Up to £17.5 million could be made available to help build Derby’s new SmartParc food production campus, which could bring 5,000 jobs to the city.
Plans are well advanced to create the £300 million food manufacturing and distribution park on the former Celanese site, near the city centre.
The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership has already allocated a provisional £12 million from the Government’s Getting Building Fund.
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Derby City Council’s cabinet is now being asked to present a full business case to the LEP to secure that funding and provide up to £5.5 million more.
SmartParc’s revolutionary approach will bring food producers together to cluster knowledge and investment – reducing food waste, lowering carbon outputs, and increasing 海角视频 food security.
The 1.8 million sq ft site could provide manufacturing facilities, start-up units and a potential location for a Food Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence.
The campus would include a shared power plant, using renewable sources and designed to reduce energy consumption, and would harness the latest technology, such as vertical farming, to improve production and efficiency.
A report to the Council’s Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, March 10, says the development has the potential to create up to 5,000 jobs and boost the local economy by between £250 million and £300 million over 10 en years.
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The council says: “It would transform a 112-acre brownfield, contaminated site and would support key aims of the city’s coronavirus economic recovery strategy, which is centred on creating business and investor confidence, diversifying the economy, and decarbonising.
“It is also in line with the 海角视频 Industrial Strategy and aligned with the D2N2’s Recovery and Growth Strategy, which identifies food and drink manufacturing as a key investment priority for the region.
“A key part of Derby’s economic recovery is tied to instilling confidence for the business community to make investment within our city.
“The delivery of a scheme of this nature and scope, which will improve our city’s resilience, will act as a great confidence boost to those businesses and investors seeking to generate opportunities within the city.”
Derby City Council leader Coun Chris Poulter said: “The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted that whilst the city has a strength in the advanced manufacturing sector, our reliance upon this is a risk when external factors threaten this sector.
“The investment in SmartParc will support the diversification and resilience of Derby’s economy.
D2N2 chief executive Sajeeda Rose said: “We want our region to build back better, bigger and faster to fuel a green economic recovery.
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“Subject to the approval of the final business case, the D2N2 LEP’s £12 million investment, through the Government’s Getting Building Fund, will support the creation of a world-leading sustainable food-manufacturing facility that will deliver pioneering innovation, create thousands of jobs and transform the local economy.”
Paul Old, chief operating officer at SmartParc said: “We are delighted with the progress we have made to date in realising the SmartParc opportunity for the City of Derby.
“This funding will enable us to make a real difference to the way our food is produced in the 海角视频.
“While the country emerges from the pandemic in the coming year, SmartParc will ensure the region and the city is in the best possible position to maximise its potential, attract new investment and create new jobs.”
SmartParc has agreed to purchase the site from Texas-based Celanese, subject to the securing of planning permission and an implementable development plan.
A hybrid planning application has already been submitted, with a decision expected in April.
It is hoped that work can commence on the site during the summer, with phase one construction scheduled to begin before the end of the year.