CIVIC chiefs are set to give their backing for the Solent Freeport plans branding it a "tremendous opportunity" for the city. 

Southampton City Council is due to discuss the proposals for the new Freeport hoped to bring in around £2bn worth of investment for the Solent area. 

Councillors have been recommended to back the plans ahead of the submission of the full business case for the Scheme in April 2022. 

The authority's boss for growth, Councillor Jeremy Moulton, has said this next step could mean investment into the area's rail links and transport around the docks. 

"It's a tremendous opportunity for the Southampton area and the wider Solent region," he said. 

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"It will be very good for the port and businesses in the supply chain. Southampton is a tremendously important port for the UK."

He added that funding will be collected by the freeport which will then be collected in a pot for local improvements. 

Once the backing has been given by the council, the scheme will be subject to final approval from the government before it can go ahead. 

The Freeport is expected to see a total of 26,000 jobs across the wider Solent region.

MP for Southampton Itchen, Royston Smith, said this could see the area return to its days of manufacturing and shipbuilding. 

He said: "The Solent Freeport is a fantastic opportunity for Southampton to create thousands of high-quality jobs and bring billions of pounds worth of investment. 

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"There were once thousands of quality manufacturing jobs in the city, from shipbuilding to vehicle manufacturers, the creation of the freeport could bring back more of those job opportunities, with prospects, better pay and security and allow for further economic recovery."

Ross McNally, Chief Executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, added: "Hampshire Chamber of Commerce is a longstanding advocate for the Freeport and what it can do to boost the whole of the Solent economy.

"As a key component of the Government’s levelling up policy the Freeport status gives our world class economic hub major new opportunities to attract globally competitive value-added inward investment.

"The Solent Freeport unlocks potential around skills development, clean growth, transport infrastructure and innovation.

"No single other policy intervention would be able to achieve this in (the) central south of England, so the opportunity must be fully grasped.’