IMAGES just released of what would be the new Stockton show a smart, clean and high-tech town that would be the envy of the Tees Valley.

Only the small matters of finding £20m of Government cash and £60m in private finance stand in the way - along with delicate negotiations with landowners.

The most eye-catching part of the proposals are for the southern part of the High Street, the widest in Britain and one of the widest in Europe.

The idea of demolishing the three-star Swallow Hotel has been mooted, although that idea is in its infancy. Car parking in the area would be removed and a new, circular public area would be created, along with better routes to the River Tees.

On the river itself, a Riverside Village would be created, similar to the Marina in Hartlepool. It is hoped there would be high-class housing as well as cafs and retail areas.

A food market would be built on the High Street, possibly on the site of the Zanzibar nightclub, and the historic Green Dragon yard opened up. A four-star hotel would be built.

The whole project would be connected to the riverside Northbank retail and leisure development, along with another new bridge.

However, while many are excited, the first mutterings of opposition from the people of Stockton are beginning to be heard.

Older people in the town have never forgiven the council for the last major revamp in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was at that time that the Castlegate Shopping Centre and Swallow Hotel were built and the town turned its back on the Tees, then an industrial and dirty river.

"They ripped out the 18th Century heart of our town then and they're in the thrall of the same kind of people, the consultants, once again," well-known local historian Robert Harbron said.

It is a point picked up by Councillor Suzanne Fletcher, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition on Stockton Borough Council.

"There's been this consultation but only 1.5 people per 1,000 of the population have actually been consulted," she noted, before adding her support to the overall plan.

There have been other criticisms with opposition already voiced against cutting back on the market, which dates back to 1310, and banning buses and taxis from the High Street, described as "a giant bus stop" by town centre management consultants Drivers Jonas.

The prize of restoring the ancient town of Stockton, once dominated by a Norman Castle, to its former glory is a great one. It must be done properly.