DETAILS have been released of a big public art programme in Hartlepool.

A council report outlines the latest art and environmental improvement programme for the Headland area.

The proposals include creating slender columns of light shooting into the night sky along the coast and redeveloping an area identified as the Town Square.

Other proposals to be discussed by Hartlepool Borough Council on Friday include improving the entrance to St Hilda's churchyard, a new artwork piece in the Darlington Street and Durham Street area and improving the Thorpe Street, Marine Drive and Fat Cove Battery area.

The proposals represent the latest wave of public art and environmental improvement works to be carried out by the North Hartlepool Partnership as part of a £12.5m scheme to be completed by 2007.

The plan for the columns of light has changed from artist Judi Gor's original idea to create a light fixture based on the shape of a lighthouse. It proved too expensive and has been replaced by needle-shaped light fixtures along the seaward edge of the Town Moor.

Also to be considered by the partnership and council is the plan to improve the Town Square area of the Headland in the Middlegate and Northgate area near the entrance to St Hilda's Church. Workshops will be held with residents groups to discuss the project. A national competition will then be held with architects and developers to produce suitable schemes.

A spokesman for Hartlepool Borough Council said: "After consultations with residents, a clear need has been identified to create an attractive arrival point to the Headland. That area has been subject to various demolition programmes over the years and would be ideal. All the new schemes are merely the latest in a long line of good works for the Headland."

Recently, work costing £200,000 began on developing the Heugh Gun Battery as a tourist attraction. The walls of the battery, whose guns returned fire when the Imperial German Navy bombarded Hartlepool in 1914, are being removed to be replaced with a taller, brick wall in keeping with its original appearance.

Other works being developed include the Headland Story Trail, with decorative marker posts at positions around the Headland.

Money for the North Hartlepool Partnership works have come from the Government's SRB scheme and private developers.

Published: 20/04/2004