A Lanarkshire MSP has backed the ongoing multi-billion pound bid for the Clyde Green Freeport which will provide 600 jobs in her constituency if approved.
Earlier this summer, Lanarkshire Live revealed that Mossend International Railfreight Park next to Bellshill will be a major and key component of making the ambitious bid a reality.
The process is now reaching its final stages and this week Uddingston and Bellshill MSP Stephanie Callaghan visited the site to discuss its progress and show her support for the move which will be a huge economic boost for the area.
The bid is said to set out to capitalise on west central Scotland’s unrivalled air, sea and rail infrastructure.
The Clyde Green Freeport is bidding to become one of two green freeports to be established in Scotland.
If approved by the Scottish and UK Governments, the Freeport will attract major new investment to the area, creating tens of thousands of new jobs across the Glasgow City Region.
The freeport would also accelerate net zero objectives agreed at COP26 through decarbonising the area's transport infrastructure and develop global trading opportunities.
As well as the Mossend International Railfreight Park, the Clyde Green Freeport includes facilities at Glasgow Airport and four deep-water ports on the River Clyde.
Ms Callaghan has this week pledged to engage with all partners if the bid is approved and help maximise the economic opportunities it will bring to Uddingston and Bellshill.
She told Lanarkshire Live : “This is a really, really exciting opportunity for our local area. It’s forecast that, if successful, the Clyde Green Freeport bid will create 600 jobs for Lanarkshire.
“The Clyde Green Freeport has the potential to become the long term, economic engine room for our local area.
"Given the transformative opportunities associated with this initiative, if approved, I will engage with all the key bid partners to ensure the Freeport brings maximum economic, social and environmental benefit to the local communities of Uddingston and Bellshill.
“The Freeport will not only deliver an enormous boost to our local economy, it has the potential to provide Lanarkshire with a distinctive, long term competitive advantage.
“Lanarkshire already has unrivalled connectivity to the UK and beyond. This unique, integrated Freeport partnership involving rail, air and sea would place us at the forefront of global trade and a decarbonised economy.
“I applaud the Scottish Government for negotiating a bespoke, uniquely Scottish Freeport framework with the UK Government, one that will simultaneously drive sustainable economic recovery, deliver a just transition to net-zero and protect workers’ rights.
“Fair work and net zero are central tenets of Scotland’s future economy and I will be working hard to ensure that these principles are at the heart of all local economic developments.
“As a local representative I am always keen to hear from local people and communities and welcome their questions, comments and views on big projects like these.”
Andrew Stirling, of Peter D Stirling Ltd and Mossend International Railfreight Park, added: “Over the 40 plus years we’ve been at Mossend in Bellshill, we’ve employed locals and worked with local partners and customers to build and expand our infrastructure to provide freight and logistics services between Scotland and England.
"We’re in a really unique position as part of the Clyde Green Freeport bid, offering both a multi-modal and decarbonised solution to freight and logistics that will double the capacity for Scottish exports and create enormous benefits for the community and local economy if the bid is successful."
He added: "At capacity, the Mossend terminal will save 225,000 tonnes of carbon annually – that’s two thirds of the Scottish Government’s present carbon reduction target.”
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