Houchen in row over electric steel furnace delays on Teesside

Councillor Dr Tristan Learoyd claimed Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, his chief executive Julie Gilhespie, Martin Corney, a joint venture partner at Teesworks and its CEO, and a representative of Lichfields, the agent representing applicant British Steel, had all called the local planning authority to request the matter be heard at a meeting in March, which would be a “deviation from proper process”.

Cllr Learoyd, who chairs Redcar and Cleveland Council’s planning committee, said councillors would not have sufficient time to consider the plans and claimed Mr Houchen was attempting to avoid the start of the pre-election ‘purdah’ period on March 19 – which places restrictions on publicity – in order that he could campaign on his previous pledge to bring steelmaking back to Teesside.

Mr Houchen, who is seeking re-election in May, said “every day counts” and a delay could place investment in the project at Lackenby, which will use green technology to melt scrap and produce new steel, at risk.

An amended proposal, which seeks to increase the ‘electric arc’ facility’s capacity to 130 tonnes, was submitted to the council earlier this year.

Cllr Learoyd said this had pushed back a required consultation period, missing the cut off for a scheduled meeting on March 7.

Lichfields has disputed this and the suggestion of deviation from the statutory planning process and stated the expiry date of the consultation is March 3, four days before the meeting and it was always intended to be heard then.

Mr Houchen and Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Sir Simon Clarke have written a joint letter to the council’s managing director John Sampson and refer to their “strongly held view” that there is nothing to prevent the application being heard on March 7 and it should be listed on the agenda with a “minded to grant” recommendation, no objections having been received to date from all key consultees. 

The letter said: “We both believe it is in the wider interest of Teesside that no time should be lost unnecessarily in delivering the next stage of our industrial renewal.”

Cllr Learoyd, who had requested the application be considered by his committee rather than determined under officers’ delegated powers, said the applicant itself had not asked for a change in the timeline with a planning officer being told verbally it was working towards April 3 as the decision date – the date of the next meeting due to be held.

The councillor highlighted a recommendation from the recent Teesworks independent review which said there should be “appropriate oversight” by scrutiny committees into decisions being made by Mr Houchen’s combined authority.

He also drew a parallel with previous claims – addressed in the review report – of pressure being put on the council by TVCA to instruct a contractor for roundabout works on a new South Bank link road connecting to Teesworks.

Cllr Learoyd said: “You have pressure being put on RCBC to make a decision.

“They are talking about jobs at being risk, but nothing puts more jobs at risk than deviation from proper process.

“They can’t have the meeting on the 7th, it’s not feasible, the paperwork won’t be ready, it just shows a complete lack of understanding of planning process.

“National guidance says there should be ten days consideration from the release of the papers until decision.

“This is obviously because Ben Houchen wants to campaign on it and I say ‘I’ve brought steelmaking back’.”

‘Reckless attitude’

Cllr Learoyd said it appeared to be “more political interference than business need” and Mr Houchen had a “reckless attitude” towards regulatory matters and wanted to “reduce prying eyes”.

Tees Valley Mayor Mr Houchen said: “The people of Teesside were royally let down by politicians of all sides when the [Redcar] steelworks closed in 2015.

“I won’t let the same thing happen again on my watch and we should all be working together to move heaven and earth to get steelmaking back to Teesside as quickly as possible – every day counts.

“This investment is worth hundreds of millions of pounds, it will see hundreds of new good-quality, well-paid steel jobs return for local people and provide millions of pounds in business rates for the council to fund local services.

“There are no legal or procedural reasons why this planning application should be delayed.

“We’ve worked hard over the last three years to bring steelmaking back to Teesside, I find it astonishing that the council have not learnt from past mistakes with a delay putting at risk this investment and the implementation of a new steel plant on Teesside when there are no valid legal or procedural reasons for that delay.”

Mr Clarke, who has labelled Cllr Learoyd as “rather self-satisfied”, said: “In our letter to the council last week, Ben Houchen and I set out why we believe it is perfectly possible for the council to make a determination on this vital planning application in March – ideally at the committee meeting on 7 March – but if needs be at a special meeting shortly thereafter.

“One of the key considerations that prompted British Steel to choose Teesside for its new electric arc furnace was our ability to deliver this project at speed.  

“There have been precisely zero objections to this proposal from the statutory consultees and the steel plant would be built on Teesworks – the site of the former steelworks.  

“We need to show enterprise and initiative here to deliver this vital project as swiftly as possible.”

A motion has also been submitted to a meeting of the full council by Councillor Paul Salvin, the leader of the Conservative group on the council, in support of the application being heard on March 7.

A council spokeswoman  said: “We can confirm that we have been contacted by Teesworks, Tees Valley Combined Authority and the applicant’s agent Lichfields querying when the application will be heard at regulatory committee.

“Statutorily, the application can be determined on 3rd April 2024, however the applicant’s agent wishes to have this determined at an earlier stage.

“We’re going through the usual planning process and a decision will be made when the application will be heard.

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“We are all keen to bring steelmaking back to Teesside.” 

Plans unveiled last year envisaged a vast structure which would be more than 64 metres tall and 34,000 square metres in size with the furnace joining British Steel’s Teesside Beam Mill at Lackenby and the Special Profiles Mill, at Skinningrove, which both process steel for industrial uses.

The furnace will generate heat from an electric arc between electrodes, in contrast to a traditional blast furnace which use coke to supply the large amount of energy needed.