Plymouth Development Corporation
The Plymouth Development Corporation (or PDC) was an urban development corporation established in Plymouth, Devon, England by the UK Government on 1 April 1993 to "secure the physical, environmental, economic and social regeneration" of surplus parts of the Ministry of Defence's estate and some adjoining land. It had an indicative budget of £45 million and a lifetime of five years. Although subject to criticism for financial irregularities, it laid the foundation for improvements that continued for several years after it was wound up. Formation The PDC was given an indicative budget of £45 million to be spent over its proposed five-year lifetime; in 1994 its corporate plan stated that it had the potential to create over 1,300 new jobs and lever in private sector finance of some £50 million. It was the twelfth development corporation to be set up in the country, and it was created after the dockyard, the traditional major employer in the city of Plymouth, had reduced its workforce from 30,000 to 5,000, resulting in an unemployment rate of 14% in the city. The chairman was Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Gerken, a former Flag Officer at Plymouth, with deputy John Ingham, leader of Plymouth City Council. The sites