End of the line for £70m arena proposal

'TRANSFORMATIVE' PROJECT COULD NOT FIND THE REQUIRED INVESTMENT

- By STUART ARNOLD Reporter

AMBITIOUS plans for a new 5,000 seater arena on the site of the former Coatham / Redcar Bowl have ended in failure.

Redcar and Cleveland Council had granted Coatham Arena Limited (CAL), formed by a group of local businessmen, a six-month extension to take up a 125-year lease on the land.

But it has emerged the option expired earlier this month with the council not offering a further extension.

The plans hinged on a successful financing of the likely multi-million pound project and would have also required a successful planning application, neither of which materialised.

CAL had latterly hoped a financial stake in the project would be forthcoming from the council, or possibly the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

In a statement it said "without that ... private investors are unwilling to take on the full financial risk during the planning stage of a project unsupported locally in the short term".

The council could look to still develop the vacant, overgrown land - which exists largely as a green buffer between nearby homes and Majuba Road - as part of a continued regeneration of Coatham and the coastal area.

Earlier this year, council leader Alec Brown was asked at a meeting to provide an update on the status of the project and what the local authority had been doing to assist.