Darlington

Dec 6 2007

DARLINGTON is the western gateway to the Tees Valley.

And it’s an area where work is powering ahead to create a more vibrant place to live, work and do business.

Regeneration is underway in the shape of Central Park, Tees Valley Regeneration’s £170m scheme.

Situated next to the railway station, it will eventually include 600 homes, office accommodation, a sculpture park and create 2,000 jobs.

Central Park is also the site of the new £35m Darlington College, which opened in 2006.

Overhead power lines which cris-crossed the site have been put under ground and junction improvements have been completed at the Haughton road end of the site opening up access for both the college and the wider site.

Conditional planning consent has been granted and a trio of prestigious developers will deliver the Central Park masterplan - Commercial Estates Group, Yuill Homes and Keepmoat.

In the town centre the £8.5m pedestrian heart initiative has transformed the main shopping area attracting countless visitors and new trade.

Improvement work has included development of High Row steps - a long line of granite steps emphasise the change in level from the High Row to the West Row and Prebend Row, which was first introduced 100 years ago.

Accessibility has been improved with the introduction of two substantial ramps.

Kerbs have been removed and paving has been sloped to enable wheelchair users and shoppers to get around more easily.

Benches - made of wood and black granite - have been added along with planters.

Bus stops have been updated with new contemporary designs made from glass and brushed steel.

Public art has been introduced including interactive light columns, called Life Pulse, and Water Cascade, in High Row.

And the restored statue of Joseph Pease - Britain’s first Quaker MP and one of the pioneers of the world’s first passenger railway - has already been returned to the town centre.

Plus plans for a new multi-million pound shopping centre for Darlington are taking off.

Developer Discovery Properties has named department store chain Debenhams as the flagship store at the new £100m shopping complex.

Debenhams will be the anchor store in the Commercial Street mall, which will be known as The Oval.

The chain is planning a 93,000sq ft store, taken on a new 25-year lease. It is set to open in 2010.

The letting is the latest good news for the £100m development, following Darlington Council’s decision at the beginning of February 2007 to grant The Oval full planning consent.

The three-level scheme will comprise 394,000sq ft of new retail and leisure space. In addition to the new Debenhams store, the development will create 34 shops, five restaurants, two leisure units and a multiplex cinema.

The whole scheme will be served by a new 850-space multi-storey car park that will be connected to the scheme by a new footbridge across St Augustines Way.

The Oval will also provide the Winter Garden, a new public exhibition space for the town Expansion continues at Durham Tees Valley Airport.

The £56m airport redevelopment will include creating a new cargo and maintenance ‘village’ together with a business park and hotel.

It is expected to support hundreds more jobs, adding £120m a year into the local economy.

Tees Valley Regeneration is working closely with English Partnerships, regional development agency One NorthEast and major shareholder Peel Airports on proposals.

Work has been carried out to upgrade the airport’s facilities including an increase in the number of check-in desks, refurbished departure lounges and arrivals areas, improved car parking and baggage handling.

A new £1.8m access road is now open.

A £12m project is also underway to build an interchange at Long Newton from the A66.

Darlington has seen massive growth of new business parks in recent years.

Lingfield Point is just one success story.

The 107 acre site includes Lingfield House, which was originally the home of Paton and Baldwin’s - once Europe’s biggest manufacturers of wool.

During the last two years about £25m has been invested in the site, which is now home to more than 30 businesses and in excess of 1,400 people.

Marchday, the owner of the business park, has launched its 10 to 15-year vision for further development at the site.

The company plans to create a flagship, mixeduse regeneration scheme including low-energy homes and business space, leisure facilities, hotel and community amenities.

Plans include improved public transport links and use of sustainable renewable energy.

Major employers in Darlington include engineering giant Amec.

The company was recently honoured as the shooting star in this year’s leading business league table for the North-east.

Amec burst into the North-east Top 250 in second place.

It employs 1,000 locally and expects to create about 150 jobs in the Tees Valley over three years through a share in a £500m National Grid contract.

The town is also home to one of the Tees Valley’s few PLCs.

Northgate is the UK’s largest commercial vehicle hire business.

The company runs more than 110,000 vehicles from more than 120 sites in the UK, Ireland and Spain.

With work, and a reputation, spanning the globe is another Darlington company.

Cleveland Bridge, the company which built the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia and Scotland’s Forth Road Bridge, is currently working on Stockton’s iconic new £15m footbridge across the Tees.