Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen says new Hartlepool Development Corporation will start to make a difference within months

The Hartlepool Development Corporation (HDC) has been created to transform the town by “driving investment and cutting red tape”.

Led by Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Mr Houchen, it covers Oakesway Business Park, retail and leisure land – including Middleton Grange Shopping Centre – along with public areas and civic buildings.

The organisation approved its masterplan titled “supercharging development in Hartlepool” in May.

This outlines hopes for regeneration in the town along with aims to “attract 2,000 new and quality jobs”.

Mr Houchen, first elected as Tees Valley Mayor in 2017, said the impact of the development corporation in Hartlepool should start to be seen by the end of 2023.

He said: “I would say by year end people will start to see the demonstrable and physical difference in some way to the development corporation area in Hartlepool town centre.

“There are a number of commercial opportunities and investors that we are speaking to that are going through a rigorous process that will come forward to the board in the next month or two.

“If we can agree good propositions then they will become very public, very quickly and hopefully we’ll start to see those projects actually start and take shape before the end of the year.”

In terms of the overall benefits of the HDC, Mr Houchen reiterated it will remove “bureaucracy” and allow a “streamlined” process while still having safeguards in place.

He said: “We have found and we continue to find a lot of pent-up demand for people wanting to invest but their inability to because of the structures that are in place.

“You don’t get rid of the rules, because development corporations by their very nature are there to be able to follow the rules, follow the right processes, but to do so in a quick and efficient manner that is investor friendly.”

He stressed the organisation is a “stand alone public body set up by legislation and statute” whose “sole purpose is to regenerate and rebuild the town centre”.

It will also have the power to determine planning applications within the redline boundary.

In terms of the HDC’s finances, £10million of “pump prime funding” has been committed from the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).

The organisation is also set to benefit from “tens of millions” in funding through the Government’s “investment zones” initiative.

Mr Houchen said: “The final details are still being agreed with Government. But it will be tens of millions of pounds on top of the £10million that we’ve allocated that will help us redevelop the town centre and kick start redevelopment.”

He added another benefit of the investment zones means the HDC will “retain the uplift in business rates from new developments within the town centre”, which would otherwise have gone back to Government.

Mr Houchen added: “The clear thing to emphasise on that is in no way does the development corporation or the investment zone plans remove any money from the council.

“The more investment we bring the more money actually stays in Hartlepool rather than going elsewhere.”

At recent council meetings concerns have been raised by Labour councillors around the need for greater protections around public assets and increased transparency from the corporation.

However, Mr Houchen has labelled the criticisms a “tired trope from the party”.

He said: “It’s just a sad smear tactic from the Labour Party because the reality is we are just as transparent and we go through the same processes and we have the same laws and rules to follow as the council.

“We have to have public meetings, our agendas have to be published under the statutory time periods in advance, the public can attend meetings.

“We have to follow the same rules, if we have public assets we have to get best value for money, money can only be spent if there’s a proper business plan, we have to go through public procurement processes in the same way as a council.”

He added if Labour were to take control of the council, as happened in Middlesbrough, he’d be “more than happy” to have their leader on the HDC board.

The board, chaired by Mr Houchen, currently includes council leader Cllr Mike Young, chair of council Cllr Shane Moore, the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner and four Hartlepool business leaders.

Denise McGuckin, the council’s managing director, and Julie Gilhespie, TVCA’s chief executive, are associate members while Cleveland Police chief constable Mark Webster is an independent adviser.

Mr Houchen reassured the decision to discuss certain items in private at board meetings for commercial reasons under the Local Government Act is one taken by officers following legal advice, as happens at councils.

He said: “There are things that are commercially sensitive that if they were in the public domain could disadvantage the taxpayer or prevent a deal from happening where investors just don’t come.”

Key Hartlepool Borough Council owned sites including Mill House Leisure Centre and Hartlepool Indoor Bowls Club, Aneurin Bevan House, the Civic Centre and former Magistrates Court are currently proposed to be transferred to the HDC.

Mr Houchen said: “They’re key sites that if you can redevelop, it isn’t just about those specific sites, it’s the catalyzation of other sites that will get redeveloped as a result.

“If we can deliver some or the full redevelopment of those sites then it creates a nucleus right in the town centre and then all of a sudden you will see a spread of new development around it.”

He added plans for the former magistrates’ court building will be linked to wider regeneration including the Civic Centre site, which hosts Hartlepool Borough Council, over which no formal decisions have been made yet by either the HDC board or local authority.

Mr Houchen said they are awaiting a final decision from the Secretary of State on the transfer of the assets after the consultation exercise ended in June.

He added he “suspects that the Government will not continue through the process” until an independent investigation into the Teesworks regeneration site has concluded, which is therefore “delaying investment” at other sites.

Looking ahead, the Tees Valley Mayor said the corporation aims “to deliver investment and jobs” in Hartlepool, and there is no set timescale for how long the organisation will be in place for.

Mr Houchen said: “If it takes five years, if it takes 10 years, it is there to deliver a purpose, it is not there to exist for the sake of existing.

“The whole purpose of the development corporation is to develop land that is commercially unviable.

“It’s to try and make land and property enticing for the private sector so they’ll spend their money to make things better for the town.”