The Jewel In The Crown?
 

It's become an over-used phrase in council circles but 'The Jewel In The Crown' is the way you'll often hear Hartlepool Marina described. But how true is it? HTH believes that the Marina Development has reached a critical crossroad. The direction in now takes will decide whether it becomes the focal point of a resurgent town or a monument to local government mismanagement.

Although the Marina's very existence owes far more to Margaret Thatcher, Ted Leadbitter and the now defunct T.D.C. than to our own illustrious council, there's no denying that it's development has transformed the centre of town. No one should be surprised when they hear councillors as well as The Mayor, attempt to claim credit but, in truth, the Borough Council didn't have much to do with the marina development. It didn't have to design it, build it or even find the money to fund it. During the development of the marina Hartlepool Borough Council's role was primarily as an observer and rubber stamper of the plans and activities of the T.D.C.. It was always intended that the Council's real input would come after the marina had been built by maintaining what had already been accomplished and in picking up the mantle of development for the unused land space which remained.

In practice, nothing much new has happened since the demise of the T.D.C.. Hartlepool Borough Council took over 'ownership' of the Historic Quay complex and . . . well that's about it really!

There have been a number of false starts announcing developments in the area. For example, as far back as 1999 plans were announced to develop the strip of land bordering the promenade to Newburn Bridge and the large plot of land to the south of Maritime Avenue. There have also been numerous plans to develop a Trincomolee Visitor Centre on the north side of the same road.

There is one type of development which appears to have thrived since the end of the housing slump of the late nineties and that is the

 seemingly constant building of blocks of flats. Even here the developments have not enhanced the general appearance of the Marina which continues to provide a mixed impression of on-going building sites and dereliction.

Consider the new development of flats behind the Smallcrafts pub. The flats themselves are no better nor no worse than any of the other flats built on the Marina. They do however, have the advantage of facing the sea with the potential of superb sea views from the flats themselves. With due imagination and public works to the sea frontage, this development could have been made into a first class development. In reality, the border between the flats and the sea is marked by a barbed wire fence which prevents any access to a decaying sea frontage currently used for fly-tipping.

The two developers on the Marina, namely Mandale and Jomast, while showing enthusiasm to erect more and more blocks of flats have both shown an equal and opposite lack of enthusiasm for completing the associated infrastructure particularly for pedestrians. For example, the flats facing what's become known as Warrior Quay still await safe paving and street lamps erected years ago remain unlit.

Navigation Point

There was a real prospect at one time that Navigation Point was set to become the restaurant capital for the whole of South East Durham and Cleveland - and it still might. In order to do so, however, the Council needs to take some definitive action to control the direction of this development. This it can only do so through the planning process.

The range of restaurants at Navigation Point is impressive. Almost every taste is catered for and many of the restaurants, through their own hard word, are acquiring fine reputations. Krimos, for example, is well on the way to establishing itself as the best Italian Restaurant in the Teesside area. It's rare for the town to be faced with such a potential success story.

The 'any tenant will do' attitude of landlords Mandale needs to be tempered by a planning committee with a clear sense of direction. The opening of coffee shops with their cafe culture fitted in well with the general direction of the development and even the opening of a fish shop, while raising a few eyebrows, could be defended by anyone claiming why shouldn't this most British of all dishes should be represented alongside the range of international food available. Then came Vibes.

What on earth were the planning committee thinking of when they granted a late license to this establishment? Whatever the original intention, Vibes has become nothing more than an annexe to the weekend binge drinking culture of Church Street and Victoria Road and in doing so it has made the life of the local residents a living hell. With Vibes came the foul language, the broken glass, the late night arguments and fights. Now, with the pavement routinely blocked by drinkers, pedestrians must take their chances walking on the road to reach their destination while local residents are left to thread their way passed the undisciplined parking of countless taxis to search in vain for a parking space.

could have been used to create a development retains the impression of an on-going building site. , once the housing

behind the railway stationSo what has been achieved since the last days of the T.D.C. and since the baton was handed over to Hartlepool Borough Council? There is in fact a one-word answer to this - Flats.