Telford & Wrekin's MoD bid team to meet Minister
Leading Telford & Wrekin Council members and officers are today travelling to London for top level talks with a senior minister at the Ministry of Defence.
Councillor Bill McClements and council director David Sidaway are travelling to London for top level talks with Philip Dunne MP, the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology.
The council has been working for the last three years to build strong links with senior staff at the Ministry of Defence in a bid to convince the government to choose Telford’s MoD Donnington as the location for its logistics hub.
Success would mean that more than 1,200 jobs are safeguarded including 700 at the base itself. It would also potentially result in many new jobs especially in the supply chain.
Winning the bid would also raise the profile of the borough, act as a magnet for further inward investment and generate substantial amounts of money for the borough’s economy.
It is expected that the MoD will make a decision in the next few months on where the National Defence Gateway will be sited.
The council has taken significant steps in the past few months to put Telford in the best possible position to be successful in its bid.
This has included approving plans for warehousing development in and around the existing MoD Donnington site.
This will mean a Fulfilment Centre and associated warehousing for storage and distribution can be constructed, as well as an office building for use as a future Logistics HQ.
The council has also backed plans to borrow up to £120m to fund the investment – although that money will only be accessed if the bid is successful and would be recouped as part of the contract.
Councillor Bill McClements, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Finance and Enterprise, said: “We are very much looking forward to the opportunity to press our case for Telford to be the preferred location for the National Defence Gateway.
“We will be seeking reassurances about the MoD’s commitment to the timescale that has been outlined.
“The lobbying we have done so far has raised the profile of Telford with an extension to the Donnington base being seen as a credible solution which could realise savings for MoD and ensure continuity of military supplies to the front line.
“The benefits to the borough’s economy would be worth £60m a year and we have worked hard to ensure Telford is in the best possible position to be the most viable solution for the MoD and I am confident we have achieved that.”
