Stantec appointed to write Tees Valley's 20-year spatial development strategy
Engineering and environmental consultancy Stantec has been appointed by Tees Valley Combined Authority to lead the region's new spatial development strategy, one of the first to be commissioned in England.
The strategy will set a long-term framework of at least 20 years for housing, strategic infrastructure, economic growth and environmental priorities across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool. It will sit above local plans and is intended to coordinate how and where development is delivered.
Who is on the team
Stantec will act as lead consultant alongside urban planning and design firm Prior + Partners, commercial property adviser Montagu Evans, strategic planning specialist Richard Wood Associates and communications consultancy Camargue. Prior + Partners will support a digital plan-making approach, and Stantec's Darlington office will handle collaboration with regional parties.
Nancy MacDonald, regional business leader for infrastructure at Stantec UK and Ireland, said the Tees Valley presented "a distinctive set of opportunities and challenges" and that the strategy would support the region's economic transition, with a focus on accelerating advanced manufacturing, energy and emerging digital sectors.
The strategy will consider local housing needs, the regeneration of former industrial sites, and infrastructure requirements alongside environmental issues including habitat regulations. It will be developed through a public engagement programme, with outputs published in an accessible format.
Why builders should pay attention
Strategy documents rarely feel urgent on site, but this one shapes the pipeline. It will identify priority growth areas, which in turn influences where housing allocations land and which brownfield sites get unlocked over the next two decades. That feeds directly into workload for local building and groundworks firms long after the current wave of approvals in Stockton, Wynyard and East Cleveland has been built out.
It also arrives alongside the £33.3m brownfield housing package approved by the combined authority earlier this month, aimed at unlocking more than 1,000 homes on brownfield land.
The engagement programme is the practical point of entry. Contractors, suppliers and trade businesses across the Teesside trade base have a direct interest in where employment land and housing sites are earmarked, and consultation is the cheapest chance to influence it.