Scarborough’s Enterprise Zone bid
Scarborough Business Park could become one of the Government’s
flagship Enterprise Zones under proposals being put forward by the
borough council.
Regeneration chiefs at the local authority, backed by business
leaders in the town and MP Robert Goodwill, have entered a North
Yorkshire bidding process, against other propositions from across
the county.
Only one of the bids can be selected to go forward by the York
and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and achieve
Enterprise Zone status.
However, the council’s Head of Regeneration and Planning,
Pauline Elliott, believes the case put forward for the business
park is strong and is calling on the town’s residents and business
community to unite behind it.
“This bid represents a tremendous chance of safeguarding
existing jobs and securing new quality jobs in Scarborough,
especially in advanced manufacturing.” she said.
“It will also enable us to be in the strongest possible position
to maximise inward investment from the offshore wind industry and
the proposed potash mine.
“We believe we have a very robust bid and can demonstrate the
enormous value an Enterprise Zone designation would bring to the
borough and we would very much like the support of people and
business leaders in Scarborough as we take this forward.”
With 175 hectares the Scarborough Business Park is the largest
in North Yorkshire and is already home to more than 100 businesses
including world leaders McCain Foods (GB) Ltd, Plaxton Limited, UPM
Raflatac Ltd, Pindar PLC and Legrand Electric Limited.
In recent years the council has worked with Caddick Developments
to invest a further £10 million of public and private funding to
fully service an additional 50 hectares of land, complete with next
generation broadband. There is also 15 hectares of unserviced land
allocated for business use in the local plan and 23 hectares
proposed for allocation in the new Local Development Framework.
This 88 hectare “land bank” is seen as a key platform for the
economic future of Scarborough and North Yorkshire.
The council believes the award of Enterprise Zone status, which
brings increased business rate relief and a relaxed planning
regime, should accelerate investment in the business park, creating
and safeguarding thousands of local jobs and delivering a massive
boost to the Scarborough economy.