Boost in bid to bulldoze former Odeon cinema and to 'supercharge' Hartlepool's regeneration

Hartlepool’s new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) Board has approved the document outlining its short, medium and long term ambitions for improving the town for the next five years and beyond.

Led by Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, the MDC covers the Oakesway Business Park, retail and leisure land – including Mill House Leisure Centre and Middleton Grange Shopping Centre – along with public areas and civic buildings.

Key projects highlighted in the Raby Road area include a new “community park” on the site of the derelict former Odeon Cinema featuring “meeting spaces, educational activities and green spaces”.

Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Mr Houchen said the masterplan should “dovetail very well” with regeneration work already planned and started by Hartlepool Borough Council.

He added: “As we all know, no doubt, this masterplan will evolve over time because all masterplans inevitably do.

“There will be a big push to help, certainly in the wider market, to be able to say look, this is the plan for Hartlepool, you can see now what we’re trying to build, and hopefully that will generate that confidence and interest.”

Councillor Shane Moore, former council leader, praised the masterplan ambition to “attract 2,000 new and quality jobs” to Hartlepool.

The Headland and Harbour representative added: “I don’t think they’re too ambitious, I think they are actually quite realistic and we should be aiming for those types of numbers.

“The plan has pulled a lot of the individual things we’ve been looking at together and it’s nice to see.”

The vision, developed with stakeholders and partners, also aims to develop a vibrant town centre, renew Hartlepool’s waterfront and build up to 1,300 new homes.

The Odeon project is “medium” term, which is for between three and five years, the same timescale as redeveloping the nearby Mill House Leisure Centre site to “incorporate mixed use development and community spaces”.

The masterplan also lists redevelopments around Middleton Grange, establishing a “creative industries cluster” around Church Street and Marina connectivity as key aims.

A total of £10million has been committed to the corporation from Tees Valley Combined Authority, with work ongoing to secure further funding.