MDC risked "walking away" on investment deal with town according to a Hartlepool Councillor....

Plans submitted by the Hartlepool Labour Group risked the corporation "walking away" from Hartlepool, taking with them millions of pounds of investment one councillor said.....

Saturday 3rd December 2022

Mayoral Development Corporation was at risk of “walking away” from Hartlepool taking with it millions of pounds worth of development funding to the town a Hartlepool councillor claims.…..

A Hartlepool Councillor has hit back over alleged “misinformation” posted by a rival political group over the reasons as to why councillors recently voted down Labours proposals for tighter scrutiny of a potential new corporation that’s poised to bring with it significant funding to the town…

The Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), is said to be proposed to be set up as another arm of the Tees Valley Combined Authority & was originally thought up back in 2016, however the plans have only just come to public debate following the proposals being moved forward by both the Government & the areas combined authority in an effort to drive up investment in the region.

The plans for the establishment of the (MDC) however were given the cold shoulder by the towns Labour Party, who claimed the potential setting up of such a large corporation resembled that of the old Teesside Development Corporation (TDC) which was dissolved in the mid-1990s with much criticism of the corporations value for money expressed at the time by a number of MP’s.

Labour claimed the MDC could potentially strip planning powers away from the local council, with public assets funded by the corporation eventually taken out of the hands of authorities to be sold for profit further down the line.

But one councillor, Independent Councillor Gordon Cranney who represents the towns Seaton Ward claimed that the plans to “toughen up” scrutiny arrangements for the board had the potential to lead to the corporation “walking away” from investment into Hartlepool, taking with them potentially millions of pounds worth of funding, with the councillor branding Labours claims for the reasons as to why so many councillors voted down their proposals put forward as “misinformation”, in that councillors already had been assurances from the MDC that a tight grip on its governance would be maintained, whilst ensuring large scale investment was made in the town.

Cllr Cranney stated that he personally rejected Labours proposals on the grounds that further measures would put plans already in place with the MDC "at risk", with the town likely to see the loss of large scale financial investment in the area if the proposals put forward by the Labour Party were given the green light.

Labour claims that councillors on the Conservative / Independent coalition have effectively “betrayed” Hartlepool, saying that the failure of councillors to back Labours proposals to keep a tighter lead on the powers the MDC would have could potentially lead to swathing losses of powers from the local council to an unelected unaccountable board of a private corporation, with Hartlepool almost by defacto setting itself up to be absorbed into something that was reminiscent of the old Cleveland County Council.

But a number of councillors have hit back at those claims, saying that in order to drive up investment in Hartlepool, it needs to attract private corporations into the town in order to ensure that Hartlepool remains economically viable to investors for the future...