Another ecological disaster is occuring in Teesside. It can be difficult to keep track of the widespread environmental vandalism caused by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) and its business associates. But the scale of the Redcar P+R devastation is particularly sudden and stark.
The greatest hits of the TVCA demolition men
First, a quick run-through of recent eco-disasters brought to you by the same vandals:
- Excessive dredging of the River Tees at South Bank Quay, followed by a crustacean die-off.
- Reckless demolition of steel plants such as the Dorman Long Tower, Redcar Blast Furnace and Lackenby BOS plant.
- The mass destruction of forestry at Wynyard. In a bitter irony, the nearby Castle Eden Walkway has been renamed Wynyard Woodland Park.
- Construction of a garden village next to Flatts Lane Country Park in Normanby.
- As above, but on a larger scale, at Skerningham Woods in Darlington, including illegal dredging of the River Skerne. See here.
- The destruction of lowland meadow to build a pointless road south of Teesside Airport for property developers Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney.
Where will the Redcar P+R be located?
The P+R will be situated next to Steel House, the former regional headquarters of the British Steel Corporation, on the Trunk Road in Redcar. The construction site occupies the western extremity of Coatham Marsh. The eastern part of Coatham Marsh is a nature reserve, classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). However, the P+R is located just outside of the SSSI.
Rejected planning application
The planning application was, correctly, rejected the first time around in February 2023. This was despite the usual aggression from the Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council officers. Their ethos is ‘growth at any price’ as evidenced from their recent attempt to railroad through a hazardous waste incinerator in Grangetown.
Retrospective planning permission? Or not, as the case may be
However, Teesworks wasn’t going to allow a pesky detail such as planning permission to get in their way. They’d already started razing the site months earlier, as reported in North East Bylines.
Coming Around Again
And the rejection of the planning application of the P+R only lasted a couple of weeks before RCBC okayed it.
Build it and they will come
Always a weak justification for a major infrastructure project. And the justification for Redcar Park + Ride is non-existent.
What about the workers?
After my visit to Coatham Marsh in February, I discussed Ben Houchen’s ludicrous plans for autonomous pods to transport workers between the P+R and various Teesworks factories. These include SeAH Wind, about six miles away. You can read how I debunked that nonsense here. Ben Houchen and the TVCA have relentlessly claimed that 20,000 people will work at Teesworks. It will never get anywhere close to that.
Put another record on
For example, Houchen constantly claims that 1,000 people will work at Net Zero Teesside (NZT) power plant. But recent research by Tees Valley Monitor has revealed that a similar plant in Pembrokeshire runs on just 30 people. It is not known how many of the 30 new employees at Net Zero Power (if it is ever built) will use Redcar P+R.
Grandiosity
Remember, though, that the NZT power plant is the baby brother of the NZT carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) project. 4,000 jobs there, according to several hundred press releases over the past five years. But the CCUS plant, just like the power station, would be a state-of-the-art facility, and would probably need a similar number of operatives to run it. The Teesworks propaganda merchants will argue that all 5,000 jobs are just related to the construction phase. But, if that’s the case, you wouldn’t waste millions on a permanent £7mn P+R facility just to take care of temporary construction workers. Oh, and CCUS is a complete fantasy.
Costa del Redcar
But there’ll be holidaymakers too, right? Nobody has explained why visitors would want to park their cars in the middle of nowhere if they wished to spend their day at Redcar beach, for example. Visitors would take a shuttle bus to the town centre, or enjoy a two mile stroll along the Trunk Road. Flip-flops optional. Redcar Racecourse? That’s an hour away. Enjoy. But if you’ve driven ten miles from Middlesbrough, why faff about with the P+R? Why not just stay in the car for another two minutes and park on the esplanade?
The calm before the storm
But don’t let logic get in the way when you want to hand out public money to construction industry cronies. I visited the site in March 2024, and was surprised to discover a quagmire. This was on land that had previously evolved into open mosaic habitat after remaining undisturbed for more than six decades. The mayhem continued, largely hidden behind a screen of trees along the Trunk Road. Few people were aware of it, apart from a handful of dog walkers who used to frequent this, the remotest part of Coatham Marsh.
I feel the earth move
When I returned to the marsh in February 2025, it became apparent that work was continuing on the periphery of the P+R site. But contractors hadn’t started on the road that would connect the site to the public road. All was relatively calm.
Shock and awe
Until a few weeks ago, that is. The earth-movers rolled in, the chain-saws and the flails started operating, and a 200-metre stretch of woodland had vanished within a few days. Local Dormanstown residents were surprised by the devastation. A recent run of dry weather has contributed to dust clouds. Recent grass fires on Coatham Marsh have contributed to the grimness of the scene. But this is weather-related, and isn’t caused by the construction of the P+R.
A drone’s eye view
I decided to visit the site on 14 April 2025, along with environmental campaigner ‘Grecko’. Grecko specialises in drone operations, and he flew one of his drones about the site. We finally got to view the appalling extent of the devastation. You can view Grecko’s YouTube video of this flight here.
Fly tipping?
The construction site is supposed to be secure, but this still from Grecko’s video shows that two of the four original Steel House car parks appear to be in use as temporary landfill sites, including a used-tyre dump. These don’t appear on Google Maps, and are recent developments.
Bob the Builder
The remaining two former car parks have been converted into temporary construction compounds. A recent change to planning conditions has revealed that these are now intended to form part of the new P+R.
The Hexagon
Steel House’s distinctive design can be seen below. The architects created a large artificial lake next to the building, surrounded by woodland. These are still in place. However, this site has never been open to the public.
A day in the life of a tree
The right-hand side of this photo shows where a 200-metre hedge has been removed to permit the creation of slip road entries and exits to the P+R site.
Tees Valley Wildlife Trust (TVWT)
I’ve mentioned above that most of Coatham Marsh is a nature reserve, a SSSI managed by the TVWT. But arbitrary lines on a map can’t disguise the fact that a large portion of Coatham Marsh has been lost forever. I’ve contacted the TVWT so ask what they make of the damage being wrought on their doorstep. I’ve included a map of the SSSI below. It’s important to note that this map doesn’t include the Redcar P+R. That’s to the west of the coloured area.
Mapping Coatham Marsh
According to this map from the ‘Environment and Biodiversity strategy’ created by Teesworks’ planning partners Lichfields, the marsh seems to have been converted into a zone for extracting cash payments from the government in the form of ‘Biodiversity Units’ (BDU’s):
Time for an update
However, the biodiversity strategy hasn’t been updated since it was produced five years ago. It would be useful for Teessiders to be given a progress report, in order to discover what is being done at Coatham Marsh. We’d like to know, for example, if the TVWT, or any Teesworks Limited entities, have been paid for these biodiversity enhancements. And, if so, how much.
Biodiversity net ‘gain’
Earth-moving vehicles have recently been seen in this part of the marsh. This may be in connection with ‘uplifting’ of grassland. The uplifting stops abruptly at the Redcar Park + Ride site, obviously. As soon as the ‘enhancement’ has been completed, this should create credits which can be sold on to builders who can’t create a ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ (BNG) in their own developments. In other words, this could be a complete racket. The complete Lichfields strategy can be found in ‘Further reading’ at the end of this article.
White elephant
Redcar P+R is due to be completed by the end of 2025. So when the dust settles, and the new tarmac glistens, we’ll know whether it’s all been worthwhile. I very much doubt it. Next to the site, a section of the former Trunk Road lies abandoned. The road was re-routed in the early 1950s as part of the construction of nearby ICI Wilton. The tarmac is being reclaimed by nature, with lichen, moss and grasses slowly reclaiming it. A birch tree has sprouted through a crack in the road. The same fate awaits Redcar P+R.
Thanks to James Waterson for providing additional research for this article.
Further Reading
Environment and Biodiversity Strategy by Lichfields
