Mayor accused of secrecy over third Tees Valley property transfer
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has again been accused of secrecy after plans for a third transfer of public assets was leaked.
Houchen privately struck a deal with Hartlepool Council to take control of the community’s key civic buildings in a process that has not previously been public.
The leak comes a week after the government commissioned an independent inquiry into Houchen’s Teesworks regeneration project in Redcar, over concerns about the secret transfer of public assets to developers.
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has again been accused of secrecy after plans for a third transfer of public assets was leaked.
Houchen privately struck a deal with Hartlepool Council to take control of the community’s key civic buildings in a process that has not previously been public.
The leak comes a week after the government commissioned an independent inquiry into Houchen’s Teesworks regeneration project in Redcar, over concerns about the secret transfer of public assets to developers.
If the latest transfer is agreed by the government, the Hartlepool properties, including the town hall, magistrates court and main leisure centre, as well as planning powers over them, will be handed to the new Hartlepool Mayoral Development Corporation.
Houchen has said the Hartlepool plan will boost private investment into the town, but Labour accused the mayor and his Conservative colleagues of being “pathologically opposed” to accountability.
Houchen has also established an MDC in Middlesbrough, which is to take over assets from the council despite councillors voting against the move in February.
The Times (£)
