It's full steam ahead for a giant automated sculpture celebrating Stockton’s rich railway heritage.

The Stockton Flyer - inspired by George Stephenson’s Locomotion No 1 - has been given the green light to be built on Stockton high street.

The sculpture will be housed inside a plinth at the northern end of High Street and at set times each day the ‘automaton’ will emerge from the plinth, dramatically gushing steam and clanking into life.

When fully extended, the plinth and sculpture will tower more than seven metres high. The sculpture, which was given approval by Stockton Council’s planning committee this week, has been designed by artists Rob Higgs and Keith Newstead.

Stockton Council’s Cabinet member for arts, leisure and culture, Councillor Ken Dixon said: “The Stockton flyer will become a fantastic feature of the regenerated multi-million-pound high street.

“Artistic attractions like the flyer not only improve the look and feel of Stockton but attract visitors to the town.

“Inspired by George Stephenson’s Locomotion Number One, the automaton will both celebrate the borough’s engineering achievements and remind us of Stockton’s rich industrial heritage.”

No costing has been given by the council for the automaton.

But Cllr Dixon said: “We are currently working on the cost and we will be seeking external funding to contribute towards this.”

He added: “In preparing the planning application we have been working up the design of the automaton and plinth so as many people as possible will be able to easily see the fascinating, daily spectacle of the artwork as it rises.”

The winning automaton design is a cartoon version of the Locomotion No 1, the first train on the world’s first modern passenger railway - the Stockton and Darlington.

What a weekend we have had in Stockton… People zipping over the tees, rat-racing through the river, picnic’ing and bouncing to the Wildcats and showing what they’ve got in Preston Park. Did we break any records??? Sadly no – no official ones anyway. Did it matter – not a jot. The record attempts were real – official and meticulously organised but the key to it all – like all of the weekend’s activities was bringing people together. I say it time and time again, but when Stockton’s community come out to play there is not a better place in the UK. We buy into what is going on. We accept work in progress and support those giving it a go – because actually, we possess fantastic community spirit. That thing that people say has vanished has NOT in my opinion. What is no longer there are the chances to show it. We are living in a secularised, marginalised and digitalised age which reduces our potential to show what fantastic people we can be. We have become a society where our humanity is being dumbed down – and we are become apathetic of who we could actually be.

On Sunday night I saw families having a great time together. People commented that the music was great – but greater still was the opportunity to come out and spend time with each other. I remember the days of going along to the P&E club in Eaglescliffe and entering fancy dress competitions; of gasping through smokey fun days at the YMCA in Stockton; of bonfire night it preston park… days where nothing really happened – but that were the best of days.

And then on Monday I saw people going for broke to break a world record! Not a Usain Bolt style record that would make the world sit up and notice, just trivial ones that brought people together. From the shaking body of a doctor who lookalike sweatily forcing down a 12 inch pizza to the athletic prowess of our space hopping nearest record breaker, ( he came within 10 bounces of hero status), people took part for the very best reason – to make people smile. The admin / media team worked for nothing. Pizzas were painstakingly weighed and made by Domino’s for nothing. Our time keeper spontaneously decided to sponsor each record attempt – because he ‘liked the concept’. Business people turned up on a rare day off – because it would be fun. Not one person cared about breaking a world record – because everyone gathered in and around a small gazebo in Preston Park became the best in the world for an afternoon.

The question is – how is all of this activity maintained, grown and embedded? How do we help an obvious appetite for community spirited activity continue to expand? Can one ‘formalise’ and germinate such growth. And should we even bother?

Operation #smile is about to move into phase 2. A little less conversation and a whole lot more action. Who is with me? Dedication’s what we need…

NEXT PHASE OF STOCKTON TOWN CENTRE REGENERATION BEGINS

WORK will start on Tuesday (6 August) on the next phase of Stockton Town Centre’s £38 million regeneration.

Contractors will be moving onto Dovecot Street between Café Nero and the Storytellers pub near ARC.

They will be replacing the paving, upgrading the pedestrian crossings, replacing street lighting columns and resurfacing the Dovecot Street-Prince Regent Street junction to help improve access to the town centre.

The visual appearance of the Dovecot Street area will also be enhanced through landscaping with trees and other greenery.

Stockton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport, Councillor Mike Smith, said: “It is fantastic to see the regeneration works are now moving at such a quick pace. Our town centre is really transforming.

“Once complete the road improvements will make it easier for people to access the town centre and the new paving, landscaping and street furniture will create a much more pleasant town centre environment. Consequently, people are more likely to take advantage of all it has to offer from shopping at the growing range of independent businesses, traditional and specialist markets to participating in leisure activities at ARC, the Georgian Theatre, Splash or on the Riverside to enjoying a meal at many of the town’s eateries.

“It is a really exciting time for the town centre and over the coming months people visiting the town will see how rapidly it is changing into a first class destination for shopping, leisure and events.”

Whilst the works in the Dovecot Street area progress the following traffic management arrangements will be in place for seven weeks:

• Prince Regent Street – one lane open in each direction.
• Dovecot Street – one way only on the ARC side (access to Prince Regent Street only). The section adjacent to the High Street will be closed and a “left turn only” will be in operation out of West Row Car Park.

Meanwhile, as the southern end of the High street nears completion the 700 year old market is on the move.

On Saturday 3 August the majority of the stalls will move to their new permanent location at the southern end of the High Street between NatWest bank and Franks Carpets on the west side and on the east side between Spencer Market Hall and Fulton Foods.

It is expected the remainder of stalls will move to their permanent position adjacent to Barclays Bank and the Town Hall by the beginning of September. In the meantime they will remain within the market at various locations at the southern end of the high street. Stallholders will have specific location details on hand for any customers enquiring about the whereabouts of a specific stall.

New street lighting columns have also been recently installed at the southern end of the High Street.

The 15 metre tall columns, with feature lighting on their masts, are bespoke to Stockton Town Centre and have been specially designed with LEDs inserted inside the column so no lanterns are needed.

It means fewer street lights will be needed throughout are the Town Centre as the light generated by the 22 street lights will provide the same amount of light as 66 of the traditional, lantern style columns.

Next month the demolition of Lindsay House will begin. The removal of the building will mean that people visiting the High Street can access leisure activities and events on the Riverside much more easily. Next year, the vacant Lindsay House space will create an on street short-stay car park which will also be used as a dedicated space for specialist markets at various times throughout the year.

- See more at: http://www.rediscoverstockton.co.uk/2013/08/020813-phase-3-starts/#sthash.ueFrpdrz.dpuf