AMBITIOUS plans to transform a Teesside town by creating a thriving culture and making the streets safer and cleaner have been revealed.
A new Middlesbrough Development Corporation is to be created and will focus on the town centre, Middlehaven and Zetland Historic Quarter as well as the Boho zone, Middlesbrough Station, the Northern School of Art, Centre Square, Teesside University.
Led by the town’s mayor Andy Preston and Tees Valley’s Ben Houchen, it will be overseen by a new board, slash red tape to make investing even easier for businesses and have powers over planning to quickly progress projects. There will be no extra cost to the taxpayer or any increase on council tax rates
At its launch on Monday, the pair said they want to modernise and develop the town centre to help it rival big cities like Newcastle and Leeds by attracting national businesses to set open offices.
A submission will be made to the government by the end of July and it is hoped that it will be established by the end of October. Once it’s up and running, it will be able to borrow money and implement compulsory purchase orders while most of the public land in the area will be transferred over to it.
The new body will be the third of its kind in the Tees Valley and follows on from a similar scheme in Hartlepool and Teesworks in Redcar, which was launched in 2020, and has benefited from worldwide investment in low-carbon and renewable schemes.
Although different in purpose, it is hoped the three bodies will complement each other by creating more jobs, making town centres more attractive and boosting local hospitality businesses.
Read more: How Hartlepool is set to be 'transformed' by cash
We’ve invested £8️⃣8️⃣million so far in Middlesbrough, but we need to go further and faster! 💪
— Ben Houchen (@BenHouchen) May 16, 2022
So I’ve been working with @Tees_Issues to supercharge the progress we’re making by setting up a new Development Corporation for Middlesbrough. pic.twitter.com/3XRMOctSO4
Mr Houchen said: “We have funded huge schemes across Middlesbrough to boost transport, education, business investment and infrastructure but, until now, there have never been plans to draw these together to supercharge the town and make it much, much more than the sum of its parts.
“This announcement is about more than just bricks and mortar, though. The Development Corporation will sit at the heart of the town, growing it as a place and transforming the culture to make the streets safer and cleaner. We want to create a town where young people want to live and study and businesses will flock to.”
Mr Preston hailed the town’s “amazing” transformation over the past three years and looks forward to creating more jobs.
He added: “We’re building the first homes in the town centre for a generation and developing the best leisure venues for miles around. We have thriving companies doing business on the global stage and millions of pounds are being invested in culture to help attract more visitors to the town.
“A Development Corporation will help us win more investment and create jobs of all kinds. Middlesbrough can go head to head with popular cities, the time for talk is over and I’m looking forward to working even closer with Ben to make it happen.”
However, the town's Labour MP Andy McDonald said he was not given any information prior to the announcement and has instead had to read about it in the media.
"As the MP for the town, I’m disappointed that I have not been given any information about this by either the Mayor of the Tees Valley or of Middlesbrough," he said.
"Sadly, it’s entirely consistent with the way in which they conduct themselves and go about public business. The claims of inclusivity are totally worthless.
"Doing the best I can from the media reports, it seems that there is a determination to exclude the democratic process and place as much power and resource into unaccountable favoured private hands.
"Whilst there appears to be a fear of openness and transparency and an equal determination to put the public’s legitimate democratic interests behind numerous veils of secrecy, I will try and scrutinise whatever information I can secure, and who knows, Middlesbrough Council may even do me the courtesy of providing me with a briefing.”
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