Devon County Council has approved plans to improve links to a new employment development at Langage, a key part of the Plymouth and South Devon (PASD) Freeport.

Councillors have given the go-ahead to deliver of a two-phase spine road, which extends the existing Kingsway road, and a multi-use bridge across the A38 Deep Lane Junction, which will connect the new community of Sherford to the growing development.

PASD Freeport is one of twelve designated by Government and is a partnership between, Plymouth City Council, South Hams District Council, Devon County Council, and the private sector.

It aims to create over 3,500 jobs, predominantly across key engineering and manufacturing sectors, and will play a crucial role in Devon’s economic recovery and growth.

-- Advertisement --

Currently, the Kingsway road stops just south of the Langage Power Station on the eastern side of the Langage Business Park.

Phase one will focus on extending the road so that it serves the Langage customs and tax site. The ambition is for work to begin in November this year for completion the following spring.

The road will be delivered in such a way that it will allow developers to deliver access points to the site in the future as individual plots receive planning permission and become available.

Phase two will be a continuation of the first phase with a planning application expected to be submitted in September 2024. The delivery of this section of the spine road will align with the future delivery of the employment development, expected to be in 2027.

Work on the multi-use bridge is expected to start in December of this year.

The delivery of this infrastructure, as well as improvements to the Sandy Road/Holland Road roundabout, is funded by £9.619 million by the UK Government as part of the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport seed capital programme, and up to £14.289 million of borrowing by DCC, which was approved at Full Council in February this year.