Accentuate chemical positives; Your Say.

THERE can be no doubting that the chemical industry on Teesside is going through a very difficult time.

As leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council I am as worried as Stan Higgins, chief executive of the regional chemical cluster NEPIC, that we send out too many negative messages about our Chemical industry which could deter future new plant investment.

More than pounds 2.5bn has been invested in the sector in the last five years.

Work is under way to secure 50 additional projects which could net pounds 4bn of investment for the North-east. pounds 200m is being put into SABIC to create the world's largest polythene plant which should underpin output at the Wilton cracker.

Ensus has a pounds 250m bio-refinery plant soon to come on stream.

Recent investments include Sembcorp's Wilton wood-fired power plant at pounds 30m; Gaia Power plans a biomass power plant at Billingham costing pounds 200m; BOC Teesside investing pounds 50m; Banner Chemicals pounds 10m relocation to Middlesbrough, etc.

I agree with Stan and Paul's comments plus the last sentence in the NEPIC article "By positively supporting the region and those bringing in these projects we will win many more investments, speaking negativity about the sector will bring us nothing."

COUNCILLOR GEORGE R DUNNING, Leader, Redcar & Cleveland Council (a former Wilton chemical worker in the mid-sixties at the Perspex and Polythene plants)