Council bid for green bank

WARRINGTON Borough Council has lent its weight to a bid to get the headquarters of the Green Investment Bank in the town.
A motion pressing for the bank to be located in Warrington, proposed by Lib Dem leader Cllr Ian Marks and seconded by Conservative leader Cllr Keith Bland calling was agreed unanimously by the council.
Cllr Marks (pictured) said: “The Deputy Prime Minister announced details of this new bank in May.
“We will be the first country to have a bank dedicated to greening the economy. Its role is to unlock private sector investment into new green infrastructure projects such as offshore wind, industrial energy efficiency and waste. It will be independent of government and expects to catalyse the injection of £15 billion into the economy within four years. There will be an initial funding of £3 billion from the public purse.”
London, Edinburgh and Bristol have already made representations for the bank but the government has said it would welcome business cases from other areas.
Cllr Marks added: “We believe Warrington would be an excellent location for the headquarters of the bank.
“There are excellent transport links by rail, road or air. We have access to world class technology at places such as the new Enterprise Zone at Daresbury. There is the potential for strategic development at Omega. We are close to existing renewable projects such as the wind farm at Crosby.
“As well as putting us in the forefront of green developments it would be good for jobs.
“We are losing the North West Development Agency in the near future so their building, Renaissance House,would be an excellent location for the Bank.”

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