Politicians have made a decision on the controversial location for a long-awaited community centre for the second time.

On Tuesday, Middlesbrough Council’s executive voted unanimously for the new £966k facility to go on Stokesley Road, rather than at the Nunthorpe and Marton Playing Fields Association (NMPFA) on Guisborough Road. This is the second time the politicians have chosen the spot next to the GP surgery after councillors forced leaders to review the initial decision.

The scheme is being funded by £750,000 from the Towns Fund, £116,000 from Section 106 cash and an extra £100,000 from the council due to the increasing cost of building materials since the project started.

The long-awaited decision has come after the council first started looking at the proposals for the two sites back in 2021. The bids were considered by an independent panel and the NMPFA came out on top – it gained 65.8% of the available points while the Stokesley Road project scored 61.4%.

However, this was challenged by those behind the Stokesley Road scheme. The council’s former head of finance Ian Wright concluded that the process had not been clear enough about the criteria from the start, as it had focused on building management rather than the actual building of the centre.

It was then agreed that a six-week consultation would take place – 369 people responded, of the 350 who answered the question about where they would rather see the new facility, 60% wanted it to go next to the GP surgery on Stokesley Road.

The council then undertook an option appraisal which compared the locations based on several key factors – the Stokesley Road site was the clear winner with 1065 points to 760 out of a total of 1470.

In March this year, after politicians chose the Stokesley Road site, the decision was sent back to council leaders to be reviewed after a unanimous vote at the overview and scrutiny board. The councillors on the board believed the consultation process lacked consistency and it appeared to be ambiguous.

In response, the executive member for regeneration Cllr Eric Polano said: “I don’t believe the consultation could ever be described as inadequate, every household received a consultation paper and there were numerous avenues for people to respond. The fact that 369 responses were received demonstrates this clearly.”

He added: “The recommendation remains to approve this [Stokesley Road] site, the rich feedback received through the consultation indicates this would be acceptable to the community.”

During the meeting, Cllr Chris Hobson, who represents nearby Marton West and is a trustee at the NMPFA through the council, read out an email from the council’s regeneration head Richard Horniman to the NMPFA after the first independent panel put the community organisation ahead.

It stated: “The NMPFA bid has not won it is merely winning at the moment. If it can’t get through the Nunthorpe Vision group it can’t go forward as the ultimate winner. Everything we do following the scoring is to get it polished so it addresses everyone’s concerns and can be put forward successfully for approval.”

However, Independent mayor Andy Preston said that Mr Horniman will have sent a lot of emails about this scheme and “one out of context doesn’t tell us very much.” The mayor also stated that he understood why people were aggrieved but believed individuals would be disgruntled whichever location was chosen. He added: “This is the best result for the people of Nunthorpe.”

Parish council chair Adrian Walker echoed the mayor’s comments, also stating it was the best outcome.

Conservative deputy mayor Cllr Mieka Smiles, who represents Nunthorpe, said: “I have been around a lot of doors in the last few days and a lot of people have raised with me that they still haven’t got this community centre.

“I think the Stokesley Road site is by far the best chance we have got of getting it delivered as soon as possible and that’s what the people of Nunthorpe really want.”

All of the Middlesbrough councillors and the mayor will face re-election on May 4. Nunthorpe Parish Council will also be holding elections after twelve people put themselves forward for the seven spots. The clerk said it was the first time it had been contested since they took over in 2009 – it’s thought that the row over the community centre has led to people aligned with the NMPFA standing for election.

The Stainton and Thornton Parish Council will not be contested after just six people put themselves forward for the seven spots.