To approve and adopt the revised Hereford (Rotherwas) Enterprise Zone Local Development Order 2019 (Appendix 2), to include additional areas of land to the south and east of the Enterprise Zone and roll forward its operation for a further period. The LDO process has been fundamental to the success of the Hereford Enterprise Zone by providing certainty for investors and is the only incentive now available to investors. Bringing forward a revised LDO indicates the Council’s continuing support for providing employment land within Enterprise Zone.  The process has also enabled the Rotherwas Drainage and Flood Management Strategy to be revisited in the light of Environment Agency advice regarding updated climate change guidance for flood risk reduction.  The benefits of the LDO will outweigh the loss of any fee income and the process has helped to enable an increased rate of industrial development at the enterprise zone. Since it has been in operation over £48m has been invested in those projects with Council receipts from sales totalling almost £3m and developments built or underway generating £21 m of business rates.

That:

(a)       Hereford (Rotherwas) Enterprise Zone Local Development Order 2019 be approved and adopted.

1.         The alternative would be not to adopt the Local Development Order, in which case businesses will be required to apply for planning permission, involving increased costs and greater time delays. This would unnecessarily limit the flexibility and extent to which economic development might take place within the Enterprise Zone