As stongly rumoured just yesterday, Durham Tees Valley Airport today learned that their bid for £5.9 million of funding for the south side freight and industrial project has been rejected by the Governments Regional Growth Fund. The RGF allows companies to apply for 20% of funding for a particular project, which is then reviewed and accepted or rejected by the Government. DTVA bosses were confident that their bid was nailed on for success, but this turned out to not be the case and an insider source at the RGF stated they’d asked companies to ‘jump through hoops’ to prove their bid was worthy of the funds.
The airport entered the bid in partnership with Tees Valley Unlimited and the project was hailed by local MPs when it was announced in June. The airport is confident that the project will go ahead regardless and they will now pursue alternative means of funding. The development is expected to take ten years to complete and will create up to 1500 jobs.
This is the newest of many projects considered for the vast south side land at Durham Tees Valley Airport. Past projects have included plans for one of the biggest Cargo and Maintenance Village’s in Europe and more recently, the £110 million Skylink International Business Park.
UPDATE: The RGF have invited Durham Tees Valley Airport and Tees Valley Unlimited to review and then resubmit their bid for RGF funding.
by Chris Smith
18/10/12