COUNCIL chiefs say a snow centre will now not come to Middlesbrough as alternative uses for the land are hunted down. 

Bold aims for a ski hub at Middlehaven were first suggested in 2014 with an outline planning application approved in March 2017 at Middlehaven Dock. 

The Northern Echo:

But the £30m facility – set to feature a 165m ski slope, shops restaurants and the potential for a bowling alley – will “not now be taken forward”, according to a Middlesbrough Council report. 

Leaders are due to sign off a fresh vision for Middlehaven next week – with papers showing the developer’s option to secure the seven acre stretch of land lapsed in January. 

The report states this will bring the “prime development site” next to Middlesbrough College under the council’s full control.

It added: “As the snow centre development will not now be taken forward by the previous developers, the opportunity exists to re-plan the future of those two sites, and seek alternative uses.

“A snow centre has been a key factor in previous plans for Middlehaven.

“The developers who secured the option on the site were ultimately unable to bring forward a commercially fundable scheme, or one that the public sector could support without risking tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers money over the lifetime of the project.”

Fresh planning permission was granted for the ambitious scheme last year with landscaping, parking and cafes all part of the grand vision. 

But in October, Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston said the project didn’t “stack up financially for the owners” – ruling out council intervention in the scheme.

At the time, developers Subzero said the claims “did not reflect their understanding at all”.

However, the council’s plan for other land uses at Middlehaven looks to sound the death knell for the long-delayed project. 

Opening dates for the scheme have come and gone since the snow centre was first raised as an idea in September 2014. 

A potential opening date of late 2017 or early 2018, became September 2019 which later became the winter of 2020.

The latest plan signalled an opening aim of 2022. 

A total of £250,000 was committed to the project by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) in 2018. 

A 2019 meeting also heard how Middlesbrough Council had agreed to buy the land at Middlehaven from Government body Homes England for £840,000 in 2019 – with the aim of selling the land on to the developer. 

Last week’s overview and scrutiny board was also told how the snow centre was now not happening. 

Labour group leader Cllr Matt Storey asked what would happen to the stretch of land now the snow centre was “clearly not taking place any more”. 

Cllr Ashley Waters, executive member for regeneration, said the ambitious winter sports vision had “stopped the council looking at other options for a long time”. 

He added: “We do know there is interest on the site.

“It’s whether we look at putting crucial housing on there, or we look at leisure in other areas to make Middlesbrough a destination.”

Regeneration chief Richard Horniman said the new strategy at Middlehaven “wasn’t a complete rewrite” of past plans for the area – with visions for different stretches of land to be revealed in the coming months. 

But he too confirmed new plans were being drawn up “now the snow centre wasn’t happening”. 

Subzero declined to comment citing ongoing litigation between themselves and Middlesbrough Council.