Council positive about future plans for regenerating Kidderminster

Wyre Forest District Council has responded to the Government's announcement today (17th August) that enterprise zone status had not been awarded to the South Kidderminster Advanced Manufacturing and Business Park.

Councillor Tracey Onslow, Cabinet Member for Community Well-being said,

 "We are disappointed that the Government has decided not to grant enterprise zone status. The bid submitted by the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership was a strong one and met the Government's key criteria in this competitive process.

It is very positive that, in submitting the enterprise zone bid, the Worcestershire LEP recognised the area as a top priority, and we are grateful to the LEP and others for their hard work that went into the bid. We will continue to work with the Local Enterprise Partnership, the business-led ReWyre board and other partners to maintain the momentum that has been built up to secure the regeneration of South Kidderminster."

Councillor Julian Phillips, Wyre Forest's Cabinet Member for place-shaping, said "The key elements to support economic regeneration are in place. There are significant cleared sites, ready for investment. The Council is the only one in Worcestershire to have an adopted core strategy of its local development framework. We will be looking at the scope for establishing Local Development Orders, to speed up the planning process, and we will explore with other partners a range of options for funding infrastructure, including the powers for tax increment financing on which the Government is consulting at the moment. We remain positive about the future and we wish every success to the chosen bids.

Date of issue - 17th August 2011