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Tyneside A Good Choice To Land Marine Agency
Tyneside will this week take several important steps towards becoming a new centre of marine expertise. A delegation of civil servants and officials from the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will be in the region to push ahead with Government plans to locate its new Marine Management Organisation (MMO) here.
The recent announcement that Tyneside has been chosen as the home for this prestigious new super-agency is to be warmly welcomed. It’s good to know that in the current climate the region is still firmly on the radar as a place to do business and invest. In the short-term, the MMO will create upwards of 150 jobs. Long-term, it will reaffirm the region’s tradition as a centre for maritime expertise, attract investment, create skilled jobs and boost our profile.
The new agency is part of the Government’s innovative Marine and Coastal Access Bill. Among other things, it will be responsible for managing the seas and coasts around the UK. Tyneside, and the people living here will have an opportunity to influence and shape national and international policy in this exciting arena.
But the MMO has a wider significance than this. It is the first Government agency to arrive here since the Lyons Review a few years ago. This paved the way for civil service departments to move away from London to the regions. So far, this has been slow to happen but the arrival of the MMO opens up the real prospect that more will follow.
For Tyne and Wear Development Company – the area’s inward investment agency – this is good news. The decision to site the MMO on Tyneside was not a decision taken overnight. Instead, it was a lengthy process that took several months and required much negotiation and input from several partners, culminating in a factfinding visit to the region by DEFRA’s project team and consultants. A formal presentation detailing the region’s strengths as a suitable location was also submitted last autumn.
All of this was crucial in overcoming opposition from other areas, notably Plymouth, Yorkshire and Liverpool. It’s to the area’s credit that many business development organisations were able to unite behind the bid to make it successful. Inward investment is rarely a smooth process but this was undoubtedly helped by Tyne and Wear Development Company working very closely with Newcastle and North Tyneside Councils.
Now that a decision has been made, we can anticipate the MMO opening late in 2009. Recruitment of employees to run the new agency will be a priority and is likely to take place this summer. There will be a mix of local recruitment and potential relocation of a number of staff from other marine agencies incorporated in the new MMO. Tyne and Wear Development Company and its partners will provide assistance with this where required.
The MMO is good news for the region and has a bright future here. Tyneside has a rich heritage in this area and, with existing assets like Newcastle University’s famed School of Marine Science and Technology, is well placed to host the new agency. We will be doing all we can to get behind it and support its success.
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