REPORT TITLE: Middlesbrough Town Centre Strategy
EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR: Regeneration and Economic Development
INTERIM DIRECTOR OF REGENERATION: Kevin Parkes
Date: 23rd June 2009
PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
1. To seek endorsement of the Executive for the Middlesbrough Town Centre Strategy (MTCS) for consultation purposes.
BACKGROUND
2. In 1997 Middlesbrough Council and English Partnerships jointly commissioned a strategic study of Middlesbrough Town Centre. This considered the long-term economic role and physical form of the town centre. The consultants, EDAW, embarked on a programme of consultation, research and analysis and produced a final report in January 1998.
3. The scope of the report was wide ranging covering all aspects of the town centre including maintaining and enhancing its role as the sub-regional centre; the transportation network; its retail and business life; the role of the university; urban form and townscape; culture and the evening economy; promotion and management and a delivery mechanism to allow changes to take place.
4. A partnership between all those with an interest in promoting the prosperity of the town, the Middlesbrough Town Centre Company (MTCC), was set up to take EDAW’s recommendations forward.
5. During the period 2000 to 2007 the MTCC played a crucial role in attracting a total of £248m of investment into the Town Centre. MTCC was also integrally involved in a broad programme of activity and investment, including:
a) £2.5m scheme to deliver the pedestrianisation of the central section of Newport Road and Corporation Road;
b) major environmental and public realm enhancements to Albert Road, Corporation Road/Grange Road and Wilson Street;
c) a major feature lighting programme to enhance 16 key buildings within the town centre; including Binns and the Teesside University Waterhouse Building;
d) Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) established to improve historic buildings in the ‘Historic Quarter Conservation Area’ funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund;
e) a series of new pieces of public art for the Town Centre; and,
f) £20m scheme to create a new Cultural Quarter including mima and Centre Square.
6. However, MTCC was largely dependent on funding from ONE North East and its support was always going to be for a fixed duration. In March 2007 the MTCC was disbanded, as was originally intended. As such, the management of the town centre was once again integrated into the Council’s structure and the Regeneration Department took on the strategic management of the Town Centre Partnership.
7. Following the demise of the MTCC the momentum of investment in the town centre has been maintained. Key investments include:
a) Middlesbrough College – a new £70m single campus facility located next to the former dock at Middlehaven;
b) University of Teesside – the university have continued to invest in its town centre Campus (including the recently completed Phoenix and Athena buildings);
c) Boho – construction is almost complete on Boho Core Building One, the £10m Digital Enterprise Centre built on the former Sussex Street shops site in St. Hilda’s. The centre will be home to circa thirty small businesses specialising in digital media and technology. Boho Core Building Two has been granted planning permission and will include the conversion of empty space at the railway station, work is due to commence on live/work units this summer;
d) Middlehaven – work has begun on creating a modern urban waterfront environment based around contemporary architecture and an aspiration to develop the largest carbon neutral development in the country; and,
e) Linthorpe Road Central – the area has developed a role as a niche designer quarter of independent traders and restaurants. The Council has just completed an Investment Strategy for the area that will guide future investment in the area.
8. A number of other major schemes are also in a developmental stage. These include:
a) the former Police Head Quarters on Dunning Street – planning permission has been granted for a hundred and twenty bed hotel, offices, a restaurant and four-hundred and twenty space multi-deck car park;
b) the former KwikSave site on Linthorpe Road – has been bought by a local development company with emerging proposals for redevelopment entailing retail at ground floor with student accommodation on upper floors;
c) the former Odeon/CSI sites – proposals to provide either residential or student accommodation with restaurants/cafes at ground level with car parking;
d) Cannon Park - to create a new retail quarter in Middlesbrough town centre which so that it can fulfil its strategic role as the centre of the Tees Valley City Region. A masterplan providing a framework for delivery has been formally adopted as interim planning guidance;
e) Crown House – the building is on a key pedestrian route between the town centre and St. Hilda’s/Middlehaven and also close to the railway station. It is currently vacant but the Council are working with the owner to potentially make it an Enterprise Centre with retail and business space;
f) Dentistry School – University of Teesside have started to construct a new four-storey building which will include a new dental training facility. As well as the new dentistry training school, the development will include sports therapy facilities, a series of laboratories and biomechanic and hydrotherapy facilities, plus general teaching rooms and academic offices;
g) Centre Square East – emerging plans for a high quality, hotel and office development with associated multi-deck car park with a new water feature and landscaping across the site. The scheme has undergone a period of public consultation; and,
h) Middlehaven – BioRegional Quintain has been appointed to deliver Phase One of the redevelopment centered around the Dock. Internationally renowned architects are set to design high quality, cutting edge buildings and public space. Phase One will see the construction of approximately 760 residential dwellings, a hotel, offices and leisure facilities. In addition, developer Terrace Hill has completed the first of five office developments known as Manhatten Gate beside the Dock. Property acquisitions in the Central Industrial Area (CIA) are continuing and outline planning permission is in place for residential, commercial, hotel, retail, educational and leisure uses. The third area is centered around the historical St Hilda’s area. Significant land acquisitions and clearances have taken place. Major developments have commenced, notably the new Police HQ, Boho Core Building One and the ongoing construction of a new homeless hostel to replace the old one on Wellington Street.
9. The achievements of the MTCC, and the further investments that have occurred since its disbandment, have provided a platform for the Town Centre’s future development. Middlesbrough town centre is the sub-regional centre for shopping and tertiary education and acts as a focus for cultural, social, business and community life in Middlesbrough and the wider Tees Valley City Region. There is, however, increasingly strong competition from out-of-town retail parks/stores (including Teesside Park and Portrack Lane), nearby city centres such as Newcastle, York, Leeds and attractive market towns such as Northallerton and Harrogate, all with a recently improved and diverse offer.
10. There are also threats to the town centre from:
a) an increasingly mobile population aided by good road and public transport links leading to leakage of expenditure;
b) potential growing impact of e-commerce; and,
c) polarisation of retail activity in larger centres.
11. In order for the town centre to remain competitive and be attractive to inward investors, there is a need for a long-term vision which will give investors confidence in the overall approach adopted by the public sector. It is a plan that needs to take account of the current recession but critically it needs to provide a long-term vision. The MTCS will act as a catalyst for further investment. The need for a new town Centre Strategy has also become even more pertinent since the adopted Local Development Framework (LDF) extended the town centre boundary to include Middlehaven and Cannon Park to reflect that the commercial core of the town extends beyond its retail function (see Appendix 1).
12. As outlined above in paragraphs 7 and 8, there has been extensive investment and development within Middlesbrough. The new MTCS brings together all of the current projects/activities that have been undertaken in the town centre into one strategic document which demonstrates the ambition that the Town has as it looks to develop its role as the sub-regional centre for the wider Tees Valley City Region. It seeks to provide the linkages between schemes and provide a holistic overview for the future development of the town centre.
13. Consultants Roger Tym and Partners were appointed in 2008 to produce a revised strategy for the town centre, which provides the rationale for further economic and physical change and reflects key policy strategies, including the LDF, Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), Regional Economic Strategy (RES) and the Tees Valley City Region.
14. The new draft town centre strategy provides a range of coordinated policies and physical interventions designed to bring maximum benefit to local residents and all town centre users. The strategy is for consultation, and it is anticipated that it will be further shaped and refined following consultation with stakeholders. A copy of the draft Strategy is available in the Members Library. The final MTCS will be forwarded to the Executive for approval later this year and will take on board changes as a consequence of the outcomes from the consultation.
15. The strategy promotes an aspiration to achieve a step-change and develop a critical mass of economic, social, educational and cultural activity to turn Middlesbrough into a successful 21st century urban centre. This is encapsulated in the strategies vision for:
“Middlesbrough town centre to fulfil its potential as a retail, commercial and creative centre at the heart of the Tees Valley City Region by 2020.”
16. In order to achieve this vision the strategy outlines a number of objectives and associated actions that, over the next twenty years, will take Middlesbrough town centre forward, underpinning the town’s role as the sub-regional centre at the heart of the Tees Valley City Region.
MTCS Core Objectives
17. The core objectives for Middlesbrough fall under the following headings:
A: Retail core expansion and strengthening – quality, catchment and dwell time
18. This objective seeks to improve the quality of the retail core, respond to gaps in the overall retail offer to help attract additional spend from the catchment and increase the dwell time of visitors to the town. Key actions include:
a) identification of key site(s) for future expansion of the retail core at the western end of the town centre and linking into the Cannon Park development. This will include appraisal of options for the development of a new department store;
b) development of physical linkages to increase footfall and connectivity between the retail core, Linthorpe Central and the University Quarter – physical improvements to the Borough Road/Linthorpe Road junction and investigation into increasing car parking capacity at the southern-edge of the town centre, particularly in the Linthorpe Central area; and,
c) promotion of Middlesbrough’s thriving independent retail sector in Linthorpe Central - further promoting distinctiveness and increasing potential to attract higher levels of expenditure.
B: Strategic property and sites
19. Within Middlesbrough town centre there are currently a significant number of vacant, under utilised and derelict sites and premises. The strategy seeks to support the re-use of these assets. Key actions include:
a) identify key sites and properties to encourage cross town connectivity – improving linkages between the retail core and Cannon Park, Middlehaven and Linthorpe Road Central and improving the appearance and linkages between Corporation Road and the Middlesbrough Leisure Park;
a) adopt a vacant and derelict properties strategy – engagement with key private owners in relation to Church House, Albert Road and Exchange Square properties; and,
b) utilise Middlesbrough Council assets to deliver key strategic projects.
C: Use of planning powers
20. Planning powers are an important tool available to the local authority to ensure that appropriate development takes place in appropriate locations. The strategy suggests utilising these powers to support the aspirations for the town centre. Key actions include:
a) ensure a sequential approach is continually applied to applications for retail, leisure and commercial development – new development should enhance the range and mass of activity in the town centre;
b) seek to influence the limitation of out-of-town and commercial consents within neighbouring authorities and local catchment;
c) active promotion of the town centre as the preferred location for development; and,
d) use of development control powers to ensure proposed development fits to strategic targets and design quality required within the centre.
D: Development of the office sector
21. The development of the office sector within Middlesbrough Town Centre creates the potential for increased employment opportunities as well as additional benefits from increased usage of the retail, leisure and cultural facilities. Key actions include:
a) identification of key locations for future office sector activity within the town centre – Middlehaven (building upon Manhattan Gate), the Cultural Quarter (including Central Square East) and Boho;
b) develop linkages between the Middlehaven office core and the town centre – development of physical proposals for high-quality pedestrian routes between Albert Road and Middlesbrough College/future office development; and,
c) identification of limited sites for niche and Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SME) office and commercial development within the town centre – particularly around Albert Road and Borough Road.
E: Further expansion of the educational sector, digital media and creative media
22. The ongoing development of Middlesbrough as a hub for educational activity is a critical element in the transition to achieving a city-scale mass of activity and vibrancy. Key actions include:
a) establishment of a coordinated approach to the ongoing expansion of University of Teesside, Middlesbrough College, Boho and other higher education facilities;
b) delivery of an appropriate range and variety of student accommodation within the town centre – further consideration of appropriate sites for student accommodation is necessary due to the expansion of higher education facilities and encouragement of new development around Exchange Square/Middlehaven to create a hub of student activity within a high-quality environment;