Areas surrounding the harbour have enjoyed regeneration over the last few years, from Gunwharf to the land at Tipner now being unlocked, to investment in marine leisure and defence at Gosport, but Suella Fernandes , Caroline Dinenage, Penny Mordaunt and Flick Drummond want a more concerted and joined up push to get the whole harbour regenerated.
They met together last weekend to discuss their plans and ideas which included:
· A whole harbour approach to regeneration, creating enough momentum with developments south of the harbour to stimulate regeneration in the north harbour.
· Supporting additional marinas being created, and a sail academy (Tipner being one possible site). One boat berth would deliver about £12,000 to the local economy throughout the year.
· Raising the profile of the harbour for commerce, leisure and a great place to live: The maritime heart of the UK.
· An SME hub to support businesses in the defence and maritime supply chain, (potentially to be based in the Dockyard). This would enable business to keep their costs down while competing for export work.
· A massive push on transport infrastructure and schemes to reduce congestion on both peninsulas.
· Making better use of the water for transport purposes
· Working to support closer integration of skills development across
· Greater association of the creative industries with the harbour area.
Suella, hoping to become Fareham’s next MP, said, “ I am really interested how the SMEs in Fareham can capitalise on the momentum being built up behind commercial ship build, composite use and a greater share of defence work. There is potential to work together to reduce the costs of bidding for work, and perhaps even share skills and staff. The idea of having physical hub is appealing, but there is more we can do to strengthen their networks too.”
Caroline said, “Penny, Mark and I have been able to work together to achieve a lot for the area, having a strong team is vital for making that case and maximising the full potential for each area we represent. There is so much synergy between Gosport’s ambitions and Portsmouth, and having a strong voice we can work with in the South of the city is vital for Gosport…..”
Penny Mordaunt, standing in Portsmouth North said, “Both Suella and I are focussed on how we can bring the economic bounce of the Americas Cup to the north of the harbour. We want people to have a wonderful quality of life and we have such great natural assets here in the waterfront. We want people to have more of a connection with the harbour- in the housing that is available, in being able to walk and cycle round its whole perimeter, being able to take a boat out, or greater travel options to cross the water. Great work has been done on a master plan for the whole area and it is great to see so many individuals and groups being ambitious for our world class harbour.
Flick Drummond, standing in Portsmouth South said, “There are tremendous opportunities over the next five year for Portsmouth and the wider area. The area I hope to represent will be so critical in delivering that and I would relish to opportunity to be part of a strong team to create that focussed and seamless campaign to achieve it.
“Caroline, Suella, Penny and I want to create a harbour focussed group using funds from the coastal communities teams Penny announced a few weeks ago. There are some great networks in the maritime sector, but we want a powerful core group focused on the Harbour itself and all its possibilities.”