Mayor's Message

It’s been a busy few weeks across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.  

At our airport, it’s been brilliant to see the hard work behind the scenes pay off with the arrival of a weekly flight to Antalya from Teesside International Airport next summer. The link with Mavi Gok Airlines (MGA) is a massive boost and it will give local people even more travel choices straight from home. The winter season has also started well with flights year-round to Alicante and Malaga selling. Efforts are paying off as it’s great to see Ryanair back our airport and boost flights to four a week to Alicante next summer. 

We’ve had a couple of other good transport developments in November. The launch of the new “Tees Pass” will give our region’s care leavers free bus travel until the age of 25. This builds on our work capping fares at £1 for under-22s because every young person deserves the best chance at getting jobs, training or education without transport being a barrier.   

On the transport front, our pioneering Tees Valley Traffic Digital Twin Project – the first of its kind in the UK – is also cutting delays by 13.7% on some of our busiest routes. We’re serious about helping motorists and we’re harnessing the power of technology to bring smoother, faster journeys for thousands of people every day.  

We’ve also taken a welcome step forward in our long-term economic strategy by teaming up with York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority as part of a new bio-industrial cluster. This partnership will work alongside our excellent local universities and industry partners to create 5,000 skilled jobs, support 100 new bio-based start-ups and grow our regional bioeconomy by £5 billion. We’re strong in these industries and we want to get even stronger.  

As the festive season gets underway, I’m also backing our “Shop Local Campaign” across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool, and I’ve visited some brilliant independent businesses, shops, and small firms to kick off the campaign. Their energy, creativity and commitment are no surprise, so let’s do all we can to back them. In the run up to Christmas and heading into the New Year, it’s never been more important to back our local high streets and independent traders. 

So please: shop local. It supports jobs, families and keeps our towns thriving at a time when it really matters.