Councillors return for first meeting at Hartlepool Civic Centre since pandemic

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Last month Hartlepool Council held its annual general meeting at the Borough Hall, which set out the local authority leadership and committee make-up for the 2021-22 municipal year.

The meeting was held at the historic Headland venue to allow for social distancing to take place between all 36 councillors and was the first in-person full council meeting since February 2020 due to Covid-19.

The first policy committee meeting of the year has now been scheduled, which will take place in the council chamber at Hartlepool Civic Centre on Monday, June 21, from 10am, with social distancing measures in place.

Hartlepool Civic Centre will host its first council meeting since the onset of the pandemic.

It will be a meeting of the finance and policy committee, made up of 11 councillors from across multiple political groups on the council, and comes after a year of council meetings held virtually and streamed live via YouTube.

The committee is chaired by the leader of the council, Independent Union representative Cllr Shane Moore, with the deputy council leader, Conservative Cllr Mike Young, his vice chair.

At the meeting a report will be given on Hartlepool’s successful Towns Fund bid, after it was revealed last week the area will receive £25million from the Government as part of the initiative.

This will give councillors from all parties who sit on the committee a chance to question details of the projects and look ahead to what will come next.

Development proposals include “the re-imagining” of the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, connectivity improvements to better link the marina, town centre and railway station, and developing the Wesley Chapel building.

They also include developing health and civil engineering training institutes in Hartlepool, enabling residents to develop new skills.

The meeting will also feature a presentation on the role and remit of the committee.

A limited number of members of the public will be able to attend the meeting with spaces being available on a first come, first served basis.

Those wishing to attend the meeting should phone the council on (01429) 523568 or (01429) 523019 by midday on Friday, June 18, where name and address details will be taken for NHS Test and Trace purposes.