A new vision (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

A new vision

11:58am Friday 10th July 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

Sir, –The people of Teesside should be proud. Not just because Captain Cook was born here or that we have the cheapest property prices and rents in the UK and virtually no traffic jams and the amazing sandy beach that stretches from Redcar to Saltburn. I could go on celebrating the pleasures of the region.

But Teessiders should really be proud because it’s where the second industrial revolution took place. And according to academic historians there have only been two industrial revolutions.

The first took place in Shropshire with the development of the blast furnace for the bulk production of iron. The second took place in Middlesbrough on the banks of the River Tees where the Riverside Stadium now stands. And it happened because entrepreneurs and industrialists introduced the first Bessemer converters for the bulk production of steel.

The blast furnace gave us wrought iron which was strong but brittle. Steel by contrast is strong, tough and malleable. It changed the world. It enabled all the other technological revolutions that were to come.

Now it seems that the steelworks may shut. It may be this year or it may be in five years’ time – the planned lifetime of Teesside Cast Products.

Do we have anything to replace it? Call centres? They’re all well and good but pay low wages, offer no pensions and crucially – the traditionally mainstay of Teesside industrial salaries – no shift bonuses.

In the North-East, the state is expected to be responsible for 66.4 per cent of the economy this year, up from 58.7 per cent when a similar study was carried out four years ago. When Labour came to power in 1997 the figure was 53.8 per cent.

“Hurrah” your readers might shout, “the Government is looking after us”. Indeed, that is the case. But it makes the region extremely vulnerable should the economy continue to worsen or we have a change of government.

Even Vince Cable – everyone’s favourite politician – warns us constantly that we are going to have significant cuts in public spending to pay for the remedial measures brought on by the credit crunch.

Whither Teesside? We really need to do some hard thinking.

The region seems to lead every bad statistic in not only the UK and but also Western Europe.

Are we happy with mass drunkenness and flashing our private parts in the headlights of passing motorists in Redcar or Yarm on a Friday night? Or are we proud to be an area that launched the second industrial revolution.

Can we recapture that 19th century spirit of visionary entrepreneurship and enterprise?

Surely we can.

MARK LEE Linthorpe, Middlesbrough.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)