Portsmouth is in line for a billion pounds worth of investment – bringing 16,000 new jobs, 5,000 new homes and a gigantic boost to its economy.
Huge schemes like the redevelopment of the rundown Tipner area, the transformation of the city centre and the creation of an out-of-town business park are on the way.
And the city needs ambassadors to inspire young people and help them grasp the opportunities ahead.
That was the message from Cllr Mike Hancock, Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning, Regeneration and Economic Development.
He was speaking at a landmark meeting of top city business leaders called Portsmouth is Open for Business. The event was organised by Shaping Portsmouth, a group of major public and private employers brought together by the council a year ago to focus on regeneration.
Cllr Hancock was speaking days after the £130m Tipner scheme, a plan to redevelop areas of derelict land at the entrance to the city, received two major boosts. The government has agreed almost £20m of funding for a new motorway junction and park-and-ride serving the area, and the first planning applications for cleaning up and developing the site have been approved.
Along with Tipner there were other massive schemes in the pipeline, he said, together totalling £1bn.
These included:
* The £270m Northern Quarter scheme for a new city centre shopping area. New proposals for this are expected from the developer in January, with a planned opening in 2018.
* A £20m proposal to build a bridge from Tipner to Horsea Island, opening up land for new homes and creating access to a planned country park.
* A £30m proposed new road layout in the city centre.
* A £12m plan to develop infrastructure on council land at Dunsbury Hill Farm, Havant, in preparation for a business park with hundreds of jobs.
* A £100m strategy to bring in more visitors to the seafront and to make the city a European city break destination, to be unveiled next year.
Funding for the schemes would come from the government, from private developers and from the council, including income from new ways of raising money from council assets.
Cllr Hancock said it was crucial that young people were given the right training to grasp the opportunities that would come from future investment.
“If we achieve all of this and local people do not benefit we will have failed,” he said. “It is our job to make sure local people get the training and skills required to ‘get that job’.
“Regeneration is not just roads, construction or housing. Regeneration happens in people minds. We need to inspire our young people and our school leaders, to tell them this story and engage them in this plan.
“I’m calling on people to become Portsmouth Ambassadors. We want to train people from a range of sectors and backgrounds to give presentations to inspire young people, visit schools and neighbourhood forums, and tell them this plan.
“We need people who have capacity to deliver a dream into a reality. We need you to help tell the story.
“Sign up today. Portsmouth is the great waterfront city. Let’s keep it great together.”
Keynote speaker at the event, at the Marriott Portsmouth, was Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, chairman of the Port of Tyne and deputy chairman of the advisory panel of the government’s £1.5bn regional growth fund, which recently approved two bids for funding to support new business in Portsmouth.
Also speaking were Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Leader of the council; Jonny Boys, managing director of Trafalgar Wharf; Nicola Youern, chief executive of the charity YOU; Huw Chapman, managing director of Pall Europe; and Walter Cha, managing partner of solicitors Blake Lapthorn.
