Ince Park "will add £1.5bn to region’s economy"
THE developers behind the proposed Ince Park ‘eco park’ scheme containing a controversial incinerator have said that it will deliver a £1.5bn boost to the region’s economy.
A report commissioned from independent consultancy Urban Mines argues that the economic benefit of the Ince Park project – a “resource recovery” project with a 95MW energy-from-waste plant built by Covanta at its centre – will be somewhere between £975m and £1.675bn.
Ince Park will be located on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal – nine mile from Chester and 18 miles south of Liverpool clity centre.
The report predicts that within the first 25 years of operations the plant could generate up to £3.35bn worth of economic benefit, with an estimated 50% of this being retained within the West Cheshire and Merseyside region.
It also estimates that the development could generate up to 2,350 direct jobs.
The park will also contain a 20MW biomass plant and space for recycling, environmental technologies and waste management firms.
Myles Kitcher, director of Peel Environmental, said: “Ince Park is a major development for the North West which will deliver hundreds of construction jobs over the next five years and thousands more in the longer term.
“This report confirms our belief that the development of Ince Park can provide a major contribution to jobs and economic growth in West Cheshire and Merseyside areas.”
Construction of the energy from waste plant will begin later this year. Once commissioned, the plant will provide enough energy to power around 142,500 homes.
