Nottingham City Council welcomes the launch of the Midlands Engine and Midlands Transport Strategies today which will drive growth and productivity in the region.
The Chancellor Philip Hammond was in the region today to launch the Midlands Engine Strategy, which includes significant investment in skills, connectivity and local growth, and sets out how the Government plans to drive the region’s huge potential and promote it to the world.
Mr Hammond announced £392m of Local Growth Fund investment in the region in yesterday’s Budget – including £63m in the Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (D2N2) area. This includes:
- £10m towards the redevelopment of Broadmarsh bus station and car park as part of the transformation of the wider area
- £8m to redevelop Nottingham Castle and regenerate town centres across Nottinghamshire
- £2.4m to enable the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership to buy strategic sites for housing and employment to make sure the area benefits as much as possible from HS2.
- £6.8m to create a Convergent Science and Technology Centre in Nottinghamshire to help to speed up the development of healthcare products.
Yesterday the Chancellor announced £23m to tackle congestion on roads in the Midlands in his Budget, and today sees the launch of the Midlands Transport Strategy which will deliver improved connectivity across the region over the next 25 years. Projects identified in the strategy include improvements along the A52 corridor between Derby and Nottingham including access to the East Midlands HS2 Hub Station at Toton and East Midlands Airport, as well as improvements to rail services between Birmingham and Nottingham and Lincoln and Nottingham.
Nottingham City Council Leader, Councillor Jon Collins, said: “I am pleased that the city has secured funding for some important projects and this has been replicated with funding for other schemes across the region. Although in most cases this funding is making a small contribution to much larger projects, it is very welcome and recognises the work being done by the Midlands Engine partners to highlight the importance of investment into the Midlands economy as a significant driver for jobs and growth.
“I am particularly pleased to see £2.4m being made available to begin the process of land assembly and subsequent development of the Toton HS2 site. I’m also pleased to see funding included for the Broadmarsh area and the Castle – these form part of a £250m transformation of the southern part of the city which will attract thousands of new jobs and millions of extra visitors to Nottingham.”
While welcoming support for these projects, Councillor Collins renewed his call for infrastructure funding in the East Midlands to match the levels of funding support given to other regions and in particular London and the South East.
“The Midlands is the manufacturing heart of the country and yet year-on-year, it is consistently passed over when decisions are made about infrastructure funding, with the bulk of money allocated to projects in London and the South East,” he said.
“I hope today’s announcement about the Midlands Engine Strategy is the first step in recognising that pound for pound investment in the Midlands will deliver more growth, more jobs and more productivity than London and the South East. Nottingham is already the high growth capital of the country outside London and we are ready to build on that in the city and across the East Midlands if ministers give us the backing to do so.”