Big start to town’s regeneration
MAJOR plans by Hartlepool Borough Council to regenerate key parts of the town have got off to a great start, with work now underway on £8m of projects.
Construction has started on a scheme to revitalise the Church Street area and transform it into a hub for creative industries.
The former Post Office building in Whitby Street is being refurbished and extended to turn it into a centre for business start-ups in the creative industries sector.
Called The BIS – ‘creating Businesses through Innovation and Skills’ - the £3m centre will open its doors next summer and will be run by the Council with support from Cleveland College of Art and Design. The conversion is being funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority.
A further £3.4m is going into Church Street itself and Church Square. In Church Street the focus is on enhancing the existing architecture and creating a more open, pedestrian friendly area.
The existing trees, which obscure the buildings, will be replaced with smaller ones, engraved stones will be set into the pavement outside key buildings to explain their history and there will be a wider footpath along the south side of the street.
Two-way traffic along Church Street will still be maintained and there will still be a number of parking bays.
Church Square is also being given a major uplift. It’s being pedestrianised and a large oval event space encircled by trees and raised seating will be created in front of Hartlepool Art Gallery.
There will be a landscaped walkway along Upper Church Street and new road access to the neighbouring Cleveland College of Art and Design buildings from the top of Church Street.
The work – which will be completed by May 2018 – is being funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Council.
People are reminded that, for the duration of the project, Church Street is closed to through traffic, with a diversion in place along Tower Street and Huckelhoven Way. However, the railway station and all the Church Street businesses are open as normal and there is still vehicle and pedestrian access to them.
Construction has also begun on a £1.3m scheme to revitalise the Seaton Carew seafront.
A new outdoor leisure park is being created on part of the promenade including the area currently occupied by the paddling pool. It will feature a children’s water play area including ground geysers and water tunnels and there will also be children’s play equipment, picnic tables and beach huts.
A new four metre high glass and steel sculpture by Hartlepool artist Stuart Langley called ‘Waves’, reflecting the town’s maritime and industrial heritage, will be installed near Seaton Reach.
Improvements are also being made to the art deco clock tower and bus station, including structural repairs and new paving.
The Seaton improvements – which will be ready for next year’s summer season – have been made possible thanks to a £600,000 contribution from the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund and £100,000 from local company Able UK.
In a separate development, a new ten-hole crazy golf course will be created next to the leisure park by a private investor.
Commenting on each of the projects, Councillor Kevin Cranney, Chair of the Council’s Regeneration Services Committee, said: “There’s fantastic new talent graduating from Hartlepool’s colleges and The BIS will help to keep those young people in town, providing an ideal environment in which new businesses in the creative industries can take root and grow.
“In Seaton Carew, the improvements will bring traditional seaside fun back to the prom, increasing visitor numbers and boosting local businesses, and the Church Square/ Church Street regeneration will create a thriving route running from the town centre and transport interchange down to what will be the redeveloped Hartlepool Waterfront.”
The Council has also just taken a major step forward in its plans to transform the Hartlepool Waterfront.
The Council bought the former five-acre Jacksons Landing site after it lay dormant for years and has now approved a masterplan as the basis for further developing plans for the site and surrounding area to attract investors and development.
Key features of the masterplan are:
- A new waterfront visitor attraction using the best in digital and virtual reality technology
- A water activity centre offering both water-based activities and land-based activities such as climbing and indoor caving
- An outdoor events arena for attractions around the year such as food festivals, displays and music shows
- The expansion of the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool onto the waterfront site
- A new four-star hotel and restaurants
If the masterplan is delivered in full, it’s estimated that the new development could create several hundred jobs plus many more in construction.
There will be a phased approach, with an early first phase over the next two years concentrating on the development of leisure activities and the creation of the all-year-round events space to build on the success of this summer’s Hartlepool Waterfront Festival on the site, which attracted over 15,000 people.
Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, Leader of the Council, added: “With work now underway on the regeneration of Church Street, Church Square and Seaton Carew, people will see our months of planning starting to take shape on the ground.
“As work now presses ahead on further detailed planning for the Hartlepool Waterfront, it all sends a clear message to potential investors in our town that we are moving forward with ambition.”
