'Smash and grab' mayor move rejected by Middlesbrough council

The Middlehaven area was one of the sites set to be transferred to a new mayoral development corporation

Plans to transfer public sites to a Conservative mayor have been rejected by Labour councillors.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said his government-backed mayoral development corporation (MDC) would bring millions of pounds to Middlesbrough.

But Labour members of Middlesbrough Council said the handover of sites worth £14.7m was a "smash and grab".

Assets involved include the Civic Centre and the Middlehaven dock area set for redevelopment.

The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TCVA), headed by Mr Houchen, sought to set up an MDC that it claimed would speed up regeneration in the town having already secured a similar deal in Hartlepool.

'Morally wrong'

At a meeting of Middlesbrough Council, 12 councillors supported the transfer but 16, who are all Labour, voted against.

The sites set to be transferred included:

• Car parks on Station Street, Amber Street, Buxton Street and at the former Jurys Inn, which have a combined 313 spaces

• Units under the A66 along Wilson Street

• The Crown pub, which the council recently bought for £750,000, and three other buildings on Linthorpe Road

• Civic Centre

• Broadcasting House Enterprise Centre and freehold of the Sainsbury's site

• Middlesbrough bus station

• Middlehaven, Middlesbrough Dock and surrounding land equating to almost 40 acres earmarked for mixed use development

Councillors did not have the power to veto the scheme but the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities could pull the plug due to the lack of support, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Key concerns cited by Labour councillors were around a loss of planning powers, the transfer of council assets and the lack of expertise on the MDC board.

As part of the proposals, £18m of investment was lined up for Middlesbrough but Labour councillors argued the money should be available for the council, regardless of whether an MDC was set up.

Councillor Antony High said it was a "smash and grab on Middlesbrough Council's assets" while Chris Cooke, Labour's mayoral candidate for the upcoming elections in May, said the proposals were "morally and ethically wrong".

'Petty party politics'

The council report said the MDC could generate £4.9m of additional cash for the council per year, nearly 3,000 jobs and £287m of investment.

Leader of the Middlesbrough Independent Group Chris Hobson, who voted for the plans, said: "All the money made by the TVCA will all come back into Middlesbrough, it will all be reinvested."

Conservative deputy mayor of the council Mieka Smiles said she was "absolutely appalled" by Labour's move, adding: "I think this is an amazing, one-time opportunity for our town - because that's what this is all about, not petty party politics."

Speaking after the vote, Mr Houchen said it represented "politics at its very worst", adding: "The people of Middlesbrough deserve so much more than the negative and bitter Labour politicians who currently represent them.

"We had a plan, that had real money attached, to finally redevelop Middlesbrough town centre.

"For too long, Middlesbrough has been left behind and our plans would have finally put this right and injected the imagination, money, and delivery that the town desperately needs."