Ben Houchen aims to shrug off Teeswork's controversies amid new economic report
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has come out fighting in support of the controversial Teesworks development to insist that it will transform the economy of the local area.
A Government report into the scheme, which aims to redevelop Redcar ’s former steelworks site, last year outlined a string of problems with the development, though it stopped short of finding any corruption or illegality. That report had come after months of arguments between Mr Houchen and some Labour politicians on Teesside about how a joint venture between the South Tees Development Corporation and two local businessmen had heavily favoured the private partners.
Now the Teesworks Ltd has commissioned a report from real estate agents Colliers which claims that the site will secure business rates for Redcar and Cleveland Council of more than £79m a year, while more than 20,000 jobs on the site, in supply chains and in construction will be supported by schemes either classed as ‘formal commitments’ and ‘initial agreements.’
And despite having to meet a series of recommendations from last year’s report to meet Government concerns, Lord Houchen has used the report to highlight the benefits he says will come from projects at Teesworks.
He said: “Teesworks has already contractually secured £79m a year in new business rates for the taxpayer. The transformation of Teesworks is not only creating thousands of good-quality jobs and attracting billions in investment, but it’s also positioning Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council to become one of the wealthiest local authorities in the UK.
“The anticipated £79m a year in business rate revenue will provide the council with incredible flexibility—so much so that this new income could cover the cost of council tax for everyone living in the local authority area. And this is only the beginning - with just 44% of the site developed, this figure will more than double when Teesworks is fully occupied.
“This is a remarkable achievement and a testament to what can be accomplished when the private and public sectors come together to deliver for local communities. Thousands of jobs, billions in investment and £79m a year - every year - back to the taxpayer in new business rates. A sign that Teesworks is truly the new ICI.”
The Teesworks site is one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe and has already attracted some major job-creating schemes from the likes of SeAH Wind and BP/Equinor.
But it became embroiled in controversy last year when questions were raised over how an initial 50:50 joint venture between the public and private sectors was changed to a 90:10 basis in favour of the private developers.
An inquiry launched by former Communities Secretary Michael Gove complained that it had faced “challenges” in accessing information and said that the level of transparency had not always met the standard appropriate for a publicly funded project of this scale. It made a series of 28 recommendations to improve the scheme.
The Colliers report - titled The Silicon Valley of Net Zero - argues that Teesworks has a key role to play in the UK’s net zero drive and calls for any “uncertainties” about the project to be removed. It adds that the average salary on the site will be around 15% above the national average .The report is expected to be presented to the Combined Authority’s cabinet at its next meeting.
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