black cat when is a good time to bury bad news? . . . is the help Hartlepool receives from Tees Valley Unlimited just too limited? . . . . . trouble in Paradise and that debate in the Commons read the column Want to Get In Touch?   You can e-mail your comments and contributions to us directly.   Just Click HERE Costs of Tall Ships Revealed The costs of Hartlepool hosting the Tall Ships next month, now given as £3.7m, have been partially revealed. In response to a Freedom of Information request, Hartlepool Borough Council has published an itemised list of spending. However, the list still lacks sufficient detail to allow anyone to judge just how well money has been spent. read more top stories site map rss feed Emergency Unit to Close in October Hartlepool Hospital’s Emergency Unit is to close in October. In what looks like a continuation of its ‘death by a thousand cuts’ policy, The North Tees and Hartlepool Trust will now redirect all emergency cases to North Tees Hospital while cuts and bruises will be dealt with by the new One Life Minor Injuries facility in park Road. read more Watch the Hospital Debate Hartlepool M.P. Iain Wright recently secured a debate on the future of Hospital services in Hartlepool which was held in Westminster Hall on Tuesday, 27th July. You can watch the full debate HERE Drummond Coins   It In Following the electoral demise of former Cabinet Member Victor Tumilty, there’s been a shake up of the Hartlepool representation on the Cleveland Police Authority. Mayor Stuart Drummond has, with the help of a few others, somehow managed to secure for himself a seat on the authority and collect an extra £10,000 in the process. read more contacts       site map       write for us Who Speaks For Us? Amidst the continuing uncertainty about the future of The University Hospital of Hartlepool, one thing has been glaringly obvious; the deafening silence of those who are meant to represent us. Even after the cancellation of the Wynyard Hospital was announced, there have been no declarations of resistance from our representatives to the closure of Hartlepool Hospital which will result in the town becoming the only large town in the North East of England without its own hospital. That process has now taken a further step with the planned closure of the Hospital’s Emergency Unit in October. Both the town’s Labour MP and the Labour Group remain stubbornly fixated on the cancelled Wynyard Hospital while the Conservative and Liberal Groups have offered no indication that they or their coalition Government will actively support the retention of Hartlepool Hospital and the return of services lost to North Tees Hospital; the loss of which has undermined the long-term future of our own Hospital. Should Hartlepool Hospital close then the people of Hartlepool and South East Durham face long journeys to North Tees for all but the most minor or routine treatments while those requiring urgent care will have their life chances diminished as ambulances battle through grid-locked roads to North Tees. The disconnect between the people and those who are meant to represent them is stark. We now need to know just who amongst our 47 Councillors, our elected Mayor and MP will be fighting on the same side as the people of Hartlepool and South East Durham who clearly and overwhelmingly have consistently shown that they wish to retain our hospital complete with the full set of services they deserve. Consequently, HTH is writing to each and every one of our elected representatives asking them to clarify where they stand on this fundamental issue. The replies, as well as a list of any who choose not to reply, will be published unedited on the HTH Website. A Thank You During the last 4 weeks, the HTH web site notched up no fewer than 23,000 unique visitors, over-taking the Borough Council’s own web site. This is a big moment for HTH and we would like to thank all of those visitors, contributors and supporters that have watched the site develop over the last 5 years and assure them that there is much more to come. Tall Ships Preparation Pics We have it on good authority that there is absolutely no truth behind rumours circulating the town suggesting the council has devised a cunning plan that would see the piles of scrap currently adorning Irvines Quay have plaques placed in front of them claiming them to be part of a Damien Hirst exhibit. see the preparation pics...