The chairman of Historic England has been shown around Gosport by the town's MP.
Dame Caroline Dinenage invited Lord Mendoza to tour the constituency and see the potential for growth and regeneration in its heritage sites.
The pair visited Fort Gilkicker, the Rum Store at Victoria Quay, Priddy’s Hard, Powder Monkey Brewery, and Fort Rowner at HMS Sultan.
Dame Caroline explained to Lord Mendoza how these sites could be used to increase investment in the area, which would bring jobs, prosperity, and increased demand for services.
Historic England chairman hears vision for heritage-led regeneration (Image: Andy Newbold) Lord Mendoza agreed with Dame Caroline’s assessment of the sites' potential.
He said: "I’m grateful for Caroline’s invitation to visit some of Gosport’s outstanding historic sites and the opportunities they represent.
"I firmly believe that investing in heritage and working with Historic England can help achieve exemplary place-making and sustainable economic growth, bringing real benefits to local communities."
Research from Historic England has shown that 93 per cent of people agree that local heritage raises their quality of life, and 67 per cent of people aged 16 and over visited a heritage site last year.
Lord Mendoza tours Gosport heritage sites (Image: Andy Newbold) The overall wellbeing value for people’s day-to-day encounters with heritage is estimated to be worth £29 billion every year in England.
Investing in heritage also attracts tourism, with seven of the 10 most-visited English attractions being heritage sites.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, which runs the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower at Priddy’s Hard, was last year announced as the third most visited paid attraction outside London, behind only Stonehenge and Bath.
It was visited more than 870,000 times last year.
Dame Caroline said: "I am so glad that Lord Mendoza took up my offer to let me show him what beautiful buildings and nationally significant heritage sites we have in Gosport.
"At a time when the country desperately needs economic growth, we should be making the most of the opportunities we have here to boost investment, wellbeing, and tourism by putting these amazing assets to good use.
"These buildings are part of my vision to stimulate and invigorate the local economy, bring people to Gosport, and meet the punitive housing targets imposed on us by the Labour Government."
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