£200m rail hub could create 4,400 jobs for South Holland
MAJOR plans for a rail freight hub in South Holland could attract £200m investment and create more than 4,000 jobs.
A planned freight interchange would radically change the way big food manufacturing firms in the area conduct their business - taking lorries off the roads and transferring their traffic onto the railways.
The district council teamed up with transport specialists Intermodality to look into "An International Food Park for South Holland" and found that key players in the local economy were extremely keen on the idea.
Officers will today, Tuesday, ask the council's cabinet to approve funds to look further into the lucrative project.
The authority wants to lead the scheme and bring in external funding to pay for it but needs to look into suitable sites for the hub.
A cabinet report, prepared by economic development manager Bruce Wakeling, stresses that the hub would be hugely benefical, even though it will cause traffic congestion with level crossing barriers down more often.
The report states: "The scale and nature of the proposed road/rail hub may result in some significant public reaction from the additional traffic in and around the eventual site in Spalding.
"However, off-setting this there will be the environmental and financial benefits of reduced longer distance road freight movements, including a reduction in the number of European vehicles together with the potential for securing existing and creating additional jobs."
Both the Government Office for the East Midlands and the Department for Transport have shown strong support and are proactively looking at funding sources.
The council wants to tie the scheme in with major Network Rail plans, which would upgrade the Spalding line and divert freight traffic from the East Coast Main Line.
This may mean signalling and track work is done by Network Rail, cutting the cost of the scheme, but it begins planning in March, meaning a site for the freight interchange would have to be selected soon.
Officers also want to seize the opportunity before food firms turn to "double-decker" HGVs as an alternative to rail.
Intermodality's report concludes: "There is a major and unprecendented opportunity to reinforce the position of South Holland as a key link in the international supply chain for the food industry, through the creation of a new International Food Park, which can promote both economic and environmental sustainability into the longer term.
"The Park offers scope to attract more than 200m of investment into the local economy, creating up to 4,400 jobs on site."
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Weather for Spalding
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
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