An "attractive new public realm" for Yarm High Street may be promised, but residents have a uncanny knack for bringing grand visions down to earth.

"These are going to be somewhere for people to wee in and throw cans in when the pubs close," says Carole Jones, 70, gazing at computer-generated images of new greenery, planters, paving and seating. "How are you going to get rid of the smell of urine?"

"What is it that makes it in-keeping with a Georgian town?" she quizzes Stockton Council officers. "Why do you need change?"

Critical of the forthcoming "impressive new public spaces", she goes further: "Most of the people I've spoken to don't want it." Officers answer her questions and explain they are trying to strike a balance and give people what they said they wanted.

It is the first

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