Labour’s culture secretary says she expects to see progress “very quickly” on the building of a £475 million film and TV studio in Sunderland.
Plans for the massive Crown Works Studios project were given the green light last year and have been hailed as a transformational deal that is the biggest boost for the North East since Nissan’s arrival, with hopes of creating more than 8,000 jobs. While preparatory works have begun on the former shipyard site in Pallion, next to the Northern Spire bridge, construction of the studios is yet to start.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on a visit to Stanley in County Durham on Thursday, culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the Government wanted to see the development progress “at pace”. A £25 million Government cash injection towards the regeneration of the riverside plot through the North East devolution deal was announced by former Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last year and subsequently backed by Rachel Reeves after Labour came to power.
Production company Fulwell 73 and financiers Cain International plan to build 20 soundstages on the banks of the Wear. Asked about what progress was being made on the Crown Works project, Ms Nandy said: “We are working very closely to make sure that moves at pace and that, [with] the investment we have put in, people start to see results very quickly. We are also working to build the wider ecosystem around it.
“One of the reasons people want to invest in the North East and want to bring their films to the North East is because of the amazing backdrops that you have here – second to none. When we hosted the investment summit in Gateshead recently there were executives flying in from all over the world saying ‘this is the place we need to be to locate our next film’.
What we have to ensure is that we build that ecosystem of local skills around it to make it even more attractive for people to invest and build a much more resilient economy in the North East.
“I think people living here will know, as I do living in Wigan, that if you only have one industry and that industry goes then it can be catastrophic. But if you have the whole ecosystem of skills it survives for decades and decades to come. That is why we are investing in young people here in this region and we are excited about its future.”
Diggers are on site at the moment to get the land ready for construction, with the preparations expected to continue until this summer before any major building work can begin.
A council spokesperson confirmed: “Sunderland City Council is currently remediating the site in preparation for future investment. This remediation will take several months to complete.
"We will soon be procuring a contractor to take the next phase forward which we expect to start on site later in the year.”
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