A 10-year economic plan for Plymouth aims to create 8,000 new jobs, 10,000 new homes and 1,000 businesses.

The city council’s cabinet backed the economic strategy and also supported the first ever port strategy for the city and a plan to boost the creative sector.

Council leader Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) told his cabinet this week that the city has a “transformational, once-in-a-lifetime pipeline of investment” totalling £6 billion, much of it from the government, for defence spending at Devonport’s naval base.

And it aims to lift 3,000 people out of poverty, bring 50 vacant buildings back into use, increase productivity by 20 per cent, create a highly skilled workforce – 11 per cent of Plymouth residents have no formal qualifications – and become net zero by 2030.

Building on its reputation for marine and defence industries – the city employs 20,110 people (18 per cent of the workforce) in those sectors – it also plans to grow its enhanced manufacturing and life sciences industries and the night-time economy.

Not wanting to leave any areas out, it plans investment in the north of the city, including the science park, as well as the waterfront and the city centre.

The plan is the result of two years of work between the city council and the Plymouth Growth Board, a private, public and voluntary sector partnership.

During Monday’s meeting, councillors also supported the city’s first ever port strategy to embrace opportunities for the four ports of Cattewater, Sutton Harbour, Millbay and Devonport, including more than doubling the number of cruise ship visits.

It will work with harbour authorities and others to improve infrastructure and recognise the role the ports can play in preparing for net zero, productivity and job creation.

Cattewater harbourmaster Richard Allan told the meeting Plymouth is the main shipping hub in the south west.

He said investing in the ports would take more goods off roads and onto ships, which are the cleanest form of transport per tonne carried.

More than two million tonnes of cargo passes through Cattewater each year, including fuel, food, cement and clay, and claims to have taken 55,000 long-distance journeys off the road.

Mr Allan told councillors: “It’s more than just a harbour. Plymouth has played important role in shaping the country’s history. We need to make sure it continues to be a beacon of progress,” he said.

Another report needing cabinet support was Plymouth Culture’s creative industries plan that promises to make the city a vibrant hub for creativity and innovation.

It suggests the Great South West region has been a hotbed for creative job growth, matching the fastest rates in the country from 2019 to 2022, with Plymouth wanting to become the ‘urban epicentre of this regional boom’.

The plan’s recommendations include creating ‘dynamic creative clusters’— for businesses in the sector to attract and retain top talent and organisations.

Proposed clusters include one centred around the Box and Plymouth University, a performance cluster in Royal Parade linking the Guildhall and Athenaeum, one around the Market Hall in Devonport, and at Cattedown enhancing the Theatre Royal’s TR2 production capacity and attracting new business.

Theatre Royal chief executive James Mackenzie-Blackman said TR2 exports theatre sets around the world and has just sent 10 articulated lorries to Houston after building a huge new opera for the city.

Richard Allan said these could go by ship from Plymouth in future.

Council leader Tudor Evans said growth in the city is not just about more jobs, but better paid ones for residents who cannot access them at the moment.

“In the next three years we will deliver 55 projects across the city, with 20 organisations taking on lead roles. We do not underestimate this task, which is why we work in partnership,” he said.

Plymouth’s average pay is more than £6,000 below the national average of £33,279.

The city has put ‘inclusive growth’ as a key priority, meaning a prosperous economy that reduces inequality, is sustainable and serves the wellbeing of local people.

Around 35 per cent of working age people are economically inactive because of long-term sickness. Too many people find it difficult to access work and educational opportunities to enable them to secure higher value jobs.

The city also plans to focus on civic pride and regeneration.