Manchester Airport has been confirmed as one of the first four Enterprise Zones, with Airport City at the core of the zone. This follows the Chancellor's announcement during the budget that 21 new Enterprise zones will be established to stimulate economic growth and employment.
The Airport City location is one of only a few to be confirmed and now that the core proposition has been endorsed, phase 1 of the development will now go out for public consultation.
Charlie Cornish, Chief Executive of the Manchester Airports Group, welcomed the news saying: "This announcement represents a significant achievement for the Greater Manchester region and an exciting opportunity to move forward with the Airport City proposal so that we can realise the potential for creating over 7,000 jobs, while seeing additional revenues re-invested throughout Greater Manchester. In partnership with our key stakeholders, we will be progressing the project straight away and looking to build on this opportunity for the region."
John Atkins, Managing Director of MAG Developments which is the property development arm of the Group, said: "We welcome the agreement of the Council Executive as it allows us to prepare for a start on site early in 2012. The designation of the Airport City as an Enterprise Zone last week underlined the importance of making quick progress on the site and will allow us to move ahead with the development and infrastructure framework."
Airport City is a concept, the first phase of which is located on land between the airport and Wythenshawe, to the north of the airport. It will connect the initial development close to the airport with a wider set of opportunities within Wythenshawe including the University Hospital of South Manchester's (UHSM) Medipark initiative and the regeneration of the Town Centre.
Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "Airport City will see the creation of thousands of jobs which will be critical to ensure the city's success as we emerge from the economic downturn. It also provides us with a unique opportunity to significantly accelerate Manchester's economic growth and realise our ambitions for the airport as a global business destination. As we move into a consultation process, we welcome comments on this important development."
Businesses that are expected to want to locate at Airport City will include logistics, freight forwarders, advanced manufacturers, research and development, health related uses to build on the proximity to Wythenshawe Hospital as well as hotels and leisure uses to support the delivery of Airport City.
As announced during the Budget, the Enterprise Zones are expected to benefit from a business rate discount worth up to £275,000 per eligible business over a five year period.
It is anticipated that detailed planning applications will be ready to be submitted, subject to the public consultation, by the end of 2011 and work on the first phase of Airport City will begin in 2012.
