Council and business leaders in North East Lincolnshire have today (27 November 2017) welcomed the go ahead from central government to pilot the Greater Grimsby Town Deal.
The announcement to kick start the ambitious proposals was included in the government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper published by Business Secretary Greg Clark.
Cllr Ray Oxby, leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said:
“We pitched an ambitious plan to central government that showed them who we are and what we can do.
“Greater Grimsby has the capacity to accomplish so much more that it has and by bringing together key people with shared aspirations we can work with the community to build a prosperous future for our town.
“A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work to put us where we are today and my thanks goes to each and everyone one of them.
“Now the real work begins and we start a new era in the history of our area that will see the local community working with people from the public sector, from industry, from central government and others to grow Greater Grimsby and realise its full potential.
“The enormity of today’s announcement is potentially huge, not just for North East Lincolnshire but for other areas who I’m sure will be using our model as a way of building a new working relationship with central government.”
For the last 12 months the Council has been working hard behind the scenes with senior civil servants and overseen by a Board of highly regarded and influential individuals, including David Ross and Lord Kerslake and supported by Engie, ABP and Ørsted (previously known as DONG Energy) at the very highest levels of their UK organisation.
Local MPs Melanie Onn and Martin Vickers have also shown great support and are strong advocates for the innovative approach.
Greater Grimsby Board chairman David Ross added:
“News of the Town Deal being included in the Government’s Industrial Strategy is very encouraging and we look forward to continuing our discussions with Westminster and all the partners involved over the next few months to move our ambitions forward to the next stages.
“We believe these are exciting plans for Grimsby and the Government’s support for our approach shows they share the Board’s aspirations of bringing the private and public sectors together to deliver real change for an area.”
Dafydd Williams, Head of Communications – Humber at Associated British Ports (ABP), said:
“The Grimsby Town Deal is a fantastic example of how the public and private sector working together has the potential to transform the economic outlook for an area. It’s great that the Industrial Strategy has recognised this and ABP are looking forward to playing our part in bringing growth to the Port of Grimsby.”
The White Paper states:
“Towns should be able to demonstrate that they can work collaboratively with local business and civic leaders to develop innovative solutions and attract private investment. We are working with a range of local partners to explore new approaches, including on a pilot Town Deal with Grimsby.
“Grimsby is looking to a new economic future as it adapts to industrial change. There are strong prospects in the energy industry – the Port of Grimsby is increasingly seen as a destination of choice for offshore wind and operations maintenance – and in port related logistics and manufacturing, chemicals/petrochemicals and food processing.
“The Greater Grimsby Partnership Board is developing a new approach to regeneration that will be taken forward by public and private sector partners to revitalise the town centre, increase skill levels and create new jobs and housing.”
Greater Grimsby Town Deal
The aims of the Greater Grimsby Town Deal over the next 10 years are clear:
- To grow the local economy by more than £216-million per year
- Create up to 5,400 jobs across the Enterprise Zones and other key employment sites
- Build 7,700 new homes
- Increase North East Lincolnshire’s contribution to UK plc
- Transform the ‘place offer’ through the development of a new higher education presence, waterfront housing, cultural and leisure facilities through the redevelopment of historic sites including the Silo at Victoria Mills and the Kasbah Conservation Area at the Port of Grimsby.
The Greater Grimsby Town Deal features on page 226 of the Industrial Strategy White Paper .
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