DARLINGTON must look to establish its own identity on a local, national and international level if it is to move forward, experts have said.

The inaugural Darlington Debate heard that the town must decide what it is good at and work with partners in the surrounding area if it is to progress out of the recession.


Watch the full debate here


Nearly 100 people attended the debate, at Lingfield Point in Darlington, which was chaired by the editor of the Northern Echo, Peter Barron.

The panel consisted of John Orchard, the director of Marchday plc which owns Lingfield Point; Alastair Thomson, the dean of Teesside University Business School; Pat Ritchie, the Homes and Communities Agency Regional Director and Alasdair MacConachie, director of car dealership, Sherwood.

The debate, which was run on a similar lines to BBC's Question Time, focused on the economic future of Darlington.

One of the questions panellists were asked was where the town needs to go in the future.

Mr Thomson said: "What do you want to be really, really good at?

"There's a number of things that could be chosen and it needs to be something that you're going to best in the world at."

Mr Orchard added: "The town needs to develop its own identity and decide what the message is and get it out there.

"I hope that that is sustainability."

Ms Ritchie said the town needed to play to its strengths, particularly its location in the region and good travel links.

She said: "It needs to build its skills base and play a strong role in the sub-regional economy."

Mr MacConachie said Darlington College and Teesside University needed to be used to help retrain those people who were unemployed.

He added: "We need to focus on getting people back into jobs".

Other topics covered in the debate included whether Darlington was a good place to set up a business; what the economic impact of the new Teesside University campus in the town would be; the importance of the Tees Valley region to Darlington; how the private sector can help voluntary organisations; the likely impact of the Corus closure and whether enough was being done to rebalance the economy following the loss of a number of manufacturing jobs in the town.

It is hoped more debates on different topics can be held in the future.

• Watch the full debate here