Member Article

Council says Swan Hunters crane will provide 1,000 jobs

North Tyneside Council have sought to reassure local taxpayers that a crane it acquired for nearly £1 million but has remained unused, will in fact bring jobs to the region.

In early 2013 Jupiter Offshore Services purchased the crane and were granted permission to operate it on the former Swan Hunter site.

Following legal challenges to Jupiter’s licence the crane was bought by the council by way of compensation and the BBC reported the crane has since remained unused.

Elected Mayor, Norma Redfearn, told a Council meeting this week that money was well spent on the crane as it will provide around 1,000 new jobs.

The Elected Mayor told the meeting: “The Council entered into a licence agreement with Jupiter Offshore Services on April 17, 2013. This decision was subsequently challenged by judicial review in the High Court and the Council entered into a settlement agreement in relation to the judicial review on June 18 2013.

“It was because of this judicial review of the previous decision by the former administration that it was agreed that the Council would terminate the licence and undertake an open and transparent procurement process to appoint a quay operator for the Council, including craneage services.

“The council entered into a separate settlement agreement with Jupiter Offshore Services in September 2013 to terminate their licence and to acquire the crane intended to be used at the site to meet the needs of businesses - many of whom will transport goods via the river - and help them operate successfully.

“This ensured that the development of the site would not be delayed to a lengthy and costly legal exercise.”

The final payment of £200,000 will only be paid to Jupiter Offshore Services upon the satisfactory installation of the crane, which the company are required to carry out.

The Elected Mayor added: “The investment in the former shipyard site will bring up to 1,000 jobs. This site is very much open for business - work is continuing on the major infrastructure works to the Swans site, with substantial construction work due to begin this Spring.

“Every effort is being made to accelerate these works, however, some are seasonal, such as works to the quay, which can only be carried out in the Summer, while others such as the dredging of the river are subject to regulatory requirement

“The quay operations on the site will be managed directly by the authority - providing certainty for Kier our partner developing the site for the businesses interested in locating there, and jobs for authority staff who are already undergoing training ready for the installation of the crane.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .