New housing and renewable energy park could be built on Billingham wetland

A wetland area of Billingham is being scoped as a potential site for new housing and a renewable energy park.

A feasibility study has been carried at Norton Bottoms, next to the A19, by environmental and engineering consultancy Wardell Armstrong, under the instruction of Billingham Valley Developments.

The report describes the 35 hectare site as “currently unoccupied, comprising principally of open land vegetated by rough grasses and bushes”.

Areas adjacent to Billingham Beck “are densely vegetated with reeds”, the report, which is available on Stockton Council’s website, goes on.

The proposed development is bound by the A19 Fleet Bridge Road along its southern and western edges. To the north the site is bound by the residential area of New Road Estate and to north east the site is bound by Lucite International.

The scoping report identifies the development areas as:

• Residential development to the northwest of site;

• Renewable Energy Park with potential for a number of technologies;

• Landscaping and wildlife enhancement to the north west and south of site

• Recreation area to the north east of site; and

• The existing reedbeds to the east of site.

Land near New Road, Billingham which developers want to build houses on

The Environment Agency has identified areas around the site boundaries as Flood Zone 3 - an area likely to be flooded by a one in 100 year event.

But the scoping report says “the proposed areas for development on the site are all outside the areas likely to flood”.

The Civil Aviation Authority commented that if wind turbines were proposed as part of the energy park - although they are not specifically mentioned - it would then want to offer advice:

Tees Archaeology backed a suggestion to use a surviving World War II pillbox as part of a heritage trail.

Labour Billingham councillor Evaline Cunningham, said she had not yet heard about the plans, but added: “To my mind it’s a swampy area. It would really have to be closely looked at before they built on it.”

Watch: Roy 'Chubby' Brown talks retirement, cancer and dying on stage

Comedian Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown has revealed he has no plans to hang up his microphone . . . despite his recent ill health.

The controversial comic is now in his 70s but has vowed to carry on entertaining until his body “no longer allows it”.

But despite a recent battle with throat cancer he “doubts” he’ll replicate fellow comedian Tommy Cooper and spend his very last moment on the stage.

Chubby, real name Royston Vasey, said: “You have days when you’re really tired and don’t feel anything, but other days you’re like: ‘Come on, let’s get on with it’.

“You can’t be up there all the time. Sometimes I’ve got to stand behind the door when the music starts and psyche myself up, but other times I’m ready.

“I know my job, I’ve been doing it for that long.

“People say I’ll be like Tommy Cooper and drop dead on stage, but I don’t know whether I will or not.

“I want to go as long as I can. As long as I can walk, talk, dance and sing.

“I’ll know, my body will know. Your body tells you when you have to go on a diet, or when it’s time to get out of bed.

“And when you get old, your body will say you can’t do this anymore.”

Roy 'Chubby' Brown

Carving a career out of political incorrectness, the 70-year-old, from Teesside, is known for his risqué, blue humour, often dividing opinion.

But his popularity is there to see and he was famously dubbed the most important comedian of the past 25 years in the book A National Joke.

He is still selling out venues on his UK tour, most recently at City Hall in Newcastle, and his DVDs are flying off the shelves, enough to convince him to carry on doing what he loves.

“We plod on and plod on and I still work because I enjoy working,” said Chubby.

“I’m not doing it for money; I don’t want to be the richest person in the graveyard.

“You can be in Southampton one night, Inverness the next. You go where they’re willing to laugh at you.

“You know when you retire and people say: ‘I’m retired and I’m going to go on long walks, paint pictures and go fishing?’

“I don’t want to do any of that. I just want to tell jokes and I want people to laugh, because that’s my environment.”

Roy 'Chubby' Brown

Chubby showed a softer side when diagnosed with throat cancer in 2002, admitting he passed out when told by doctors.

And away from the stage he is working to raise awareness and cash for research.

He said: “They say within five years it’ll all be cured but I don’t know whether it will be or not. They’re striding towards new things all the time.

“But I feel really lucky because the day they told me I had cancer it feels as though you’ve got a week to live, and you’re wondering how you’re going to spend that week.

“Then the reality kicks in. You think: ‘God, I’ve got a wife, young kids. How are they going to manage?’

“That’s why I’m passionate about raising money to help beat it.”

Iraqi Army Downs Two British Planes Carrying Weapons for ISIL Terrorists ?

GR editor’s Note

There are no reports in the Western mainstream media pertaining to this issue.

This report is based on statements emanating from the Iraq parliament, with photographic evidence. We have not been in a position to corroborate this report by FARS News.

Iraq’s army has shot down two British planes as they were carrying weapons for the ISIL terrorists in Al-Anbar province, a senior lawmaker disclosed on Monday.

“The Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee has access to the photos of both planes that are British and have crashed while they were carrying weapons for the ISIL,” Head of the committee Hakem al-Zameli said, according to a Monday report of the Arabic-language information center of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

He said the Iraqi parliament has asked London for explanations in this regard.

The senior Iraqi legislator further unveiled that the government in Baghdad is receiving daily reports from people and security forces in al-Anbar province on numerous flights by the US-led coalition planes that airdrop weapons and supplies for ISIL in terrorist-held areas.

The Iraqi lawmaker further noted the cause of such western aids to the terrorist group, and explained that the US prefers a chaotic situation in Anbar Province which is near the cities of Karbala and Baghdad as it does not want the ISIL crisis to come to an end.

Earlier today, a senior Iraqi provincial official lashed out at the western countries and their regional allies for supporting Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, revealing that US and Israeli-made weapons have been discovered from the areas purged of ISIL terrorists.

“We have discovered weapons made in the US, European countries and Israel from the areas liberated from ISIL’s control in Al-Baqdadi region,” the Al-Ahad news website quoted Head of Al-Anbar Provincial Council Khalaf Tarmouz as saying.

He noted that the weapons made by the European countries and Israel were discovered from the terrorists in the Eastern parts of the city of Ramadi.

Al-Zameli had also disclosed in January that the anti-ISIL coalition’s planes have dropped weapons and foodstuff for the ISIL in Salahuddin, Al-Anbar and Diyala provinces.

Al-Zameli underlined that the coalition is the main cause of ISIL’s survival in Iraq.

“There are proofs and evidence for the US-led coalition’s military aid to ISIL terrorists through air(dropped cargoes),” he told FNA in January.

He noted that the members of his committee have already proved that the US planes have dropped advanced weaponry, including anti-aircraft weapons, for the ISIL, and that it has set up an investigation committee to probe into the matter.

“The US drops weapons for the ISIL on the excuse of not knowing about the whereabouts of the ISIL positions and it is trying to distort the reality with its allegations.

He noted that the committee had collected the data and the evidence provided by eyewitnesses, including Iraqi army officers and the popular forces, and said, “These documents are given to the investigation committee … and the necessary measures will be taken to protect the Iraqi airspace.”

Also in January, another senior Iraqi legislator reiterated that the US-led coalition is the main cause of ISIL’s survival in Iraq.

“The international coalition is only an excuse for protecting the ISIL and helping the terrorist group with equipment and weapons,” Jome Divan, who is member of the al-Sadr bloc in the Iraqi parliament, said.

He said the coalition’s support for the ISIL is now evident to everyone, and continued, “The coalition has not targeted ISIL’s main positions in Iraq.”

In late December, Iraqi Parliamentary Security and Defense Commission MP disclosed that a US plane supplied the ISIL terrorist organization with arms and ammunition in Salahuddin province.

MP Majid al-Gharawi stated that the available information pointed out that US planes are supplying ISIL organization, not only in Salahuddin province, but also other provinces, Iraq TradeLink reported.

He added that the US and the international coalition are “not serious in fighting against the ISIL organization, because they have the technological power to determine the presence of ISIL gunmen and destroy them in one month”.

Gharawi added that “the US is trying to expand the time of the war against the ISIL to get guarantees from the Iraqi government to have its bases in Mosul and Anbar provinces.”

Salahuddin security commission also disclosed that “unknown planes threw arms and ammunition to the ISIL gunmen Southeast of Tikrit city”.

Also in Late December, a senior Iraqi lawmaker raised doubts about the seriousness of the anti-ISIL coalition led by the US, and said that the terrorist group still received aids dropped by unidentified aircraft.

“The international coalition is not serious about air strikes on ISIL terrorists and is even seeking to take out the popular (voluntary) forces from the battlefield against the Takfiris so that the problem with ISIL remains unsolved in the near future,” Nahlah al-Hababi told FNA.

“The ISIL terrorists are still receiving aids from unidentified fighter jets in Iraq and Syria,” she added.

Hababi said that the coalition’s precise airstrikes are launched only in those areas where the Kurdish Pishmarga forces are present, while military strikes in other regions are not so much precise.

In late December, the US-led coalition dropped aids to the Takfiri militants in an area North of Baghdad.

Field sources in Iraq told al-Manar that the international coalition airplanes dropped aids to the terrorist militants in Balad, an area which lies in Salahuddin province North of Baghdad.

In October, a high-ranking Iranian commander also slammed the US for providing aid supplies to ISIL, adding that the US claims that the weapons were mistakenly airdropped to ISIL were untrue.

“The US and the so-called anti-ISIL coalition claim that they have launched a campaign against this terrorist and criminal group – while supplying them with weapons, food and medicine in Jalawla region (a town in Diyala Governorate, Iraq). This explicitly displays the falsity of the coalition’s and the US’ claims,” Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said.

The US claimed that it had airdropped weapons and medical aid to Kurdish fighters confronting the ISIL in Kobani, near the Turkish border in Northern Syria.

The US Defense Department said that it had airdropped 28 bundles of weapons and supplies, but one of them did not make it into the hands of the Kurdish fighters.

Video footage later showed that some of the weapons that the US airdropped were taken by ISIL militants.

The Iranian commander insisted that the US had the necessary intelligence about ISIL’s deployment in the region and that their claims to have mistakenly airdropped weapons to them are as unlikely as they are untrue.

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VHP mulls re-conversion of Christians in Goa

Panaji: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) plans to re-convert Christians in Goa and is in the middle of an expansion drive in the state, a VHP leader said here Friday.

Ahead of VHP’s golden jubilee function in the state, Dada Bedak, secretary in-charge of the Satsang (Spiritual Discourse) division, told media that the senior leaders would discuss issues like re-conversion, love jihad, etc. and how to approach them in next 50 years.

“Goa has so many Hindus who were converted during the Portuguese rule… We will look to re-converting them back to Hinduism,” Vedak said.

Goa, a former Portuguese colony, has a population of 1.5 million of which 26 percent are Christians.

Watch: Piano gift from Wildcats of Kilkenny brings sound of music to Ingleby Barwick care home

A piano donation to a Teesside care home struck the right note with grateful residents.

The sound of music filled the air at the Ingleby Care Home in Ingleby Barwick thanks to an electric keyboard gift from Teesside band The Wildcats of Kilkenny.

It all stemmed from a Christmas Eve violin concert at the home given by musical maestros James Chen, 11, and his nine-year-old brother Jeremy. They proved so popular, residents hoped the boys, who live in Ingleby Barwick, could return, only this time playing their favourite instrument, the piano.

James Chen, 11, playing the piano for residents

Just one problem - the home didn’t have one. And that’s where the Wildcats came in.

Hearing about the home’s piano search, Wildcats frontman and Stockton ambassador Mike McGrother got in touch to offer a spare. And today, James and Jeremy returned to the home to tickle the ivories kindly provided by Mike and the band.

The home’s activities coordinator Christine Wilson said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Wildcats of Kilkenny for donating this wonderful piano so that our residents can enjoy music - not only performed by James and Jeremy, but other cats too.

“Music is such an important part of our activities plan here and is often a time for people to get together and reminisce - or simply just enjoy listening.”

Drink-crazed former boyfriend who terrorised woman jailed and banned indefinitely from contacting her

A drink-crazed former boyfriend who terrorised a woman has been jailed and banned indefinitely from contacting her again.

She ended her relationship with Jamie McCarrick, 26, from Stockton, who she described as paranoid and jealous, after just three months.

Last October he went berserk in her home in Stockton smashing a 42-inch television into pieces, he punched a hole in a wall, smashed a bannister with a kick and wrecked another TV, brandished two knives threatening to slash a sofa, and he bit her bottom lip.

She got an injunction banning him from contacting her, but on November 23 a day after he was released from custody with a suspended prison sentence he turned up at a woman friend’s house in the town where she regularly spent Saturday nights.

He banged at the front door at 4.45am demanding to be let inside but she talked to him through the door for 15 minutes.

He started to kick and shoulder-charge the door, and she grabbed her phone and called the police. He burst through the door as she was talking to the police and he threw her phone onto the floor, and he flung her onto the floor.

Prosecutor Jenny Haigh told Teesside Crown Court that McCarrick fled from the house when police blue lights appeared outside the window, but he reappeared inside the house while they were searching the area for him. Officers returned and he ran into the back garden smashing a neighbour’s fence as he tried to escape.

His ex said in a victim impact statement: “He appears to be ignoring what the courts say and he will continue to harrass me.”

Andrew Turton, defending, said that McCarrick had been in custody since November 23 and he accepted that his behaviour was intolerable.

Mr Turton added: “He left home at the age of 14 but before going into custody he was in full-time employment.

“He understands that alcohol is a big part of his offending behaviour.”

Judge Tony Briggs told McCarrick: “You behaved in an appalling and terrifying manner and you are lucky not to be facing charges more serious than this one.”

McCarrick, of Consett Close, Stockton, was jailed for 14 months and given a restraining order banning him indefinitely from contacting his ex after he pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order, assault by beating, two charges of criminal damage and using violence to enter property.

Live: Sheffield Wednesday v Boro at Hillsborough

Boro are having 'a wobble.' The 'wobble' actually amounts to one defeat in 10 league games and has left Boro still in second spot.

One concern is that the defence has creaked in the absence of Daniel Ayala. After five clean sheets in six games, the Bolton shut out was the first in five - but Boro still have the best record in the league with just 22 leaked in 33 games.

The Owls’ midweek 3-1 win at Millwall was their first in eight games during a long New Year slump that saw them slip into the bottom half. Their only other win in 2015 was a 2-0 victory away at then fast-fading Forest early in January.