FORGIVE us if we're not exactly celebrating the news that a £757m new Wembley will soon be rising from the rubble of the old.

The designs do look marvellous, but you don't have to be a mathematician to work out that £757m is an enormous amount of money. Here, in the North-East in recent years, fine new stadia have been built in Sunderland and Middlesbrough for less than £20m. It is true that they are smaller and London is more expensive, but £757m seems out of all proportion.

In the two years that the Wembley fiasco has rumbled on, the national team has played around the country. It has reached new audiences; it has become truly national. This will be lost when it returns exclusively to London.

The final reason for our lack of rejoicing is that Wembley - an unappealing corner of London - is so difficult to reach. The roads are a nightmare and the tube is unable to cope.

The only consolation is that North-East teams reach Wembley so infrequently that most supporters only have to endure such conditions once in a blue moon.

Worthy winners

WE are all responsible for the world around us. But, too often, we look to others to take action to improve the environment in which we live.

Rubbish is dumped, graffiti is scrawled, damage is inflicted - but it is someone else's job to put it right.

Thankfully, not everyone thinks like that. The people of Brougham Residents' Association in Hartlepool certainly do not.

Having become concerned about vandalism in the town's Perth Street, they got off their backsides and did something about it, embarking on a campaign to make it better.

Money was raised, flowers planted, and buildings tidied up. Young and old joined in and community spirit took over until Perth Street became a road to be proud of.

The campaigners are rewarded today with the announcement that they are the winners of The Northern Echo's Making A Difference scheme.

It is a well-deserved tribute to their determination to make a difference to their environment and not to wait for it to be done for them.

Imagine if their example was followed in streets around the country...