Leigh Jones

Newcastle upon Tyne

Broadcast Journalist at BBC Radio Tees

Editor, The Teesside Lead. Freelance journalist. Used to work in music. Ex-Yorkshire Post Teesworks expert. Oh, and once I saw a blimp.

Articles

Scrapping of Teesside hydrogen plant plans 'disappointing'

1 month ago | bbc.co.uk | Leigh Jones

Image source, BPImage caption, BP has dropped its plans for a green hydrogen plant BBC News, North East and CumbriaBP's announcement that it had dropped plans for a "green" hydrogen plant has been described as "bitterly disappointing". The multinational had previously sought planning permission to build a power plant in Redcar, which would have produced hydrogen by breaking down water using electricity.
BP cancels green hydrogen project at Teesworks

1 month ago | teesside.thelead.uk | Leigh Jones |Leigh Jones

Back for another mid-week edition of The Teesside Lead, this is number 37 overall. I sat down yesterday morning to write today’s newsletter with an empty notebook and a blank page on the screen in front of me. That all changed with an email from BP’s press team responding to a question I asked them last week. The Teesside Lead is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Councillor has unpaid council tax bill of £6,000

2 months ago | teesside.thelead.uk | Leigh Jones |Leigh Jones

This is the 29th edition of The Teesside Lead, and it represents something of a completion in one respect. I’ve finally had FOI responses from all five Tees Valley councils about their councillors owing council tax arrears, and the result - at the risk of sounding like AI-generated clickbait - is truly shocking.
Jonathan Meades' voice is that of the oppressor

Oct 5, 2024 | medium.com | Leigh Jones

Leigh Jones·Follow4 min read·--Jonathan Meades at La Cité Radieuse in MarseilleLa Cité Radieuse, or The Radiant City in English, is a housing development in Marseille that was completed in 1952. The concrete block reaches eighteen storeys and dwarfs the modest post-war buildings in this part of the south of France. Designed by the influential Modernist architect, Le Corbusier, La Cité is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The pubman’s lament

Sep 19, 2024 | medium.com | Leigh Jones

I don’t know why the village I grew up in exists. Its history seems incomplete. Despite a few standing stones dotted about it’s only relatively recently that people have had any reason to live in the village. The prehistoric barrow near my parents’ house only shows people doing the opposite here. There’s a North-South road, and an East-West road, with houses built along them in the mid-to-late twentieth century, with a couple of cul-de-sacs for good measure.
Government "not ruling anything out" with potential Teesworks investigation

Jul 29, 2024 | yorkshirepost.co.uk | Leigh Jones

The government has said it’s “not ruling anything out”, but declined to confirm if it would appoint the National Audit Office (NAO) to investigate the Teesworks project and Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).
Meat off the menu as Yorkshire council goes plant-based to tackle climate change

Jul 25, 2024 | yorkshirepost.co.uk | Leigh Jones

A Yorkshire council has voted to approve a new plant-based catering policy, in an effort to fight climate change. Calderdale Council voted to adopt the new policy to remove meat and dairy from future council meetings and catered events at the full council meeting on Wednesday night (24 July). It follows a proposal last month which recommended the move after the council’s cabinet unanimously backed the move, which was formally proposed by deputy leader Coun Scott Patient.
Councillor calls for his council to be abolished and merged into North Yorkshire because 'it's not a real area'

Jul 22, 2024 | yorkshirepost.co.uk | Leigh Jones

A councillor has called for his council to be abolished and merged into neighbouring authorities, causing the council’s leader to respond that such a proposal would not serve locals’ interests. Coun Dr Tristan Learoyd, who represents St Germains Ward on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (RCBC), has said the council is “too small to cope” with increased demand on children’s services, which are stretching already tight budgets.
Sheffield refuse workers call five-day strike in union recognition dispute

Jul 18, 2024 | yorkshirepost.co.uk | Leigh Jones

Refuse workers in Sheffield have called a five-day strike in a dispute over recognition of their union by their employers. Around 100 refuse workers at Veolia’s Lumley Street depot who are members of Unite are planning to withhold their labour between July 29 and August 2. Veolia says it already recognises GMB as the official trade union for its workers. Unite claims that 80 per cent of workers at the Sheffield depot are their own members, and that Veolia should formally recognise this.
Rural North Yorkshire primary school to permanently close

Jul 16, 2024 | yorkshirepost.co.uk | Leigh Jones

A primary school in North Yorkshire will close at the end of August due to decreasing pupil numbers. St Hilda’s Church of England Primary School in Ampleforth has had no more than 36 pupils for the last 15 years, with only 13 children currently attending. The school’s governing board requested a consultation on the potential closure of the school which was launched in March this year.