CPRE says Manchester Airport not a suitable site for enterprise zone
09.08.11
Manchester Airport is not a suitable location for an enterprise zone because it will 'suck economic life away from the rest of the region', the MEN reports that a new report from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) claims. The £400m Airport City project is expected to create over 10,000 jobs, but the study casts doubt on its overall impact. The report, by CPRE North West Regional Group, warns the Airport City scheme could undermine development elsewhere in Greater Manchester and cause a ‘prosperity black hole’.
A 60-acre site, centred around Manchester Business Park, north of the airport, will include offices, shops, hotels and manufacturing space. But the CPRE said evidence from the first wave of Enterprise Zones, launched in the 1980s, showed they have displaced businesses from other areas, rather than generating incremental growth. It also says few of the jobs established in the zones remained after economic support ended.
Andy Yuille, senior policy and campaigns officer for CPRE north west, told the newspaper: ‘There is a need to attract investment and create jobs, but looking at the prosperity of Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas as a whole, this just is not the right place to do it. It will add pressure to build on the green belt south of Manchester while taking potential jobs and investment away from locations to the north of the conurbation that really need an economic boost.’
However, Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester council, said: ‘This report misses the point of Airport City entirely. Comparing it to those of the 1980s is, at best, naive – they are entirely different beasts. This is all about creating new, sustainable jobs for Greater Manchester as a whole and in particular for the local area, rather than displacing jobs from other parts of the city region.’
An airport spokesman added: ‘We are not looking to displace investment from other parts of Greater Manchester. In fact, we believe Airport City will have the opposite effect, attracting international businesses that previously would not have located here and in doing so will support the whole of the city region, giving it a true competitive edge that enables it to compete with cities such as Barcelona, Milan, Dusseldorf and Amsterdam.’
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