Rutland to Benefit from Enterprise Zone
Rutland is to benefit from an Enterprise Zone, which has recently been announced for Alconbury, Cambridgeshire.
Part of the Alconbury Airfield site has been selected by the Government as one of the new wave of ten Enterprise Zones. The Enterprise Zone proposal for Alconbury is designed to encourage investment, attract innovative companies and create around 8,000 jobs.
The new Enterprise Zone will allow money that comes back in from Business Rates to be spent on economic priorities in the LEP area, which includes Rutland.
Deputy Leader and LEP Board Member for Rutland, councillor Terry King said: “This is really good news for the LEP and for Rutland. The creation of the enterprise Zone in Alconbury will potentially bring millions of pounds into the LEP area, which will be spent in the area rather than going to Central Government. This will mean that Rutland will potentially have access to funding to help economic growth in the area.
Terry King added: “Considering the loss of Ashwell Prison and the closure of RAF Cottesmore, this news has come at an ideal time for Rutland and I hope that we will be able to provide good businesses cases to access the funding to help generate growth in areas which have recently suffered during the economic downturn.”
The proposal was submitted to Government in June by the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and put Alconbury in competition with other Local Enterprise Partnership proposals from across the country. The 10 successful national winners, including Alconbury, Humber Estuary Renewable Energy Super Cluster, Daresbury Science Campus in Warrington, Newquay AeroHub in Cornwall, the Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus Airfield in Gosport, MIRA Technology Park in Hinckley Leicestershire, Rotherwas Enterprise Zone in Hereford, Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent and Enterprise West Essex in Harlow, Science Vale UK in Oxfordshire, Northampton Waterside, and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Lowestoft in Suffolk were announced today.
Neville Reyner CBE DL, Chair of the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded an Enterprise Zone at Alconbury Airfield by the Government. This is a significant first big win for our Local Enterprise Partnership that we believe will help to drive growth across the whole of our LEP area, and generate significant benefits for the country as a whole. We will now be working in close partnership with the landowners/developers Urban & Civic, with Huntingdonshire District Council and with Cambridgeshire County Council to make this proposal become a reality.”
The Enterprise Zone will not only bring benefits for Huntingfonshire, the uplift in Business Rates income will be retained within the Local Enterprise partnership area for 25 years, rather than this income going to the Treasury as happens today. This means millions of pounds of additional income will be available to help fund projects across the whole of the Local Enterprise partnership area, which the Board of the LEP will agree.
The Alconbury Enterprise Zone will cover 150 hectares of the whole 575 hectares site and will offer a vibrant mixture of employment uses. The Enterprise Zone will bring a number of benefits to the LEP area, including: 100 per cent business rate discount worth up to £275,000 over a five year period for every business that moves into the site; all business rates growth within the zone for a period of at least 25 years will be retained and shared by the local authorities in the LEP area to support their economic priorities; government and local authority help to develop the planning approaches in the zone; and government support to ensure superfast broadband is rolled out.
Going forward the Enterprise Zone is conditional upon the council putting in place a simplified approach to planning, known as a Local Development Order. A Local Development Order grants planning permission for the type of development specified in the order, and by doing so, removes the need for a specific planning application to be made by the developer. This process will allow the council to shape the area with consideration for what will genuinely benefit growth and attract private sector investment to the Enterprise Zone.
Huntingdonshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership have worked closely with developers Urban & Civic throughout the process and will continue to do so to bring high-quality jobs to the area and to lead its development into the future.
Further information about the LEP:
1. The Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP area covers:
– Cambridgeshire
– Peterborough
– Rutland
– King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
– Forest Heath
– St Edmundsbury
– Uttlesford
– North Hertfordshire
2. Budget 2011 announced that Government would establish 21 new Enterprise Zones in local enterprise partnership areas in England. The Budget named the first 11 local enterprise partnerships that would benefit from the Zones. A competition for a further 10 Enterprise Zones in the remaining LEP areas was also announced. The GCGP bid will be part of this competition.
3. The uplift in Business Rates income will be held locally to use on economic growth related projects, as determined by the LEP Board.
4. Twitter hashtag #AlconburyEZ – follow us @YourLEP.
5. More information at: www.yourlocalenterprisepartnership.co.uk/tor
