Enterprise Zone will boost jobs in East Kent

The Government has announced a further 11 Enterprise Zones across the country, designed to boost local growth and create more than 30,000 new jobs by 2015. These Zones will have simplified planning rules, super-fast broadband and over £100m tax breaks for new businesses over the next four years.

The second wave of Enterprise Zones will be located in:

• Newquay AeroHub in Cornwall
• The Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus Airfield in Gosport
• Rotherwas Enterprise Zone in Hereford
• Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent and Enterprise West Essex in Harlow (one Zone, spread over two areas)
• Science Vale UK in Oxfordshire
• Alconbury Airfield, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire
• Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Lowestoft in Suffolk (one Zone, spread over two areas)
• Northampton Waterside
• MIRA Technology Park in Hinckley Leicestershire
• Humber Estuary Renewable Energy Super Cluster
• Daresbury Science Campus in Warrington.

Commenting, Kent County Council Lib Dem Finance spokesman Tim Prater said:

"The Enterprise Zone in Sandwich s great news for East Kent, and will go a long way to building new jobs to replace those lost by the withdrawal of Pfizer from its reasrch facility there.

"This low tax, low regulation Enterprise Zone will give our region a real economic boost and bring much needed business and jobs. An enterprise zone built around many small and medium sized businesses will be more resilient in the future than relying on one or two large businesses alone."

Commenting further, Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable, said:

"Liberal Democrats made the rebalancing of the economy a central part of our vision for Britain: away from an over-reliance on fickle financial services in the City of London towards a vibrant business community creating growth and jobs up and down the country.

"These low tax, low regulation Enterprise Zones are spread across Britain to give local areas an extra boost where it is needed most.

"We are determined to give small and medium-sized business the tools they need to invest and expand, so they can be the strong backbone our economy needs."

Enterprise Zones benefit from:

• A 100% business rate discount worth up to £275,000 over a five year period, for businesses that move into an Enterprise Zone during the course of this Parliament;
• All business rates growth within the zone for a period of at least 25 years will be retained and shared by the local authorities in the LEP area to support their economic priorities;
• Government and local authority help to develop radically simplified planning approaches in the zone; and:
• Government support to ensure superfast broadband is rolled out in the zone. This will be achieved through guaranteeing the most supportive planning environment and, if necessary, public funding.