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CITY HALL: The city is urged to develop along 401, 402

By PATRICK MALONEY, THE LONDON FREE PRESS

Last Updated: 5th February 2010, 7:30am

The development of industrial land along the Highway 401-402 corridor is a key opportunity to attract new jobs to London, a city councillor says.

Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen made the comments Thursday following a presentation focused on the city's industrial land options, by city manager Jeff Fielding to members of council.

"That's an underutilized asset that we have," said Van Meerbergen, who works for a firm located along the 401. "It's the direction we need to go -- developing that land along the 401, 402 and creating more jobs.

"We need to improve our ability to create wealth and that's the direction."

For Fielding, the blueprint exists up and down the highway in Ontario -- and London is actually in a better position than such communities as Mississauga, he said following his presentation.

"If you go upstream from us and see all the municipalities that are successful . . . all of (them) have frontage on the 401," he said. "London has frontage on both sides.

"Clearly we've got an interest along the 401 because of the exposure that businesses get to the travelling public. (Some) industries depend on their brand having visibility."

Fielding also points to the possibility of creating a 401 interchange at Wonderland Rd., which would offer advantages in terms of land and give people in west London another access point to the highway.

"There's a triangle of land in the 401-402 corridor that would be strategically located for us to be able to do something special (in terms of) attracting some industry," Fielding said.

Fielding on Thursday also touched on other elements of the city's economic picture, including:


London's economy, having shrunk by about 4% last year, is expected to grow by 2.5% in 2010

The London region has lost 8,300 manufacturing jobs since 2006

Approved stimulus funding for the city has created an estimated 1,185 jobs But those hoping for the arrival of major employers with hundreds of jobs may need to adjust their expectations as the city recovers from a recession, Fielding said.


"Jobs will come back in 10s and 20s, rather than hundreds," he said. "And the investments will tend to be $7-$8 million as opposed to $70-$80 million."