Written Statement - Snowdonia and Haven Waterway Enterprise Zones

I am pleased to provide a further update to Assembly Members on Enterprise Zones in Wales.

In January 2012 I confirmed the five Enterprise Zone areas of:

• Cardiff Central Business District;
• St Athan (including Cardiff Airport);
• Ebbw Vale;
• Deeside;
• Anglesey.

These Enterprise Zones were formally launched on the 1st April. This timetable places us on a par with England and Scotland.  

In January, I also announced that I would also pursue the active development of Enterprise Zone proposals in two other areas, namely Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire and Snowdonia in Gwynedd.  Over the last few months my officials have worked with local organisations and partners to develop these proposals further.  

Haven Waterway and Snowdonia were chosen because of their strategic importance and unique offering.   With around 30% of the UK's energy supplies now coming via Pembrokeshire, the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone offers us the opportunity to build on existing and potential new energy sites.  The Snowdonia Enterprise Zone is centred on the site of the former Trawsfynydd Power Station.  The area boasts a diverse, experienced and established workforce, and Enterprise Zone status offers the opportunity to build on these and other distinctive assets.  

I am today pleased to confirm Haven Waterway and Snowdonia as Enterprise Zones. In keeping with the approach we have undertaken in regard to the development of Enterprise Zone policy I will be publishing boundary maps for both the Haven Waterway and Snowdonia Enterprise Zone shortly.  These will be available on the Welsh Government’s internet site alongside the boundary maps for all of our Enterprise Zones in Wales.  

These additional Enterprise Zones are good news for Mid and West Wales.   Enterprise Zone status is not an end in itself – momentum has to be maintained and work must now continue to ensure that the offering in all our Enterprise Zones is effective, attractive and relevant to business.  

In each of our Enterprise Zones the work of the predominantly private-sector led Enterprise Zone Chairs and Boards is central to local engagement and a model of delivery that is flexible and responsive to business needs.  

Today I am instituting similar arrangements in respect of the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone and the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone.  I am very pleased to welcome Nick Bourne and John Idris Jones into their respective positions as interim Chairs of the Haven Waterway and Snowdonia Enterprise Zones.

Nick is former Dean of Swansea Law School and spent 12 years as the Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales and leader of Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales. He is well known and well respected by key stakeholders locally and has the experience and contacts to advance the prospects of the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone.  

John is ideally placed to lead developments in the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone.  With more than 30 years experience working in the Energy and Environment sector and as the socio-economic development manager for Magnox in Wales, John is uniquely placed to provide the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone with the leadership it needs.  John’s membership of the Anglesey Enterprise Zone board also provides the added advantage of developing synergies between the two sites.  

I am sure both Nick and John will make a significant contribution to driving delivery forward and I look forward to the robust and challenging advice that they will provide.  

I will make a fuller statement on Enterprise Zones in due course, to include an update on Enhanced Capital Allowances and other policy levers.