Hartlepool Development Corporation
The Hartlepool Development Corporation is a Development Corporation established by the Tees Valley Mayor – alongside the Middlesbrough Development Corporation and South Tees Development Corporation.
Hartlepool’s Development Corporation will encompass Oakesway Business Park, Queens Meadow Business Park, retail and leisure land – including Mill House Leisure Centre and Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, with public realm and civic buildings.
We have been formed with the overarching goal to transform Hartlepool and Middlesbrough respectively, through driving investment and cutting red tape.
Our focus is town centre regeneration, encouraging businesses back into the centre, reducing shop vacancy rates, building new, high-quality housing, and creating a place where people will aspire to live, work and play.
It’s our mission to secure the maximum benefits for the people and businesses of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, and this will be achieved by:
• Providing new housing and commercial developments, surrounded by sustainable, thriving neighbourhoods and valued amenity space;
• Respecting, protecting and enhancing the key landmarks and assets within Hartlepool and Middlesbrough; and
• Encouraging inward investment into Hartlepool and Middlesbrough and fast-track regeneration.
The 2011 Localism Act provided the Mayor of Tees Valley with powers to set up Mayoral Development Corporations. The Hartlepool and Middlesbrough Development Corporations were confirmed into statue on 27 February 2023. Planning powers were conferred on to the Development Corporation on the 1 June 2023.
The Development Corporations are also local planning authorities, and as such are responsible for determining planning applications with the Mayoral Development Areas.
Hartlepool and Middlesbrough Borough Councils retain the responsibility for preparing and maintaining a Local Plan or Development Plan. The policies within the relevant Local Plans are the basis for making decisions on planning applications in the Mayoral Development Areas. Other documents and plans at a local level, such as Supplementary Planning Documents, are also important documents which can be relevant in decision making.
Drawing on its rich heritage at the heart of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, the Development Corporations aim to revitalise and regenerate the areas, creating places where a thriving local economy supports a great place to work, visit and live.
Displaying the best practice in social and environmental design, the Development Corporations will seek to create an environment which respects key local assets and delivers new, high-quality developments alongside the historic fabric of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.
If you are interested in developments within Hartlepool Development Corporation, please refer to the HDC Masterplan which sets out our ambition and priorities. To discuss detailed proposals, contact [email protected] for further information.
If you are enquiring about potential planning applications, would like to submit a planning application, would like to view or comment on applications, access further information on the decision-making process, or access the planning portal within Hartlepool Development Corporation, please visit the planning section of our website or contact [email protected] for further information.
If you believe there has been a breach of planning control you can report this to the Development Corporation team via email at [email protected]. When you report an alleged breach of planning control we will require the following information:
If the above information is not provided we will not register your complaint. Your details will only be used by the planning enforcement team to contact you for further details or for clarification on a particular matter. Any information provided by members of the public is treated in confidence unless it is necessary to disclose this information at an appeal or in court when it will be made public. In such cases, the individual’s consent will be sought prior to this information being made public. Please note that neighbour disputes or vexatious complaints will not be investigated, and if the matter being reported is a minor breach of planning control we may decline to investigate the matter further.
The development corporation is required to have a planning enforcement register available for public inspection that contains copies of Notices served. You can search for and view a specific Notice for a particular address on our public access system. The enforcement register is also available to view via pdf on request by contacting the Development Corporation team via email at [email protected].
For more information on Freedom of Information requests, including what information will be available, request processes, and request costs, please visit the FOI section of our website. If you would like to make a Freedom of Information request regarding Hartlepool Development Corporation, please contact [email protected] for further information.
If you are interested in accessing support to grow your business, please contact our business solutions team at [email protected] for further information.
24 September 2025 – Article 4 Direction
Hartlepool Development Corporation made a non-immediate Article 4 Direction on 24 September 2025 under Article 4(1) of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), a copy of which can be found here.
The Direction, if confirmed by the Development Corporation following a 12 month consultation period, will remove permitted development rights for the change of use of a building from Class C3 (dwellinghouses) to Class C4 (houses in multiple occupation). This means that planning permission will be required for this type of development from the date on which the Direction comes into force.
Plans showing the areas affected by the Article 4 Direction can be found here.
The process for making representations regarding the Article 4 Direction is set out in the public notice, a copy of which can be found here.
Hartlepool Development Corporation
Teesside International Airport
Darlington, Tees Valley,
DL2 1LU
Hartlepool Development Corporation purchased the long lease of Middleton Grange Shopping Centre on 19 December 2023. Since, the HDC board has commissioned a piece of work on the wider Middleton Grange Focus Area, which includes the Shopping Centre. HDC is seeking an aspirational approach to the redevelopment of Hartlepool Town Centre and requires a holistic approach to whole town mixed-use regeneration to deliver a sustainable town and community for the future. We expect this piece of work to report back to the board in due course.
On behalf of HDC, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is the agent responsible for the management of the centre. As such, enquiries will be dealt with by JLL.
If you are interested in learning more about Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, please visit the website. For leasing enquiries and other information, please follow the directions outlined on the website.
The managing agents aim to acknowledge your enquiry as soon as possible.
For more information about the development corporations, including planning information, follow the key links:
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