Stantec appointed to progress Tees Valley’s spatial development strategy
The strategy will provide a long-term framework for development across the region, covering housing, strategic infrastructure, economic growth, and environmental priorities over a period of at least 20 years.
The emerging strategy will also consider local housing needs and the regeneration of former industrial sites.
Stantec will act as lead consultant within a wider team that includes urban planning and design firm Prior + Partners, commercial property adviser Montagu Evans, strategic planning specialist Richard Wood Associates, and PR company Camargue, in one of the earliest formal commissions of a spatial development strategy in England.
Prior + Partners will support the digital plan-making approach, while the wider team will provide expertise in stakeholder engagement, commercial property, and strategic planning.
The strategy will be developed through an engagement programme with communities and other stakeholders across the region. Outputs will be made publicly available, with the team aiming to present planning issues in an accessible format to encourage wider participation.
Stantec said its work would draw on expertise across planning, economics, transport, utilities, climate change, and environmental assessment.
The strategy will also consider infrastructure requirements alongside environmental issues, including habitat regulations and strategic environmental considerations.
The appointment comes as spatial development strategies are being established across England as a new layer of strategic planning intended to help regions coordinate housing, infrastructure and economic growth.
Nancy MacDonald, regional business leader for infrastructure in the UK and Ireland at Stantec, said: “The Tees Valley presents a distinctive set of opportunities and challenges, and this strategy will support the region’s economic transition. We’ll focus on accelerating key growth areas such as advanced manufacturing, energy, and emerging digital sectors.
“Our team understands the importance of this opportunity to shape the future of the region but also the need to bring local people with us on this journey.
“We want to make sure this plan takes advantage of new industries, connects its communities so they can really thrive, and is able to pair housing provision with aspirational economic development goals.
“We are all incredibly excited to demonstrate our people-focused approach to strategic planning and positive community development with this SDS.”
