Budget cuts and £1.1m for Middlesbrough town centre agreed
Middlesbrough’s mayor has warned of a race against time to stop a town centre’s deterioration after more than £1.1m is pledged.
Councillors at Middlesbrough’s executive meeting approved spending to station three police officers and 12 enforcement officers in the town centre patrolling from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Independent Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston said it would not be a silver bullet but will turbocharge ongoing work.
A loss of household names like Debenhams, House of Fraser and Miss Selfridge from the high street has left huge empty stores in the heart of the town. The mayor said the decreased footfall was partly due to the pandemic speeding up the switch to online shopping and more workers now logging on from home instead of travelling into an office.
Mr Preston said: “Lots of people with issues, whether they are addiction issues or other behavioural problems, still frequent centres and they go in and beg or buy drugs and other things that damage the community. The feel of places has deteriorated.”
However, he added the council was working to tackle the issues in the town centre and attract visitors. He added: “The tide is hugely against us and if we don’t do anything I think we will end up like other places where there is almost no centre.
“That hasn’t happened in Middlesbrough and I don’t think it will as long as we keep taking strong, intelligent action. I think it will turbocharge everything we are already doing. It won’t be a silver bullet, it won’t cure all problems.”
As part of the scheme, £50,000 will be spent expanding the Orange Pip Market and developing other markets, there will be £10,000 for initiatives like Teesside restaurant week and £100,000 for an arts and culture programme. There has also been £5,000 pledged to launch a campaign to urge people not to give cash to beggars and £15,000 for more CCTV cameras.
The new plans have been funded by two Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) pots. The shared prosperity fund will contribute £520,000 and the indigenous growth fund will dish out £600,000.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen previously said: “Making our streets safer is key to improving our town centres, getting people visiting and backing our brilliant local businesses as well as driving investment and ensuring post-Covid recovery. This funding will help make Middlesbrough even better for local people and a more attractive prospect for companies.”
Conservative Cllr David Coupe, the executive member for adult health and digital inclusion, said the plans would encourage people to return to the town centre and they would show that Middlesbrough is open for business.
Labour’s Cllr Chris Cooke, who represents Newport ward, was keen for plans to include measures to stop shops in the town centre selling cheap high-strength alcohol and also flagged that doctors are over-prescribing zopiclones, a well-known street tablet. He added: “My worry is if we don’t tackle the vendors for these illicit markets then we just whack-a-mole the problem.”
He is also concerned the issues will just be moved to another area like Linthorpe Village or Parliament Road, however, Mr Preston said there is some displacement when you challenge bad behaviour. The council’s chief executive said there was a wider strategy that addresses Cllr Cooke’s concerns, including the availability of cheap alcohol.
At Tuesday’s executive meeting, councillors also approved a recovery plan that hopes to cut the local authority’s £9m overspend for this financial year to £1.6m, which has been blamed on wage rises, inflation and high demand for children’s services. There will be a freeze on non-essential recruitment and a £150,000 service to support vulnerable children is also being axed before it has started.
As part of these proposals, council services will be increased by 10% – this includes bereavement services with cremation fees rising from £820 to £902 and burial fees increasing from £660 to £726. There will also be a 10% rise in ticket costs for events at council venues including the Town Hall, the Middlesbrough Theatre, and Newham Grange Leisure Farm and an increase in allotment rents, parking charges, Stainsby nursery fees, and registrar costs which cover weddings, births and deaths.
Mr Preston said: “Things are exceptionally and excruciatingly tough and really tough painful decisions have to be made. The charges that will have to be increased, I’m really sorry that it’s happening but it’s necessary.
“Some councils will go bust and will be taken over by government and when that happens a council’s ability to look after people and give people good value for money goes out of the window. There will be some really tough decisions that have to be made in Middlesbrough and everywhere.”
Councillors also voted to approve an extension of the selective landlord licensing scheme in Newport ward, which is already in operation in part of the area and in North Ormesby. It means that all private landlords will have to obtain a licence from the council for each rented property to ensure that they are managed effectively.
The scheme is implemented in areas with a high number of private rented properties, low housing demand, poor housing conditions, high levels of deprivation, crime and migration and/or significant and persistent anti-social behaviour which is linked to tenants.
Cllr Cooke wants to see this applied to Thirteen housing group so that the same standards are applied across private and social landlords. He was told this was not possible but that the council do work very closely with Thirteen.
Labour’s Cllr Alma Hellaoui, who also represents Newport ward, said the scheme had already made a significant difference. She said that improvements had been made to previously unsafe properties and there were fewer issues of anti-social behaviour.