YRPS Insight: Edition Eight - Flipbook - Page 25
PROGRESS IN ESTABLISHING
FREEPORTS IN ENGLAND
The Government has announced that the bidding process for locations
to become a Freeport in England will open by the end of 2020.
The process to select a Freeport will be fair, transparent and competitive. The first of the new
Freeport sites is expected to be open for business in 2021. Invitations will be issued to sea,
air and rail ports to apply before the end of 2020.
The sites selected as Freeport’s will benefit from:
• Streamlined planning processes;
• A package of tax reliefs to drive jobs, growth and innovation; and,
• Simplified customs procedures and duty suspensions on goods.
The Freeport is designed to attract major investment to re-generate communities and create growth.
The hope is that the North East will benefit from at least one Freeport, helping the region
to overcome the effects of COVID-19 and any downturn due to Brexit.
The property industry should benefit from a Freeport being established in our area with increased demand for
industrial land and buildings. That will, in-turn, help a range of other businesses and the general community.
24
PLANNING