A DECISION day for a controversial Middlesbrough housing masterplan and a spine road has been set.

Council leaders will vote on the Stainsby country park vision next Tuesday – lining up more than 1,600 homes, cycleways, 20,000 trees and infrastructure east of the A19. 

But the continued presence of a north-south spine road cutting through part of Mandale Meadow has angered campaigners and residents – with a petition against it gathering no fewer than 1,658 signatures before it closed last month. 

Public orchards, a community hub, and new sports pitches are part of the fresh blueprint for land at Brookfield. 

Council leaders want to retain 54% of the land as green space when housing applications come in for the 1,670 homes lined up. 

Outcry over the prospect of the “Stainton Way Western Extension” from Jack Simon Way to Mandale Road/Acklam Road in the north has continued. 

Greenstuff campaigner Martyn Walker suggested a ring road could be a better option. 

But leaders have said the relief road has been pencilled into the borough’s Local Plan housing document since 2014 – and undoing the route risked a big blow to the council’s coffers.

Reports for next week’s meeting state the masterplan will allow the council to control proposals brought by private sector landowners and developers.

However, officials say the document can’t hold sway over landowners selling or buying land, recommendations by Highways England, or planning applications being granted.

The report added: “Ultimately, the decision to bring Stainsby forward for development, and the delivery of the link road, will be one taken by private landowners. 

“The masterplan identifies the location of a road should it be required. 

“Any future planning application would consider the impact of traffic and the necessity of a road.”

Link road 

A consultation on the re-jigged vision ended in March – with more than 62,000 accounts reached on social media. 

The report revealed the link road was by far the biggest bone of contention among the 265 responders – with officials saying many points raised would shape the refreshed “local plan” being drawn up at the moment.

Executive councillor Dennis McCabe responded to the consultation – saying he felt the road could be pushed towards the A19 and closer to Mandale Road. 

Other members felt the road was needed to ease pressure on other parts of town. 

Cllr Eric Polano believed the link road was a “great idea”

The independent member for Acklam added: “Should the new road not be provided, it will cause a major traffic build up along Low Lane and at the Blue Bell roundabout (and) also further down Acklam road.

“Acklam Road would become the same as Marton Road.”

But there was disquiet about the scale of the plans as well as the road.

One objector wrote: “Do not build on this land – this is much needed green space.

“There are no parks in this area and nowhere for people to walk, kids to play, and people to live their lives.”

Council officials say the link road to connect the A1130 and the B1380 is essential to serve new homes as well as the town’s wider road network. 

Alternatives, such as an overpass or underpass across the A19, or a loop road connecting to the B1380, were not deemed viable due to costs and how a bus service could struggle on a loop road.

The council report added: “No additional viable options for the link road have been put forward during the consultation, and it is considered that the existing option of creating the link road along the western part of Mandale Meadow should remain within the masterplan. 

“It would be for any future planning application to ultimately consider the impact of traffic and the need for a road.”

Control

A number of tweaks to the masterplan have been recommended for next week’s meeting – including the removal of footpaths assigned to Mandale Meadow and Blue Beck, and providing car parking to the north and south of the link road at Mandale Meadow.

Ahead of the decision, Cllr Ashley Waters said the masterplan was about far more than just the spine road – and pointed to how houses previously earmarked for Mandale Meadow had been removed.

The executive member for regeneration said: “This masterplan is to give us some control about what happens there.

“It’s to give us the ability to see that site developed as we want it developed.

“If developers want to come and put developments in without a master plan, they can do what they want on that site – and then we’re not going to get anything that we’ve promised people.”

Cllr Waters said the past 2014 Local Plan had lined up the north-south relief road.

“Whether Stainsby comes forward or not, that road will go in and this is the problem we’ve had from day one,” he added.

“Every single alternative has been sought and there is no viable option.”

The executive member believed the masterplan would have wider benefits for the whole town. 

Cllr Waters said: “Officers have put something together which is not only a great site for Middlesbrough but the North-east.

“We’re going to have a designated country park – a housing estate with 54% green space planned and transport links designed in from the start, not an afterthought. 

“Yes, the road is contentious but it is completely outwith our control. 

“The road will come but the masterplan tells us how this has to look.

“It has to be done in the best possible taste, and it involves preserving the vast majority – 85-90% – of Mandale Meadow in its current state.

“That’s what we want.

“We don’t want to see Mandale Meadow built on. 

“It’s not just about the Acklam and Stainsby area – it’s about the wider impact on Middlesbrough.”

Leaders will decide on adopting the Stainsby country park plan at 1pm next Tuesday (May 11).