Solent Freeport blasted as ‘massive waste of time and money’ for Forest
The Solent Freeport is expected to create fewer jobs and less money for the area than first thought, a report to New Forest District Council has revealed. As reported in the A&T, the Freeport, which locally includes areas in Marchwood and Fawley, as well as Southampton, was officially designated at the end of 2022. Hailed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity, the status brings tax relief, simplified customs procedures and streamlined planning processes to promote regeneration and innovation.
The Solent Freeport was designated in 2022
The government had pledged up to GBP25m in funding for the project, with the potential generation of GBP290m in retained business rates over the next 25 years which can be kept locally to spend on infrastructure and regeneration.
However, figures in the report show no retained business rates are forecast to be generated until 2025/26. It had previously been claimed by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership that the Freeport could bring in GBP2bn of investment and 52,000 jobs to the region. But NFDC’s interim assistant director Clive Tritton explained the Solent Freeport was estimated to create around 16,000 new jobs, 7,000 of which would be in the New Forest district.
The update was issued at a meeting of the council’s resources and transformation overview and scrutiny panel, which met last Thursday.
There are four local sites within the Freeport: Fawley Waterside, ExxonMobil’s Fawley refinery, Solent Gateway and ABP’s strategic land reserve. The Solent Gateway site was the most progressed, a report to members explained, with the first 25 acres of hardstanding developed, and an expected further 50 acres by April 2025. The focus of the site was on auto operations, rail import and carriage storage, and port manufacturing.
ABP’s land reserve, which is expected to become a National Strategic Infrastructure Project, was the “furthest back” in terms of development, with the next steps to be an options study and masterplan. The Development Consent Order process is expected to begin at the end of the year, with a decision not due until 2028/29. The focus of the site is expected to be automotive, to free up space in Southampton for cruise and container offerings.
The meeting heard the refinery site includes plans for a low-sulphur diesel facility and the development of a hydrogen plant, which is a GBP1bn investment. The company is also currently consulting on plans for its carbon capture pipeline project[1]. The Fawley Waterside site – no longer subject to planning permission for a new 1,500-home town after the consortium behind it said it was no longer viable – still has GBP4.6m of government seed capital which must be spent by March 2026.
There was “some concern”, the meeting heard, that it remained unspent but the council was in “ongoing discussions” with those behind the project.
Cllr Jack Davies told the meeting that NFDC had been “hoodwinked” by the promise of retained business rates.
Cllr Jack Davies said NFDC had been “hoodwinked” over freeport plans
He said: “Forgive me if I’m not optimistic – I have not really been a fan of the Freeport for a long time. I said at the time when we were agreeing this a couple of years ago that I thought it was a massive waste of time and money and would make no difference to the people of Lymington and Pennington or the wider Forest whatsoever.” As well as highlighting the drop in the number of jobs promised, he raised concerns about the underspend in seed funding of Fawley Waterside.
“The retained business rates was the big thing for this council but we will get, by the looks of it, GBP95,000 a year,” he said. “I just don’t think it is worth it. It is a disgrace and unacceptable that this council has been hoodwinked by the promise of great things and has been left very much of out pocket and undervalued by this proposal.”
Responding, Mr Tritton told the meeting: “I don’t know where the figure of 50,000 came from – the figure put in the business case was around 16,000 back in 2022 when it was submitted. “New Forest District Council is not delivering the Freeport… what we are trying to do is, however successful the Freeport is, ensure the benefits are felt for the residents and businesses.”
Cllr Alex Wade also raised concerns over the potential development of Dibden Bay by ABP, which he said residents were “gravely” worried about. However, NFDC leader Cllr Jill Cleary defended the scheme, telling members: “I am passionate about getting whatever we can for our residents, be that education, work, college, education, funding, parks – whatever I can influence I will put my absolute heart and soul into.
“To me, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am never going to give up on it.” Cllr Barry Rickman said the council could not be seen to be “small minded”, adding: “We have to be engaged with the systems that are in place in order to make sure we get the education, the funding, the health [provision] and everything else we need to do.
It is a long-term thing.”
Until now, the district council has not progressed proposals for how it would like to see retained business rates reinvested in the region.
In April it agreed to instruct officers to develop a New Forest Freeport Delivery Plan, which will “form the basis for discussions” on use of business rates and other funding opportunities as they come forward.
References
- ^ carbon capture pipeline project (advertiserandtimes.co.uk)