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As ministers strived to rescue the threatened Corus steel plant on Teeside, Heather Jameson spoke to Redcar and Cleveland Council chief executive, Amanda Skelton, about her experience of running a council under pressure of the recession There are certain parts of the country where people could be forgiven for forgetting there had ever been a recession. Largely insulated from its major effects, and moving on from the worst of the economic downturn, these areas are already well on the road to recovery. However, Redcar and Cleveland is not one of them. A true remnant of the industrial North, the skyline in Redcar is dominated by a blast furnace which looms over the landscape, providing jobs and the economy for the community. Or at least, it did. Owner Corus has been hard hit by the recession. The economy of the area is a problem which has dominated the agenda of Redcar and Cleveland Council's chief executive, Amanda Skelton. But when she arrived two years ago, the picture looked very different from the reality she is facing. And while everyone, including the Government, has fought to keep the steelworks open, it has been a losing battle. An artist's impression of the helter skelter-shaped development, planned to revitalise redcar as a seaside resort The industrial heartland is by no means the only thing the North East council has to offer. ‘This is a hugely diverse area. It is an industrial powerhouse…. There is a very concentrated industrial area, with steel, chemicals and the Teesside Port…' But there is also the heritage coastline – a fantastic seafront which curves down the eastern side of the country, the river Tees and the North Yorkshire moors. The people, too, are mixed, with dire poverty and tremendous wealth sitting side by side. ‘There's such diversity here, and there are fantastic opportunities for growth and regeneration,' she says. And regeneration is key for Amanda. Amanda Skelton regards regeneration in her area as a priority She explains: ‘I started my career in housing, about 25 years ago in Newcastle.' Then there was Salford – ‘a tough area', again in housing management, before she returned home to the North East. During a 10-year stint at Sunderland, where she was ‘gradually getting involved in regeneration', it was back to Newcastle before Amanda found herself working in South Tyneside, running ‘all the frontline services except children's' under the-then chief executive, Irene Lucas – now director general for local government at CLG. When the role of chief executive came up and Redcar and Cleveland BC, just over two years ago, she ‘thought it looked like a fantastic job'. At the time, the steel and chemical industries still looked strong. ‘My role was to diversify the local economy.' But then, last May, Corus lost a 10-year deal and faced having to moth-ball one of its sites, with the potential of mass redundancies. It's not just the job losses that hurt – the support services, which surround the industry, have also been badly hit. In the past year, Amanda has been working with national politicians – from the prime minister to business secretary, Lord Mandelson – to rescue the steelworks site and prevent job losses. It was a battle which ended last Friday with the closure of the plant. But there is hope for the future. The council's regeneration masterplan was designed during more prosperous times, and Amanda is determined to go ahead with it ‘because it's so recent'. She says: ‘When we got the news about Corus last May, we factored that in, so it's bang up-to-date.' And the regeneration prospects are not all heavy industry. ‘Redcar used to be a thriving seaside resort, but it's not now.' Amanda has plans to revive the town, with a regeneration programme that will see a ‘vertical pier' as a focal point. The pier – artists impression pictured – will be shaped like a helter skelter, and will create space for new industries, restaurants and play areas. Illuminated at night, and projecting pictures on to the beach, these are just some of the plans to make the pier a prospective tourist attraction and get people back into the town. It will, hopefully, encourage tourists to spend more money – with the current average spend of a seaside visit in Redcar standing at just £1.50 – or the cost of an ice-cream. There is a public consultation to be launched, which will give residents the chance to give their views on the plans – and the council, the chance to prove it is listening. ‘I want to go back out to the people of Redcar and make sure we are really delivering what they want to see,' says Amanda. It is an important move, with a public hit hard by the economy. Unemployment in area used to stand at 3.3%. As of last May, when Corus shut the first site, it stood at 6%. The current round of redundancies will push local unemployment levels up to 15%. ‘It does make a huge impact to the morale of the area,' says Amanda, ‘but we are bravely soldiering on.'

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WHITEHALL

A steel will to regenerate

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