Question: Which of the following statements and promises were made during the development of the Marina?

  • A tram service would run between the marina and church street

  • A 4 -star hotel would be built at Navigation Point

  • Mandale purchased 20 pedalo boats to be hired out in the marina.

  • A bus 'shuttle service' would run from Jackson's Landing to the town centre.

  • A Tall Ships Centre to repair and refurbish large sailing ships would be built at Navigation Point.

  • The Imperial War Museum would locate its Maritime History Museum on the marina.

  • A 'Puffa' train would run from Navigation Point around the marina.

  • A thriving factory outlet facility would be based at Jackson's Landing

  • Retired person's bungalows would be built in front of Osprey House.

  • A huge Garden Centre would be built at Navigation Point.

 

. . . bit of a trick question . . . I'm afraid they are all true.

 

 


 

 

 

 

Stack 'Em High and Sell 'Em (Not So) Cheap

Are The Developers Killing Hartlepool Marina?

 

Welcome to Flat City

It's the biggest development Hartlepool has seen since the building of the docks in the 1830's and it promised to be the plinth on which the town's future prosperity would be built. Twenty years after the original plans were first published that promise is already starting to fade as poor maintenance, litter and dereliction become increasingly apparent. Add to this drunken behaviour and developers apparently hell-bent on maximising their financial return at the expense of public amenity then it's clear that all is not well on Hartlepool's Marina.

 

Everyone in the town has an opinion on the Marina's future. Those heady days of the first buildings going up: the Promenade and Breakwater, the Historic Quay, those posh penthouses, Jackson's Landing and The Premier Inn along with Charlie Chalks; all gave grounds for optimism. Not any more.

 

It's as if, somewhere along the way, the whole development took a wrong turn. What was originally announced as a development of mixed housing, commercial enterprises, tourist facilities and public amenity has somehow become largely an Orwellian style accommodation area; 'Flat City' as it has become known locally. There are parts of the Marina that could easily be mistaken for a suburb of East Berlin or one of those ill-conceived, high-rise housing estates built in the late fifties and sixties and which are now being demolished all over the U.K.. The architecture is characterless and unfriendly and owes nothing to its location. In truth, the same buildings can be seen on any number of similar developments or business parks around the country.

 

So what has gone wrong with the Marina? Why have the aspirations of the town's people who hoped we were about to create something special been disappointed? The reasons are obvious enough.

 

" . . from day one, it was inevitable that at some stage, the approach adopted by the developers; one which was based entirely on self-interest would collide head-on with the public's own aspirations. This is where the Borough Council should have found its role. Sadly, it didn't . . ."

A typical 2-bedroomed flat on the Marina currently sells for around £130,000 - around the same price as a 2-bedroomed property at Middle Warren. However, use the same piece of land to build not one but four, five or even nine stories of apartments then the unit cost of each apartment plummets and the return to the developer rockets.

 

Those apartments that the developer manages to sell are sold as leasehold properties with each subject to an exorbitant annual maintenance charge by Town and City Management Services, an independent property management company which just happens to be chaired by John Monk; the same John Monk that owns developers Jomast. Those new properties which are slow to sell are eventually rented further boosting the revenue for the developers which helps to pay for more flats.

 

Why does the Borough Council let them get away with it? Well, let's not lose sight of the fact that each block of apartments produces multiple tax receipts for a single plot of land.

 

Not surprisingly then, Stack 'Em High and Sell 'Em (Not So) Cheap has become the order of the day.

 

You can't really blame the developers for adopting this approach - they are, after all, in it for the money. But it does mean that the developers alone should never have been trusted to deliver the kind of marina that the people of the town actually wanted. From day one, it was inevitable that at some stage, the approach adopted by the developers; one which was based entirely on self-interest would collide head-on with the public's own aspirations. This is where the Borough Council should have found its role. Sadly, it didn't.

 

The present Council, or more accurately its administration, has been and continues to be be far too quick to sing the tune of the developers. Indeed, there are times when they have appeared to be almost over-grateful whenever any plans for development were received. This has been exasperated by the pending Tall Ships Event in 2010 which has led to an all out rush for development - any development - that would improve facilities or reduce the amount of derelict land on the Marina.

 

Nothing has demonstrated this more vividly than the latest plans by Jomast to develop Trincomalee Wharf - plans which have been spoilt by a preposterous proposal to destroy the small, walled park and Piazza to make room for yet another apartment block.

 

Steve Latimer