Telford land deal creating jobs, homes and money for local economy, says council

Telford & Wrekin Council’s land deal with the agency is set to realise a further £17m gross land sales, close to 600 jobs and more than 300 new homes.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet, which meets on Thursday, will hear that over the course of the 10-year programme, the deal will see a total of £44.5m from the sale of Homes & Communities Agency owned land reinvested into the area.

This money will be brought back into the borough, supporting the homes, jobs and creating new business premises.

Over the next 12 months, investments through the a deal will see a new innovation park in Newport offering opportunities for start-ups and larger companies, which could create up to 950 new jobs.

It is also believed that deal will generate £3m in local profit share by the end of the current financial year, a cut of the profits from the sales that will go into new infrastructure and more opportunities for new companies.

The cabinet report says the deal has already seen the sale of eight commercial sites and seven sites for residential development in the first year of the deal. A further eight commercial sites and two residential sites are currently being negotiated.

Telford & Wrekin Council leader Shaun Davies said: “The land deal alongside our Enterprise Telford business pledge is driving a high number of enquiries and has meant sites coming forward even faster than originally envisaged.

“We are seeing significant interest from the automotive and advanced manufacturing sector due in part to the continued growth of Jaguar Land Rover and the strength of the existing supply chain in the borough with many resident companies expanding.

“Other related sectors that are active and expanding include food processing and agri-tech, with the Land Deal set to make a £1m investment alongside the government’s investment into delivering a new 10 hectare innovation park in Newport.”

Councillor Lee Carter, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for finance, commercial services and economic development, said: “Examples of businesses that have been investing in the borough include those at T54, our flagship automotive and advanced engineering employment site at Junction 4 of the M54.

“These include Magna International who are investing more than £80m in building a 250,000 sq m plant delivering 300 new jobs – which is understood to be the largest new overseas investment in the UK in the last 10 years.

“Also Austrian company Polytec has acquired plots at T54 where a new manufacturing plant of 138,000 sq ft is now being built with 250 new jobs over three phases of development.

“At Halesfield, companies like Wrekin Pneumatics, Alkane Energy and a subsidiary of Travis Perkins will all be developing new facilities.

“At Hortonwood West, companies like Rosewood Pet Products and Baker Bellfield are also investing with other sites being negotiated with other businesses.

“The overall picture is hugely positive for Telford’s economy and for the borough. The Land Deal, which is unique to Telford, has already been a resounding success with more to come.”

Graham Wynn, chair of the Marches LEP, which has supported the deal said: "This deal, the first of its kind in the UK, was secured as part of the Marches LEP Growth Deal and we're delighted to see real progress in such a short time which is due to the hard work of the council's investment and estate teams.

"The deal will see receipts from sale of public sector land in Telford invested not only back into the town, but a percentage of the proceeds will also come to the Marches LEP for investment in projects across the wider region."

At the meeting, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet is being asked to delegate responsibility to the council’s assistant director for business, development and employment for various decisions relating to how money generated by the deal is used.