Plymouth plays a major role across the globe in a number of key industries. We are a global centre of excellence for marine science and technology, home to the largest naval base in Western Europe and have a rich ecosystem of world-renowned defence research capabilities and private sector businesses. Plymouth is also a base for major UK employers such as Babcock International and Princess Yachts.
Plans are well underway for significant investment in many of these industries – including millions of pounds being spent on creating a UK major Freeport and National Marine Park and future plans for a brand new Derriford Hospital. These businesses and many others provide thousands of jobs across Plymouth. Nearly every household will have a friend or family member that relies on these major players for employment. At the very heart of our local economy is ‘people’. Over the next ten years,13,000 skilled jobs are being created and we need to ensure that we have the people to fill them. We think that the city’s population will increase to 300,000.
To support this growth, we have three major growth areas across the city. They are: North of the city e.g. Derriford, City Centre/Waterfront and the East of the City e.g. Saltram Meadows / Sherford. Therefore, we need to strengthen our infrastructure e.g. build over 29,000 new homes, improve the way people travel across our city, strengthen and grow public services such as the NHS, ensure there are enough school places, waste management facilities, telecommunications etc. Unless these infrastructure needs are met our city will not be able to grow.
At the same time, we need to make sure that Plymouth continues to grow as a ‘green city’ and we must do our part to reduce our carbon emissions as part of our commitment to be net zero by 2030.
Currently our local road/highway network is outdated, and is a legacy of the post-war era, with many places in need of significant improvement. We are working hard to repair and maintain our residential roads. We are responsibility for 873km of roads and 903km of footways and cycle paths.
But we know that at the same time the number of vehicles continues to increase.
With a growing population, our roads and highways are under significant pressure. We have all heard complaints about traffic jams, travel delays, people not feeling safe on foot or cycling, buses not arriving in time. And we know that this means people are late for work, they miss appointments, they aren’t able to travel or their journeys take a really long time.