A report released Friday at city hall has raised doubts about London’s readiness to attract new jobs.
London’s supply of industrial land is described as "critically low" in the report, titled 2014 - Industrial Land Development Strategy: An Investment In Our Future.
City staff are proposing an aggressive industrial land strategy that will create hundreds of hectares of shovel-ready land over the next decade.
The plan calls for the investment of $120 million over 10 years to buy land for industrial growth and provide it with hydro, water and sewer servicing.
Proponents of the plan say it will provide the next generation of Londoners with good-paying jobs.
Industrial land that was set aside years ago will soon bring hundreds of quality jobs at the Dr. Oetker Canada plant.
But London’s supply of industrial land used to attract new businesses hasn't kept pace with the city’s growth.
“When an opportunity comes knocking, we don't want to be the city that says, ‘I'm sorry, I can't help you. We can't help you for two to three years because we don't have any land available,’” London Mayor Joe Fontana says.
The land report says the city is “at risk of missing opportunities.”
The land strategy sets out a minimum target of 200 hectares of available industrial land.
Currently, London’s supply is only 130 hectares of mostly small- and medium-sized parcels.
The industrial land strategy is an aggressive plan to buy and supply utility service to 400 hectares by 2028.
City planner John Fleming says he doesn’t want the city to run short of industrial land in the future.
And Fontana says the city needs to act quickly.
“We need to move on this ASAP, like yesterday. We can't afford to sit on our laurels and think about this for two or three years.”
But the $120 million over 10 years the taxpayers must pay is steep.
The first 200 hectares would be purchased over the next two years, but the city won't be able to do it alone.
“We will be looking to partners at senior levels of government to help us with the infrastructure costs of developing those lands,” Fleming says.
The land strategy will be discussed by city councillors on Monday.
A separate report, detailing how to finance the $120 million will be out in January in time for budget deliberations.
