A CONTROVERSIAL eco park will create more than 3,000 new jobs and bring a £1.5bn boost to Cheshire’s economy.
For years, campaigners and residents have been battling to stop work starting at Ince Resource and Recovery Park, Ince, amid fears that the incinerator could release harmful emissions and turn Cheshire into the ‘dumping ground for the UK’s waste’.
But now an independent report into the 126-acre site has revealed that Covanta Energy and Peel Environmental’s eco park could bring a ‘much-needed boost’ and thousands of jobs to Ellesmere Port, Frodsham, Helsby, Hapsford, Elton, Chester, Ince and Merseyside.
The report, compiled by independent consultancy Urban Mines, predicts that in the first 25 years of operation the park could generate up to £3,35bn – 50% of which will be pumped into Cheshire and Merseyside’s economy.
Once complete, the eco park could generate up to 2,350 direct jobs – up to 1,175 of which will be filled locally – working on the site and about 914 indirect jobs – with up to 457 to be locally filled – in suppliers and other businesses.
Myles Kitcher, director of Peel Environmental, said: “Ince Park is a major development for the North West which will deliver hundreds of construction jobs over the next five years and thousands more in the longer term.
“Throughout the development a special emphasis will be placed on providing apprenticeships to give young people a real opportunity to develop a career in the energy and environmental technologies sectors.
“This report confirms our belief that the development of Ince Park can provide a major contribution to jobs and economic growth in West Cheshire and Merseyside areas.”
When work starts on phase one of the £500m development of the site at the end of this year, it is predicted that the construction work will provide between 1,298-2,238 jobs on site and 424-621 off site jobs, up to 429 of which will be filled by workers in the local area.
And in a document complied by Covanta and Peel, the developers promise that they will be ‘proactive’ in using local suppliers, seek to employ 20% of their workforce from Cheshire West and Chester and encourage key suppliers and contractors to spend and employ in the local area.
Residents can expect work to start on the main facility, Covanta’s Energy From Waste facility, which will see 850,000 tonnes of waste, including cemetery and street cleaning waste, transported from across the country to be transformed into electricity for 142,500 homes, later this year – with the site expected to be up and running by 2015.
