A cross-party group of MPs from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, including Sarah Dines MP have united behind local government and businesses to call for the creation of a Freeport in the East Midlands.
The group have been working alongside the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership to develop and promote the bid, which has the potential to generate 60,000 new skilled jobs for the region and become the beating heart of the UK’s clean growth ambition.
The MPs have worked together to create a video which accompanies the bid. This can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HkEg4VcDRNnYrwBd9QOEmCCdAgsA6NzB/view?usp=drivesdk
The bid centres on three main sites:
- The East Midlands Airport Gateway and Industrial Cluster (EMAGIC), located around the UK’s largest freight airport at East Midlands Airport.
- Uniper’s site at Ratcliffe on Soar, where the existing coal-fired power station will be decommissioned and replaced with a zero-carbon technology and energy hub.
- The East Midlands Intermodal Park (EMIP), which will become a next-generation, rail-connected business park with links to the rest of the country and beyond.
An East Midlands Freeport would enjoy the unique intersection of air, rail and road connectivity, with excellent links to major deep-sea ports elsewhere in the country. If successful, the bid will play a key role in the levelling-up of the region, with the economic, environmental and employment benefits shared far beyond the freeport site.
With the future ambition of the Development Corporation to lead growth and regeneration in the region, ‘Made in the East Midlands’ can become the hallmark of advanced manufacturing and green technology for decades to come.
Sarah Dines said:
“This bid would deliver the UK’s best connected and greenest freeport in the heart of the East Midlands. It is backed by local businesses and our six leading universities in our region. It would bring investment and jobs to people in Derbyshire Dales and will allow us to embrace the opportunities of Global Britain whilst turbo-charging our recovery from the pandemic in Derbyshire Dales and the whole of the East Midlands. It will support our region by creating over 60,000 jobs and bolster our businesses by improving their export opportunities. This bid is a vote of confidence in our communities, and if successful, will help level-up the heart of our country and ensure the East Midlands leads the way in a global, and greener, Britain. The East Midlands Freeport bid is a superb collaboration, bringing together local economic and Parliamentary stakeholders to champion a better economic future for our region and I am delighted to have worked with so many of my colleagues to back this bid.
If you follow my work as an MP you will know that I am passionate about bringing more skilled jobs to Derbyshire Dales and levelling up our area, which traditionally sometimes feels left behind. The Freeport bid is a brilliant step in the right direction. I am passionate about seeing this bid come to fruition as I truly feel it will benefit our businesses and workers in Derbyshire Dales.’
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