The DOE is launching three new enterprise zones, three years after the government promised aid to the areas devastated by its pit closure programme. Catherine Wheatley reports.
Almost 600 acres (239ha) of land on the sites of former collieries in Durham and Yorkshire, and a further 225 acres (91ha) near the Swan Hunter shipyard in North Tyneside, have been designated.
The move is expected to excite a good deal of interest among companies which manage tax-driven investment vehicles. Funds bought more than £97m worth of EZ properties in the year to April, attracted by the 100% capital allowances on offer.
“We believe the funding market is strong . . . Johnson Fry for one is keen to back good-quality developments in the new zones,” said Michael Brodtman, St Quintin partner for EZ investment.
The goverment created EZs to encourage regeneration, but until this week’s announcement only four sites remained unexpired, in Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, Sunderland and Chatham.
This time, the government has banned retail development on EZ land, in line with PPG6, even though the MetroCentre and Meadowhall, two of the UK’s most successful shopping centres, were both EZ schemes.
Dearne Valley Partnership will manage the largest new EZ, which is divided into six plots around Cortonwood and Goldthorpe collieries in South Yorkshire. Each has planning permission for B1, B2 and B8 development. The Manvers site also has consent for office and hotel development.
East Durham Development Agency will promote a further six areas around Easington colliery, which have consent for industrial development. Two of the sites will not come on stream for two years.
A further 12 plots will be managed by North Tyneside council, all but three of which are on the north bank of the river, to the east of the A19. It is understood that full EZ designation should be completed by next March, although German manufacturer Siemens has already announced a £1.1bn scheme for a microchip plant on the site.
