Mayoral Development Corporations

The Hartlepool and Middlesbrough Development Corporations are Development Corporations established by the Tees Valley Mayor.

The Middlesbrough Development Corporation will focus on Middlesbrough town centre, Middlehaven and the Zetland Historic Quarter to tie them together more closely. It will also include crucial assets such as the Boho zone, Middlesbrough Station, the Northern School of Art, Centre Square, Teesside University and much more.

Middlesbrough Football Club, Union Village, at Gresham and the area behind Sainsbury’s between the A66 and North Road are also included within the zone’s boundaries.

Hartlepool’s Development Corporation will encompass Oakesway Business Park, Queens Meadow Business Park, retail and leisure land – including Mill House Leisure Centre and Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, with public realm and civic buildings.

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Objectives

We have been formed with the overarching goal to transform Hartlepool and Middlesbrough respectively, through driving investment and cutting red tape.

Our focus is town centre regeneration, encouraging businesses back into the centre, reducing shop vacancy rates, building new, high-quality housing, and creating a place where people will aspire to live, work and play.

It’s our mission to secure the maximum benefits for the people and businesses of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, and this will be achieved by:
• Providing new housing and commercial developments, surrounded by sustainable, thriving neighbourhoods and valued amenity space;
• Respecting, protecting and enhancing the key landmarks and assets within Hartlepool and Middlesbrough; and
• Encouraging inward investment into Hartlepool and Middlesbrough and fast-track regeneration.

Planning Powers

The 2011 Localism Act provided the Mayor of Tees Valley with powers to set up Mayoral Development Corporations. The Hartlepool and Middlesbrough Development Corporations were confirmed into statue on 27 February 2023. Planning powers were conferred on to the Development Corporation on the 1 June 2023.

The Development Corporations are also local planning authorities, and as such are responsible for determining planning applications with the Mayoral Development Areas.

Hartlepool and Middlesbrough Borough Councils retain the responsibility for preparing and maintaining a Local Plan or Development Plan. The policies within the relevant Local Plans are the basis for making decisions on planning applications in the Mayoral Development Areas. Other documents and plans at a local level, such as Supplementary Planning Documents, are also important documents which can be relevant in decision making.

Our Vision

Drawing on its rich heritage at the heart of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, the Development Corporations aim to revitalise and regenerate the areas, creating places where a thriving local economy supports a great place to work, visit and live.

Displaying the best practice in social and environmental design, the Development Corporations will seek to create an environment which respects key local assets and delivers new, high-quality developments alongside the historic fabric of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.

Learn More

For more information about the development corporations, including planning information, follow the key links:

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