The picture today shows part of a very large crane in the Victoria Pleasure Grounds. A foretaste of what residents will have to endure from now on. Lots of construction work to turn a site into something for which it is fundamentally unsuited.

It must be very bitterly disappointing for the Goole Youth Athletics Club and other faithful athlete users of the grounds to lose the 400m running track - which they raised £20k to repair. All credit to the athletes - they have worked hard, done a lot of good, showed initiative, and fought hard. They have been very badly treated. Commiserations to them, and hats off to them for everything they have achieved and tried to do.

Of course investment is welcome, and constructive things for young people, and older youngsters too, to do is a very good thing. The VPG is OK for limited use, and great for athletics and practice, but given the nature of the area around it - narrow residential streets already struggling to cope with existing levels of use - it is not suited to what is planned. The town would be much better served by a sporting village on the Junction 36 estate where there is much more space and good road access. It’s a pity the decision makers did not have the vision and the determination to bring this about. Instead the town will have to live with the VPG scheme and its shortcomings for decades. Not to mention the anti-social behaviour arising from football matches and the “hospitality venue”.

Your writer spent the summer clearing the family home first bought at the end of 1960. It was a very big, emotionally challenging job.

The alternative - making sure there is enough income to fund a thorough refurbishment of the house and build a good future does not seem like a good option to your writer. The way the Town Deal scheme has been conducted - a non-elected body, members hand picked by East Riding Council, being given so much power to negatively impact residents lives. The carefully managed consultations which seem designed to produce the results the powers that be want. The way councillors and the former MP have attacked people who disagree with decisions using terms such as “moaners”, always running the place down.” This is not the conduct of people committed to healthy democracy, freedom of speech, citizen engagement, and consensus. 

The sense of betrayal that the councillors representing the Ward in which the VPG stands voted in favour of the VPG scheme - without any meaningful consultation with those who live in the streets around the Ground and will be most affected by it - is strong.

Neighbours and others in Goole are kind enough to say they will miss your writer. That is touching and appreciated. It is a big step to cut ties with the town in which you were brought up, in an area where both sides of the family have been going back centuries. The way the two councils and the Town Deal Board have gone about things, and the lack of faith in local democracy clear from the very low turnout in local council elections shows, are material to that decision.

it’s possible that some may say “good riddance”. But that would say more about their attitude to democracy than anything else.

Thank you to everyone who got involved to try to get the plans changed. It seems we have not succeeded - but we have put a lot into the attempts.