To develop further the Hereford Enterprise Zone (HEZ), establishing the critical infrastructure or site remediation required to bring remaining plots into economic use, Cabinet member approval is sought for the next phase of capital expenditure (£5.231m) at the HEZ drawing down the remaining finance from within the approved £16m capital programme. 

The HEZ is critical to the economic success of the City and wider county, enabling businesses to grow and creating new jobs and investment in the economy.  The development of a Cyber Security Centre and business incubation space will enable the county to establish a foot hold in new emerging markets, generating longer term, higher value employment opportunities.

Previous expenditure has been incurred in demolitions, site clearance, land remediation, ground raising (for flood mitigation) and infrastructure including access roads, cycleways, and all utilities at the right capacity and to enable easy connections at a plot level, including an ultrafast broadband network.

Previous approvals have not been fully spent so there is a need to close down these approvals and re-profile any remaining expenditure into this decision.  The remaining funds are required to provide the time critical infrastructure and / or clear sites to enable the plots to be developed out.

To date the HEZ has secured 20 land sales, £48m of investment and a predicted 842 new jobs will be created.