'Alternative plans' for Middlesbrough snow centre site

The planned development was set to feature two ski slopes and an ice-climbing wall

Middlesbrough's proposed snow centre now looks unlikely to go ahead as the council said it was looking at alternative uses for the land. 

The £30m facility in Middlehaven Dock, with two ski slopes and an ice-climbing wall, was first mooted in 2014, with planning permission granted in 2017.

A council report said it will "not now be taken forward", and a "fresh vision" for the area would be signed off soon.

Developers Subzero declined to comment due to "ongoing legal issues".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the report showed the developer's option to secure the seven acre stretch of land lapsed in January, which would bring the "prime development site" next to Middlesbrough College under the council's full control.

The report added: "As the snow centre development will not now be taken forward by the previous developers, the opportunity exists to re-plan the future of those two sites, and seek alternative uses.

"A snow centre has been a key factor in previous plans for Middlehaven.

"The developers who secured the option on the site were ultimately unable to bring forward a commercially fundable scheme, or one that the public sector could support without risking tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers money over the lifetime of the project."

Last month Middlesbrough's mayor Andy Preston said that, while he supported the project, he would not "gamble" public money on a "risky bet".