TO have one inconclusive investigation with serious allegations left hanging is unfortunate; to have two really is bad luck.

Researchers were unable to say what caused the sudden and unprecedented sealife die-off on the east coast, although they were able to say that it was not dredging for the freeport at Teesworks. Presented with the sight of dying crustaceans, the inconclusive nature of the report left the public wondering what has been going on.

Similarly, the public have been presented with a perception that something’s not quite right over Teesworks – how does 90 per cent of land end up being owned by private individuals with close connections to the Tory party? – and now the chances of an independent inquiry appear to be receding, the public will be left for a second time wondering what really has been going on.

Mayor Ben Houchen, who vehemently denies any wrong-doing, deserves his day in court to answer the allegations, and the project, into which big name companies are being asked to pour millions of pounds, needs to have its probity assured.

An inquiry would also be able to shed light on transparency: who knew what, who scrutinised what, who agreed to what. The combined authority is a new set-up so we need an understanding of whether appointed boards and councillors really are the most accountable way of getting redevelopment moving at speed. The same sort of allegations, that things were being done on behalf of the public without the public knowing about them, left Margaret Thatcher’s Teesside Development Corporation of the 1980s with a very chequered reputation.

Europe’s largest brownfield site has an exciting future but it does not want to be tarnished by the failings of the past.