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Government backs £9.5m Tees bio-freight terminal

The Government has backed plans to build a dedicated multimodal bio-freight terminal on the River Tees, which will safeguard 150 existing jobs and create a further 32 direct and 190 indirect jobs.

A total of £1.2m will be invested by the Government in the new facility which will see a new rail freight terminal built along with a quayside extension at the site on Riverside Park, Middlesbrough.

The funding, announced in the first wave of Regional Growth Fund awards, will take the total investment in the bio-freight terminal to £9.5m over the coming months.

Gary Dawson, managing director of AV Dawson, who will develop the new facility, said: “We set our stall out in 2005 that we would significantly ramp up the facilities and services we offer to the bio-resources sector and subsea and offshore industries.

“This combined £9.5m investment will deliver on that promise and provide a tremendous asset for Middlesbrough and the River Tees.

“I am delighted that the Government has recognised the value of this project to the wider Teesside area. Not only will it safeguard jobs and bring new opportunities.”

Once completed, the £2.6m intermodal rail terminal will have sidings capable of handling trains carrying up to 80 containers at any one time with 16,000 square metres of operational area and storage for up to 1,200 containers.

In addition to the intermodal terminal, AV Dawson is investing £4.5m on a 200m new deep water shipping quay to serve the energy and subsea markets and £2.4m on phase one of a bulk warehouse development.

Work is expected to begin on the AV Dawson Tees Bio-freight Terminal before the end of April.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .