Plain sailing – Hartlepool Council ’ s strategic development and sustainability manager Paul Taylor outlines exciting , multi-million pound regeneration plans for the town .
REGENERATION GAME
WORDS : PAUL FRASER PICTURES : STUART BOULTON
Exciting projects to put Hartlepool on the map
ithin the next few years , Hartlepool will be transformed into a vibrant and exciting waterfront market town . A fresh beating heart is firmly being put into Hartlepool .
A truly transformational programme is underway that will capitalise on £ 121m of capital development funding secured to completely revitalise a Teesside town of 94,000 people .
Funding through a range of successful bids to central government , including the Hartlepool Town Deal and Levelling Up
Fund , means Hartlepool Borough Council is overseeing major regeneration of key areas . Work is underway and is due to be completed within three-and-a-half years .
The Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities provided £ 25m through the Town Deal , more than £ 20m has been received from Tees Valley Combined Authority ’ s Indigenous Growth Fund for the waterfront and a further £ 18.5m from the government ’ s Levelling Up Fund Round Two to deliver a Screen Industry Production Village .
The production village and other significant projects such as skills academies , waterfront projects , the Wesley Chapel redevelopment , Highlight leisure centre and a complete revamp of the North-East corner of Middleton Grange Shopping Centre are at the centre of the improvements underway .
These significant capital programmes are being delivered at a pace Hartlepool has never seen before .
Each project has different aims – from creating jobs and upskilling local residents through to improving the connectivity across the town .
Paul Taylor , the council ’ s strategic development and sustainability manager , said : “ Ultimately our ambition , our vision , is to create a heart for the town and physically change the place .
“ Hartlepool has been out on a limb for too long . The regeneration and redevelopment
72