Another boost for South Yard

Plymouth stands to receive a third of the total allocation for the entire region in today’s growth fund announcement.

As well as the substantial support for the Forder Valley Link Road, the city has also secured £1.5 million for its exciting South Yard development plans.

The fund will help establish the ‘direct development’ of ready-to-go work space at the entrance to the South Yard, which is destined to become a huge complex for marine technology industries – and home to thousands of jobs.

The Council has worked closely alongside Local Economic Partners to secure new money from Central Government through the Growth Deal. The Heart of the South West LEP allocation is believed to be the highest growth deal allocation in the country.

Council Leader Tudor Evans said: “We are delighted the LEP has helped us secure this funding. Their remit is to help the region grow, creating jobs and prosperity and they appreciate the importance of the South Yard to Plymouth and the entire region.

“Every million the South Yard project is awarded, brings us a million closer to delivering a scheme that has the potential to transform the fortunes of businesses that will make their homes in the yard and their suppliers.

"Companies are watching this development with interest, so it is great to get more backing for the first phase of the yard.

“Redeveloping the South Yard is a huge and complicated project, so to have ready-to-go flexible employment space available this year would be fantastic.”

The direct development aspect of the scheme aims to create suitable specialist facilities at the entrance of the yard which will have the right facilities, such as office, design suites, labs and training rooms for technology development and prototypes production, so that businesses can move straight in.

Earlier this week the full Council formally accept external funding previously offered to the Council as part of our City Deal towards regenerating South Yard as a Marine Industries Production Campus. It included an £8m DCLG grant over the next two years to be used primarily for separation and re-servicing of the South Yard site from MoD; £5m of LEP funding to help fund the direct development and a £ 1m loan from the MoD to fund separation costs

The development of South Yard is part of the City Deal’s Marine Industries Production Campus (MIPC). While South Yard will be the core campus, links with other peninsula sites including Falmouth, Appledore and Hayle will bring opportunities for collaboration and growth.

To find out more about the progress of South Yard and the City Deal visit  www.plymouth.gov.uk/citydeal