OF all the individual projects presently taking shape on the Darlington landscape, it is no exaggeration to say that Central Park will be the most critical to the town's prosperity over the coming years.
The scheme has been announced at a time when Darlington's star is on the rise in the eyes of private investors, whose millions can raise the town's profile still further.
The town is at the centre of one of the country's finest transport infrastructures, sited on the East Coast Main Line, close to the A1 and A66, and a stone's throw from the blossoming Durham Tees Valley Airport.
Halfway between Edinburgh and London, it has been marketed as a national hub in recent years, with considerable success.
The £75m West Park scheme is already well under way, creating a complete community of 700 homes and associated facilities in the edge-of-town Faverdale area over the next decade.
That is complemented by the nearby Faverdale East Business Park project, the development of an 86-acre site that arose from economic studies suggesting a need for more industrial space in Darlington.
It is expected to provide the capacity for 1,500 new jobs and already has Argos confirmed as a flagship tenant, creating 700 posts at a large distribution centre.
Morton Palms, by the edge of the A66, further enhances Darlington's reputation as a thriving commercial location.
About 2,000 jobs will be created by the building of office blocks that could lead to £17m worth of private investment.
The first two buildings, offering a total of 71,000sq ft of space to let, are now close to completion on a business park seen as vital to Darlington's claim to be the "gateway to the Tees Valley".
All of this has placed Darlington firmly on the map as a centre of regional and national repute.
But Central Park could raise the bar even higher.
The area provides the first impression of Darlington for countless visitors by car and train every day - and, at present, it is hardly the most welcoming of sights.
But Tees Valley Regeneration (TVR) has vowed that the architecture and landscape of the sprawling new development will be both bold and imaginative.
TVR investment director Neil Etherington said: "This master plan is the minimum we would put up with. We want to go beyond what's been done before in terms of style and design.
"Central Park genuinely will be the gateway to Darlington and the Tees Valley. The real challenge will be to get the big tenants in.
"A lot of companies are now saying Darlington is the most attractive location in the region. There has never been an opportunity to undertake a development of this scale, close to the town centre."
Project director Neil Graham said: "This builds on a lot of work Darlington has been doing over the past year."
TVR is also keen to promote Central Park as an extension of the town centre, an area which has had its fair share of problems in recent times.
The withdrawal of the St Martin's property group from the £90m Queen Street/Commercial Street site was a major setback, following on from the scrapping of a multi-screen cinema complex, and continuing uncertainty over the Feethams football ground land.
But civic and business leaders are hailing Central Park as a shot in the arm - and potentially the final piece in the regeneration jigsaw.
Darlington Partnership chairman Alasdair MacConachie said: "It is fantastic for Darlington from the perspective that people now have the confidence to invest in the town.
"Developments like this and West Park suggest there is a large degree of confidence in Darlington.
"I think everybody is very enthusiastic about this and the private sector has welcomed it big time."
Darlington Borough Council leader John Williams said: "The Haughton Road project is an important element of the Darlington gateway scheme. "Along with the ongoing developments at Morton Palms and Faverdale, it will help to create thousands of jobs.
"It will also help to generate hundreds of millions of pounds of inward investment that will benefit not just Darlington, but the whole of the Tees Valley."
Darlington College of Technology's relocation to the site, in a £33m move, is also a key element of Central Park.
It opens its doors to the learning public in September 2006, offering a vast campus that includes a technology centre, media centre, food court, restaurant, childcare facilities and sports complex.
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