Member Article

£18m sports village plans for Middlesbrough

A masterplan to develop a 21st Century sports hub for Middlesbrough will be considered at a meeting this week by Mayor Ray Mallon.

The Middlesbrough Sports Village – with an initial £18m investment – will replace some of Middlesbrough’s older sports facilities, creating a first-class complex for both mainstream and specialist sports.

The ambition is for a major regional centre of excellence offering a broad mix of sporting and leisure opportunities in an outstanding setting off Marton Road which is already home to the Middlesbrough Cycle Circuit and Prissick Skate Plaza.

Key elements of the first phase include:

• Athletics field and stadium featuring 400m track with 10-lane straights and eight-lane bends and spectator seating
• Enhanced and extended indoor tennis courts and improved outdoor courts
• 75-station fitness gym and studios
• Full-size flood-lit Artificial Turf Pitch (ATP) and small-sized ATPs
• Grass junior and senior football pitches

Developers Willmott Dixon has been appointed to construct the new athletics facility, with work due to start in the new year subject to Executive and planning approvals. The development is the latest phase of Middlesbrough’s transformation programme which followed the Coalition Government’s announcement in 2010 of sweeping cuts to the public sector.

Under Middlesbrough Council’s first tranche of cuts, it was announced that the ageing Clairville Stadium site would close, with the land sold for housing and other commercial uses and the initial £18m investment in the new Sports Village forming part of the Council’s Capital Programme.

The development will feature a dedicated link road from Ladgate Lane which will reduce traffic congestion on Marton Road and help with access and parking issues at The James Cook University Hospital.

The overall masterplan also incorporates the development of approximately 360 family homes on the former Prissick Depot, Tennis World, Ashdale PRU and Brackenhoe East School sites.

Future phases of the development could see the creation of swimming facilities, a major sports hall, an outdoor velodrome and mountain bike/BMX track.

Planning consultation for the Sports Village will start later this month, with work on site schedule to start in the spring. It is hoped the athletics track and temporary changing will be in place by October, 2014, with the first phase of the development due for completion the following May.

The proposal is due to be considered by Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon and members of the Council’s Executive at a meeting on Tuesday (September 17).

Mr Mallon said: “Middlesbrough’s sporting facilities are an important part of the fabric of the town, and they mean a great deal to the people who live and work here.

“The town is currently facing unprecedented cuts which will have severe impact on the services we are able to deliver for many years to come.

“But within that process we have the opportunity to dispose of some of our ageing facilities, and replace them with a new state of the art Sports Village which will stand the town in good stead for the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .