'It's a different place to how it was in 2002' 2002 saw the launch of the Tees Pride campaign. It was also the year Joe Docherty, left, was named as new chief executive of Tees Valley Regeneration - the area's urban regeneration company. Today KAREN McLAUCHLAN asks him just how far Middlesbrough has come in the last seven years.

Byline: KAREN McLAUCHLAN

MIDDLESBROUGH of today is a world away from the town that existed when Tees Pride first launched.

It's also a very different place to the one Joe Docherty knew when he was named chief executive of the region's urban regeneration company the same year.

The then director of the urban and regional economic development unit with Barclays Bank took up the challenge and said his top priorities were "attracting investment for flagship development projects" and making Tees Valley's urban regeneration company "the most admired regeneration organisation in the world".

Today the TVR team is driving a pounds 2bn investment programme in land, property and infrastructure to deliver five core regeneration schemes; Middlehaven, NorthShore at Stockton, Darlington's Central Park, Victoria Harbour in Hartlepool and SKYLINK International Business Park at Durham Tees Valley Airport.

In Middlesbrough more work has been done at Middlehaven in the last few years than in the previous two decades.

The Middlehaven label was first attached to the redundant dockside site in 1986 - six years after planning chiefs decided the area was ripe for revival.

The concept of creating a "Little Venice" was put forward, but until a few years ago progress was almost non-existent.

Today the site is a hive of activity - with a new college, new homes being developed and new business.

Developer BioRegional Quintain is driving pounds 200m plans for the waterside site.

And there is much more to come.

"There is now an appetite for people to will Middlehaven to happen," said TVR boss Joe Docherty.

Delay and disappointment of the 1980s and 1990s has left a legacy of cynicism in some people when it comes to Middlehaven.

But Mr Docherty says opinion is changing.

"When we started people would say 'Middlehaven will never happen'. Now people can see something is happening there."

Work is under way on improving public space at Middlehaven - from roads and pavements to benches and lighting - in the area from the railway station to the development site.

Middlesbrough College is open with 10,000 students and 1,000 members of staff bringing the futuristic-looking building to life.

Developer Terrace Hill has completed its first office building at the site, and you can buy a new apartment in the eight storey CIAC (Community in a Cube) building at RiversideOne and the largest public art project in the world will begin at Middlehaven.

Temeros is part of the pounds 15m series of five huge and inspirational works from world-renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor to be built across the region to create the Tees Valley Giants.

Work is set to start next year on the piece.

"It will be a big statement piece for the site," said Mr Docherty.

"We have recently completed a public consultation and the overwhelming majority of comments have been positive."

He added: "Middlehaven is a 25 year project but we've already seen more than pounds 100m of investment.

"Six years ago the site was a desert - now the college is open with 1,000 people working there.

"BioRegional Quintain has started work on site and we have Terrace Hill's dockside offices.

"All this makes the area a more attractive place for others."

More development, investment and jobs are clearly in the pipeline at the site.

But Middlesbrough's regeneration is far more than just Middlehaven.

The town centre has seen the arrival of mima.

The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art is the centrepiece of a pounds 19.2m regeneration of Centre Square.

The town's retail offering continues to improve and grow as does Teesside University's Middlesbrough campus.

"The growth of Teesside University is such an important asset," added Mr Docherty.

"We've see the development of mima and Centre Square and people are now seeing what can be done - there is growing feeling of optimism."

While there's no getting away from the current economic gloom, Mr Docherty says the region's major regeneration plans remain on course.

"Middlehaven is a mixed-use project that will take 25 years to complete - during that time we'd expect to go through a couple of downward economic cycles. We've also mixed both public and private developments at our sites."

But what of the longer term?

Where will Middlehaven be in five years time?

"In the next five years we'll see critical mass of development at the site," said Mr Docherty.

"We'll have gone from people saving 'Middlehaven will never happen' to 'Middlehaven is happening'.

"I'd expect things to be dramatically different."

CAPTION(S):

600 children taking part in sporting activities in Middlesbrough's Central Square, with mima in the background; Middlehaven in 2002; Teesside University - an 'important asset'