Outline business plan is finalised for plans to create regional freeport
DETAILS of the outline business case for the proposed East Midlands Freeport are being finalised ready for submission to the Government by tomorrow.
The East Midlands Freeport Board met at the end of last week to endorse the plan and if it is successful will be invited to submit a full business case by November 12.
Just a few hours earlier, the outline business case for the freeport, which is one of several being created across the country, was discussed largely behind closed doors at a meeting of the Nottinghamshire County Council policy committee.
Within freeports, trade is facilitated by reducing the direct and administrative costs of trading goods with the rest of the world.
Goods entering a freeport zone are not subject to typical import procedures.
The goods can be processed and re-exported from the zone without being considered to have entered the host country. Import duties and procedures are only borne at the moment that goods enter into the domestic economy.
The East Midlands Freeport is centred on East Midlands Airport as the point of entry, with two additional key sites, at the Ratcliffe on Soar power station site in Nottinghamshire, and at the East Midlands intermodal park site in South Derbyshire near the Toyota island on the A50.
The matter was not heard in public because it was considered that it contained sensitive and commercial information. Nottinghamshire County Council is represented in working groups and on the Freeport Board, while Leicestershire County Council takes the role of lead authority, as East Midlands Airport falls within its jurisdiction.
Councillor Jim Creamer, representing Carlton Hill, asked how crucial the proposed HS2 project was to the freeport proposal.
Chief executive Anthony May responded: “There is no doubt there is a relationship between the freeport and HS2 but the freeport bid can stand alone. We expect an announcement on HS2 later this month certainly before the final business case is submitted.
“Although there are loose interdependencies between the freeport and HS2, it is not a deal breaker and the freeport can stand on its own.”
The East Midlands freeport could create up to 60,000 jobs and export opportunities and is the only inland port to be created.
Committee chairman and leader of the county council Ben Bradley, responded to a suggestion by Councillor Dave Shaw, representing Hucknall, that some of the jobs could be transferred from elsewhere and not be new jobs.
He said: “There is a potential for great job creation, economic development and transport infrastructure. There is further discussion to be had to ensure that these are new jobs.”
The committee voted to endorse the current draft of the outline business case and to consider the full business case report, if the bid is taken forward by the Government.
HS2 is not a deal breaker and the freeport can stand on its own
Anthony May