MULTI-MILLION plans for Island development will go ahead, the boss of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has told the County Press.
In an exclusive interview, group executive director Oona Muirhead said both the Vestas Research and Development Centre and GKN/Rolls Royce pre-production facility would go ahead.
She added they would work to ensure the regeneration of East Cowes, which SEEDA has led, would be continued once the agency was abolished in March 2012.
According to Mrs Muirhead, work on central parts of the East Cowes regeneration would be completed ahead of 2012, including an essential spine road.
Plans for the town’s new health centre are expected in October and the development of a 300-berth marina has been brought forward and developers are due to submit tenders in the next two weeks.
"Clearly not everything will be completed by 2012 but we will have done the work that will allow whoever follows us on to complete it," said Mrs Muirhead.
In February, SEEDA announced a £7.4 million investment in a joint initiative between Rolls Royce and GKN Aerospace for the development of fuel-efficient aircraft engine parts.
According to Mrs Muirhead, GKN had already started work on a new pre-production facility and she said the company was among a number of companies that could hold the key to the future of the Island’s economy.
Along with Vestas and Gurit, she said the Island had developed a critical mass of composite industry expertise, which needed to be built on.
She added that there were further opportunities for growth in wind and marine energy sectors, and they had been in talks to encourage offshore turbine developers to use South East companies, such as Island-based South Boats, to work on the projects off the Island’s coast.
"We have to make sure the right legacies are in place and the right people are involved to make sure these opportunities are not missed.
"I am positive that as long as the Island builds on its real technological strengths, and with the involvement of people like Geoff Armitage at GKN and Rob Sauven at Vestas, the future is bright," said Mrs Muirhead.
Reporter: ross.findon@iwcp.co.uk