The final phase of a food park being built in Peel would provide a further valuable boost to the economy, Tynwald will be told this month.
 
Phil Gawne MHK, Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA), will seek the Court’s approval to spend ?915,000 to complete a project begun in 2010.
 
DEFA and the Department for Economic Development (DED) are creating the centre of excellence for the food production industry in Mill Road Yard.
 
This third phase would bring the final cost of the planned work to ?2.9 million.
 
Phase one was approved by Tynwald in spring 2012 and is up and running. Phase two was given the go-ahead in May 2013 and construction will be completed in July.
 
Seventy jobs have already been created at the Park and it has been estimated that, once it’s complete, this number will rise to 125.
 
Phase three would create three new vacant plots that would house 1,220 square metres of industrial units and would see utilities and roads in the already occupied southern half of the Park improved, Minister Gawne said.
 
The land is owned by the Department.
 
The economy would receive a considerable boost from the final phase of the park, Minister Gawne said.
 
‘By providing a centre of excellence for the food production industry, the opportunity exists to maximise the industry’s contribution to the Isle of Man’s economy,’ he said.
 
The DED – which has identified the development of the Food Park as a key priority – has awarded grants to companies expanding on the site and there is already keen interest from producers in occupying phase three, Minister Gawne said.
 
Work to complete the park would create 416 man weeks of labour, worth an estimated ?290,000, which it is anticipated will solely be paid to Manx workers. The new units themselves could generate more than ?1 million of work for the construction industry.
 
Private sector development of the plots created in phase two is already planned.
 
‘This long term commitment to the Food Park and the investment by the Government into the project will reap dividends for the industry,’ said the Minister.
         
Photo - The Food Park.