Felixstowe and Harwich: Councils urged to join Freeports East limited company

Harwich International Port has joined the Port of Felixstowe to be part of Freeport East

Councils are being asked to be part of a company to oversee the running of Freeport East.

The port is one of a series of eight planned nationwide and will offer tax breaks to encourage economic activity.

Felixstowe and Harwich ports and the new Gateway 14 business park off the A14, will unify to form Freeport East.

As part of the governance of the new enterprise, a limited company is to be formed, comprising members on the current supervisory board.

Suffolk and Essex county councils will be submitting their final business case to government next month, outlining how they see the freeport benefitting their areas.

Suffolk said if the plans were approved by government, this will release £25m in seed-funding, split between the three tax sites.

Felixstowe will get £12m, Gateway 14 will receive £6m and Harwich the remaining £7m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Harwich tax site is intended to be developed as a clean energy hub and create 1,900 jobs at Bathside Bay.

Harwich International aims to benefit from freeport status

However, the boundary of the tax site is largely comprised of areas which need to be reclaimed from the sea in order to provide a development platform.

A significant funding gap of some £80m remains even after the provisional allocation of £7m of seed capital funding by the government.

But Essex County Council leader, Kevin Bentley, said on balance, the investment was a "good risk" for the authority.

Freeport East is supposed to deliver £330m of investment in new infrastructure, according to the report, with hopes of generating wider investment and job opportunities in areas surrounding the freeport.

Other opportunities include the retention of business rates for councils, some of which will be used to meet the overhead costs and support delivery of the freeport itself.

However, a Suffolk council report also acknowledged that "there may be negative environmental impacts as well, which will be mitigated for through traffic management planning, as well as a focus on movement to electric and hydrogen powered vehicles".

The Felixstowe tax site is due to be fully active from 2023 or 2024, with hopes that Gateway 14 will have first occupation from as soon as this autumn.

The Harwich tax site is set to be active from 2024 or 2025, the report said.

Port of Felixstowe is part of the Freeport East scheme

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [e-mail]