Plans to regenerate a long-derelict area of Middlesbrough have been cautiously welcomed by local councillors, with proposals for up to 3,400 new homes alongside leisure and retail developments at Middlehaven. The scheme centres on the Old Town Hall and the surrounding waterfront.
Councillors recently approved Capital and Centric as the development partner to lead the project, which has seen multiple false starts over the years. Labour executive member for development Theo Furness described the plans as potentially transformative for the town and the wider region, but emphasised the need for a “credible” partner given previous schemes had failed to materialise.
“There have been many imaginations and iterations of what it could be, some CGI images of quirky buildings and you know, we’ve got a giant art sculpture there, but nothing’s ever got off the ground,” Furness told colleagues. He added that if the full plans can be realised, it would be “ground-breaking” for Middlesbrough, but expressed caution due to past disappointments.
Funding gaps were highlighted as a potential challenge. Furness noted that work so far on Middlehaven had been “piecemeal”, citing Boho and the Old Town Hall project as examples, but stressed the council’s ambition to make the area a place where people live and work again.
The executive also approved the use of £3.6m from the Towns Fund grant allocation to develop detailed designs for the scheme. Furness added: “If it does come to a point where it’s not feasible, we’ve got to be honest and say it’s not feasible. We’re not going to promise something that we can’t deliver. But we will do our utmost best as a council and as officers to obviously bring this forward.”
Other councillors expressed cautious optimism. Luke Henman described the project as “fantastic” and highlighted Middlehaven as the “epicentre” of Middlesbrough’s history. Labour Mayor Chris Cooke said he was “quietly confident” about the scheme, cautioning against over-publicising plans before decisions were final. Peter Gavigan also welcomed the development but urged prudence, pointing to the “false dawns” of previous regeneration efforts.
