Government approves 'reimagining' of Hartlepool's Middleton Grange Shopping Centre in £25m regeneration project

The project was the fifth and final scheme to get the green light from Whitehall as part of the Hartlepool Town Deal.

Approval was given to four other projects in September including the former Wesley Chapel.

Plans to improve to links between The Waterfront, town centre and Seaton Carew; and civil engineering and health and social care skills academies also received Government backing.

Town Deal partners Hartlepool Borough Council said in a social media post: “These projects will have a truly transformational effect on the town centre and beyond, and the approvals mean that we are now in a position to start work and push ahead with our plans.

“Thank you to everyone who has played a part in bringing these projects to fruition, including those of you who took part in the consultations run by the Hartlepool Town Deal Board, and we look forward to sharing more information with you in coming weeks and months.”

The Middleton Grange project is said to involve the first phase of regeneration and re-imagination of the shopping centre to create a “clearly defined mixed-use heart for the town centre”.

It aims to change the image of the shopping centre from a large-scale, inward-looking shopping mall to a “well-connected mixed-use area” which contributes to the character of Hartlepool as a waterfront market town.

An overview on the Your Say Our Future website states: “This will be achieved by attracting a new mix of uses, addressing vacant retail space and improving the character of the town centre.”