GUISBOROUGH Town Council met in May for a virtual meeting, but held a full council meeting with members present in June at Sunnyfield House.

Cycling Event. Stephen Mussett, community health development co-ordinator at Redcar and Cleveland Council, and Andy Langford, community traffic agent for SweetSpot Event Group, addressed the council about the forthcoming cycle race for elite riders to take place in Guisborough on Sunday, August 8. The Tour Series will involve the UK’s leading cyclists and teams racing through the streets of Guisborough on a fast and technical 1.34km route. As well the cycle race, sporting and community activities will take place on Westgate from midday. The Tour series opens in Guisborough before subsequent rounds in Sunderland and Castle Douglas and is expected to attract large crowds. The race will start at 3pm and finish in Westgate near to the Bow Street traffic lights and compete on closed roads on a circuit up Church Street, Redcar Road, left on to Walkers Row, Northgate, left on to Bolckow Street, left in to Priory Close, on to Reid Terrace and back on to Westgate at Sunnyfield House. The event will be shown live on ITV4 and Eurosport so will be beamed across Europe. Stephen Mussett said that to get the race to Guisborough was a coup as it had only been held in Durham city before. The TV coverage would include not only the race but points of interest in and around Guisborough.

All the roads will be closed to traffic and no car parking will be allowed on the circuit. Removal vehicles will be on hand to move any vehicles left on the circuit. Westgate will be closed to traffic until 8.30pm. Straw bales would be placed at danger points as the riders would be travelling at speeds of up to 40-60km. Pedestrian crossing points will be covered by paid stewards. Residents on the route will be informed by letter drop. Street parties would be encouraged and there would be an estimated 4,000 spectators present.

Diversions would take traffic away from the area and parking restrictions would apply from 9am. The race vehicles would be based at Prior Pursglove College and riders would only be allowed to carry out emergency repairs, punctures etc at Church Square.

Councillor Bill Clarke said that although traffic restriction had been in place during the Klondike cycle races in previous years, the Arriva buses were still trying to use closed roads, taking no notice of advance warnings. He asked that Arriva be made clearly aware of this event.

Officials. At the May meeting of the Council, Councillor Mrs Hazel Meynell was elected as chairman and mayor, and Councillor Andrew Hixon as her deputy.

Donations. The council agreed donations for the 2021/2022 year of £1,000 each for the Guisborough Museum and Guisborough in Bloom (taken from the Solar Wind Farm Fund), £200 for the Guisborough Salvation Army and £150 for the Royal British Legion.

Correspondence. The deputy town clerk, Martin Stone said that a number of letters had been received regarding long and short stay parking in Patten Lane, parking charges in Church Square, yellow lines in Fountain Street and overhanging bushes obstructing the view of traffic at the junction of Redcar Road and Church Lane. Each of these matters was the responsibility of the Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and the clerk was asked to inform the correspondents accordingly. Another letter had complained about the lack of housing available in Guisborough but it was stated that this is a matter of supply and demand which the town council could do nothing about. Councillor David Johnson suggested writing to the town’s MP as he felt that it was disgraceful that people on lower incomes did not have the opportunity to own or rent suitable housing.

Planning. The town council does not grant planning applications, which are the responsibility of the borough council, but can object to an application which they consider inappropriate. Councillor Alma Thrower, chair of the Planning Sub-committee, said that the council was to object to an application for a change of use of public open space in Heslington Gardens as this would result in the loss of open space in the town. The council would also strongly object to an application for a change of use of a residential garden at 18 Belmangate to a glamping pod site as entry would have to be through the cricket club car park and would need fresh water, power, etc. The council would object to an application for a detached shed at the rear of Enfield Chase as it was considered an overdevelopment of the site.

Citizen of the Year. The mayor and chair of the council, Councillor Hazell Meynell said that she had selected the former caretaker of Sunnyfield House, John Tennant, as her choice for Guisborough’s Citizen of the Year. This would be presented later this year at the Parish Assembly.

Allotments and open spaces. The sub-committee had recommended that the annual Crafts and Produce Show due to be held on August 21 be postponed until 2022 due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Similarly, that the Best Kept Garden Competition for 2021 was postponed to 2022.

Meetings. The next meeting would be held at 7.30pm on Thursday, July 15 at Sunnyfield House.