We’re barely into 2021, and our dynamic Growth Board have already launched some important digital infrastructure and clean energy projects that will help bring jobs and greater connectivity to the Thames Estuary.
We know in a post-Brexit, post-Covid world, the unique position of the Thames Estuary to drive good, green local and national economic growth will be crucial.
Our wonderful Growth Board is actively bringing together the right people with the right skills, so we can facilitate and champion making this estuary the greenest and most productive in the world!
I mentioned last year, in our first newsletter*, that we were moving into an exciting phase with lots great stuff happening. I am happy to confirm work has kicked off on these key growth projects:
- Digital Infrastructure – we’ve invited expressions of interest from experts in digital infrastructure to conduct a major study into the Estuary’s digital infrastructure potential so we can understand and improve the region’s digital connectivity. Read more about our improving digital infrastructure news here.
- Hydrogen Strategy – we launched a tender seeking specialist help to roadmap how we realise the unparalleled potential in the Thames Estuary for hydrogen investment and supply. Read more about this important step in driving clean energy here.
- Inward Investment – we’re looking to commission an interactive map and films to promote our message domestically and internationally. Read about creating tools to sell the Thames Estuary to the world.
- Freeports and River Freight – Freeports would open up international trade routes close to the capital, create jobs and be a magnet for new large-scale investment, which would realise the Thames Estuary’s growth potential recognised by government. Moving freight onto the river could reduce road traffic and the associated environmental impacts. There will be news coming around Freeports and river freight, so watch this space!
And this is just the beginning! There are several more brilliant projects others are leading that will transform the region, including:
- London Resorts – Read about their plans to be the world’s first carbon-neutral theme park which would boost the tourist economy and create lots of jobs around the site in Kent.
- Lower Thames Crossing – One of the biggest infrastructure projects since the M25 this will transform physical connectivity across the Thames Estuary region. Read about the job opportunity for small and medium sized businesses to be part of the LTC supply chain.
- Creative Estuary and Estuary 2021 Arts Festival – Read about these two wonderful interlinked projects, that celebrate the lives, landscapes and histories of the Thames Estuary, and will make it the world’s largest creative corridor.
We’ve set out our vision for boosting the local economy and unlocking the potential of the river and land along the Estuary, in our ambitious action plan ‘The Green Blue’ – please take a look and *sign up to our monthly newsletter in the banner at the bottom of this webpage to get our news monthly in your inbox.
Here’s to a continued brilliant green and growing year!