to it. We would urge parents in particular to ensure that their children do not go on to the site.''

The council says it is still in discussions with the applicant Culford regarding various aspects of the application.

CJC Chemicals, which lease the site from Culford, is in voluntary liquidation, and has no contact details apart from the Old Cemetery Road address.

The Mail campaign began after we found children swimming in the huge settling tanks last year, and revisited the site recently to find the situation no better.

So now's your opportunity to get involved – and all it needs is your signature.

CAMPAIGN GOALS

• To get the site made secure to prevent children from playing there


• Tanks regularly checked and drainedn Site cleared of debris


• Administration process speeded up


• Proposed plans for site made public


• Redevelopment of the site as soon as possible