A ROUNDABOUT is the first construction project to be completed in a renovation master plan.

The work has been finished off to allow better access to 350 acres of the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) site primed for development along the Tees in Redcar.

It is part of a £1m access scheme to bring three entrance points to the 4,500 site – which ultimately aims to bring as many as 20,000 jobs in the next 25 years to the former steelworks land.

Redcar and Cleveland Council initially took on the roundabout project at South Bank with funding coming through Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).

The hope is the roundabout at the junction Smith’s Dock Road and Dockside Road will become part of an upgraded gateway entrance to the STDC once businesses set up shop.

Cllr Mary Lanigan, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, said the project was the “tip of the iceberg”.

She added: “We’re aiming to deliver thousands of good jobs for our local people that can lead to even better careers.

“This roundabout will help improve our offering to companies looking to invest and make it easier for workers from the surrounding areas to get to the roles we’re creating.

“This is the next step in our 25-year plan that will transform the region and the communities and lives of people in it.”

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who is also chairman of the STDC, thanked the council for helping bring the project “on time and on budget”.

He added: “This is just a small example of how we’re unlocking even more land for private investors by funding proper infrastructure.”

The STDC master plan was published in October 2017 outlining an ambitious programme for the former steelworks site.

Site bosses say the redevelopment programme has had more than 100 “serious development enquiries” so far – with hopes more than £10bn of investment in the pipeline.

Redcar’s Labour MP Anna Turley welcomed the roundabout – but stressed work was needed to create jobs.

She added: “The development corporation has huge potential to bring thousands of much needed jobs to our area and this roundabout is a positive investment which will help to unlock that.

“I’m pleased the previous Labour administration in Redcar and Cleveland, who secured this investment with Local Growth Fund support, had the ambition and determination to get to work opening up this land for development.

“We are now almost four years on from the SSI closure and are yet to see any real job creation.

“There have been lots of positive announcements but none that are shovel-ready and schemes like this need to be turbo-charged to bring those jobs we need.”

More than 1,400 acres of the STDC land was bought from Tata Steel for £11.5m earlier this year – and the government has pledged £137m so far to help the clean up of the wider site.

Cross-party calls have come time and time again for the government to stump up more cash so the STDC land can be fully remediated.

But Brexit uncertainty has pushed back a spending review expected this autumn into the new year.

Late last month, Mayor Houchen said investors could come onto the site now – and he was looking for either a budget announcement “towards the end of the year” or a spending review next spring to “take full control” of the STDC site.