Plans to move Ayrshire Economic Investment Corridor

Ayrshire Economic Partnership will hear that the move to bring the Ayrshire Manufacturing Investment Corridor (AMIC) to the Moorfield Industrial Estate, west of Kilmarnock, alongside the existing plans for the Ayrshire Engineering Park (AEP), will provide a boost from sharing resources.

However, it was also reiterated that the footprint of both projects will significantly smaller than planned, as previously reported.

The AMIC project is centred around the food and drink sector, with an emphasis on product development and innovation.

It will also provide a Food and Drink Centre of Excellence and new advanced manufacturing and industrial units to service the wider manufacturing industry in Ayrshire and South West Scotland.

The Ayrshire Engineering Park is an Ayrshire Growth Deal project that aims to provide high quality industrial premises for engineering and manufacturing companies, with the required access and utilities’ infrastructure and digital connectivity.

The Bellfield site had been selected as the preferred option for the AMIC project at a time when the council was hopeful that the much maligned Bellfield Interchange would receive significant support for improvement work.

However, Transport Scotland did not include it its Strategic Transport Projects Review. This was followed by news that a £20m bid to the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund was unsuccessful.

The report explains that the issues surrounding the Bellfield Interchange would need to be addressed to allow economic growth, and that the failure to attract government funding meant it would be reliant on private sector investment.

This led to the council making the decision to co-locate the two projects to the west of Kilmarnock.

The report states: “Due to the transport infrastructure constraints on the Bellfield site and inflationary pressures, a proposal to transfer the location to Moorfield (alongside the AEP) was discussed with UK and Scottish Governments in April and May 2023.

“The co-location proposal was verbally approved in principle, subject to the submission of the relevant change management documentation and supporting information.”

The report states that the new approach will “benefit both projects by releasing  economies of scale in relation to land purchase, infrastructure works and contract procurement.”

Both the UK and Scottish governments have agreed to the move in principle, providing some conditions around economic analysis and job numbers are provided.

The report adds that the fact that EAC purchased the land at Moorfield, providing greater certainty around both projects.

There are a number of other benefits to the proposed co-location, including:
• Sharing roads and infrastructure costs across both projects.
• The development of the AMIC project will be quicker as traffic studies already exist.
• Expedited timeline for the AMIC delivery due to established existing traffic
impact studies and site investigations/topographical surveys completed;
• Existing large and successful food and drink manufacturers situated in and around the Moorfield site to utilise the centre’s resources;
• Opportunities for shared learning and training across both sectors;

The co-location of both projects will mean reduced floorspace – with the AMIC reducing from 7,864 sq m to 5,814 sq m and the proposed development space at AEP from 10,576 sq m to 7,250 sq m.

The report explains: “The reductions in floor space resulted from a detailed costings process which acknowledged significant inflationary pressures and other drivers such as the need to build in net zero measures.

“Clearly, this will reduce the numbers of businesses able to utilise the space on a day to day basis and will also impact upon the total number of jobs created.”

The co-location will also provide an opportunity for both projects to take advantage of the new 5G connectivity programme which is being funded by the UK Government.

The Ayrshire Economic Partnership will hear the report on Thursday.