Newry Chamber Welcomes City Deal Announced In Budget.
The President of Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade, Paul Convery, has welcomed the Belfast Region City Deal as an important step forward for the Council’s regeneration plans for the Greater Newry Area.
Commenting on the Chancellor’s announcement he said: “As a Chamber, we hope the investment of £850m across the six District Councils will unlock key infrastructure projects for the Greater Newry Area, including the Council’s ambitious city centre regeneration projects, investment in tourism and the Southern Relief Road.
“Combined with recent jobs announcements from local businesses, this is further positive news for our local economy.”
Retail NI React To Chancellor’s Budget
Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget, Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said: “Retail NI broadly welcomes this Budget and we are pleased that our extensive engagement at Westminster with MPs and UK Government Ministers has successfully delivered results such as the £2m to deal with the Primark fire and the £650m Future High Streets Fund.
“The £2m for dealing with the aftermath of the Primark fire is welcome, but more will be needed to deal with the long-term impact of this dreadful situation.
“We were one of the first business organisations to call for City Deals for Belfast and Derry/Londonderry and are pleased to see them both progressed in the Budget.
“Whilst the £350m for the Belfast City Regional Deal is short of the £450m outlined at last week’s launch in Westminster, it is a very significant start toward potentially creating twenty thousand jobs.
“Retail NI will be seeking urgent clarification from the Government that the proposed Business Rates Relief reduction outlined for independent retailers in England will apply to Northern Ireland. We strongly believe that Business Rate relief should apply to Northern Ireland and will be campaigning for this.
“We welcome the introduction of the Digital Service Tax and would urge the Treasury to use the £400m it will raise to reduce Business Rates in Northern Ireland and across the UK.
“The freeze of Fuel Duty will help many of our members running costs of their vans.
“We would examine in greater detail the Government’s proposals for a Plastic levy, to ensure that its does not have a negative impact on our members.
“Questions also need to be asked as to what the extra £320m for the NI Executive is going to be spent on given that we have no Executive?” added Mr Roberts.
