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THE importance of embracing the Greater Grimsby Town Deal has been underlined by North East Lincolnshire Council’s chief executive, telling a business audience how now is the time to shine as the first of a targeted 100 areas.

Explaining how much of the work on the £88 million project will be for the long term, he used the opportunity presented by the third anniversary of a sponsored support organisation to explain the “four limbs” of the framework signed off 16 months ago.

Telling how a local authority’s role had changed in recent years, from provider to enabler, he said the journey to being the exemplar of a new format of a relationship with government was to “raise the profile, facilitate and build relationships and get down to Westminster and say ‘do you know this place exists’.”

“That’s the fundamental basis of it,” he said. “It is about an area where there is opportunity to do great things on the back of our location.”

Using the green agenda, led by offshore wind – with the town recently securing a commitment for a centre of excellence in operations and maintenance – Grimsby has secured easier access to funding streams, with projects brought together to make an appealing case.

 

Mr Walsh said: “There are four limbs, the driving of economic growth – the South Humber Industrial Investment Partnership, the enterprise zones at Stallingborough and plans for advanced manufacturing and energy opportunities, and a massive opportunity in business rate return for the area.

“Skills and education – we need to encourage as many of our young people as possible to stay, and give adults who want to retrain, or raise skills, the ability to do that. We are talking to University of Lincoln and Grimsby Institute too, to secure University of Lincoln a place in the area at some point in the future. Skills and education is a big limb.

“Young people. We have the Youth Zone - it is happening, a good thing, a big thing – then there is town centre and port regeneration, and that’s important too.”