PRESSURE is being ramped up on building owners to find a better use for eyesore sites in Thornaby.

Stockton Council wants “credible plans” for the Golden Eagle Hotel and neighbouring Phoenix House which have sat derelict for years.

The authority has also revealed it remains locked in negotiations with landowners about two sites for a long-awaited long stay car park to help Yarm High Street.

An agreement was reached in December to borrow £30m to buy up sites across the borough’s town centres in a bid to ease high street struggles.

So far, £7m has been used to buy up Wellington Square Shopping Centre on Stockton High Street – and there have been calls for other towns to get a slice of the action.

Efforts to sort out the Golden Eagle and former Npower offices have bubbled away for years.

The Eagle has a pub on the ground floor but the remaining tiers have been unused for years.

Phoenix House has been empty since Npower upped sticks in 2014 and moved its 400 staff to Rainton.

Both sites have complicated long-term lease arrangements with London and Cambridge – the real estate firm which owns the town centre.

Council leader Cllr Bob Cook said Thornaby town centre was “absolutely thriving” but was bring brought down by the two buildings on Trenchard Avenue.

He added: “They share three things in common – they’re eyesores, they’re tangled up in long-term leases and they sit on prime town centre sites with considerable potential.

“The leaseholders of both buildings need to produce plans to modernise them and bring them back into use and we’d urge the new owners of the centre, London and Cambridge Properties, to do everything in their power to compel them to act.

“We stand ready to help any party that is able to bring new developments into our town centres.”

Npower owns the lease of Phoenix House and it is up for sale through agents at BNP Paribas Real Estate – an international property consultancy firm.

It is understood the firm owns a long lease of about 160 years on the site.

But the freehold is thought to be owned by BAE System Pension Fund Trustees.

MP’s campaign

Built in the 1960s, the Eagle had 57 rooms over six floors and was renovated in 2000.

Stockton South MP Paul Williams launched a campaign to fix the Golden Eagle calling for seven figure cash injection in June to radically change Thornaby’s skyline.

And the Labour MP was pleased to have the backing of the council to “sort the Eagle” out.

Dr Williams said: “It’s really welcome as they will have an important say on any changes to the use of the new project.

“They can also support improvements to transport infrastructure – which will be really important for the scale of transformation I want to see in Thornaby.

“I recently brought the owner of the Golden Eagle together with a senior officer from Stockton Council – the discussions were constructive.

“Everyone sees how much potential there is in Thornaby town centre and are all behind plans to sort the Eagle.”

Independents have their say

Talks between Thornaby Mayor Cllr Steve Walmsley and social housing giant Thirteen are also continuing over the fate of Phoenix House with the hope of bringing in housing.

The Thornaby Independent Association (TIA) has long called for more money to be pumped into the town to sort out the derelict sites.

Cllr Walmsley added: “The money is there – that £30m is not just for Stockton and if it means anything, they can use it to pump prime both those sites.”

Group leader Cllr Sylvia Walmsley said their group had tried to tie the Golden Eagle into the town centre redevelopment many years ago.

She added: “The owners at that time resisted all efforts – along with proposed schemes since.

“However, we were successful in getting the wider development that the people of Thornaby deserved with a second access road and later redevelopment of the troublesome Tristar Neasham site – now a McDonalds and Asda filling station.

“TIA have been having informal talks with others regarding Phoenix House which has stood empty for some time.

“We feel it would be a perfect opportunity to redevelop the site for residential use, especially with the loss of the high rise flats.”

Conservative view

Conservative group leader Cllr Matt Vickers wanted the council to hold the tenants of the two sites to account and believed it should have taken action “long before now”.

He added: “The council have a responsibility to the people of Thornaby to ensure they’re not forgotten or left behind.

“Thornaby needs it’s fair share of council resource. I’ll be pushing to see the council working with local businesses to take Thornaby forwards”.

London and Cambridge Properties has been contacted for comment.