£11.3M Growth Deal boost

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The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has agreed an expansion to its Growth Deal with the Government which will see an extra £11.3 million invested in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly between 2016 and 2021.

This is in addition to the £48.9 million of funding committed by the Government last year. Over the lifetime of its deal (2015-2021), the LEP estimates that up to 5,000 new jobs could be created, 7,000 new homes built and that it has the potential to generate £160 million public and private investment.

The additional proposed projects include:

  • Broadband: A project to take Cornwall and Isles of Scilly from 95% to over 99% fibre broadband connected, cementing it as the best connected rural place in the UK. The £1 million investment will unlock a further £6 million of funding from other sources including BDUK and Cornwall Council.
  • Rail: Creating a quality Night Riviera Sleeper experience through investment in lounges and changing facilities in Penzance, Truro and Paddington and improved parking facilities at Truro.
  • Truro: Funds seven new low floor buses in Truro to provide additional capacity for the city’s successful Park and Ride Scheme.
  • Redruth: Eight prioritised walking and cycling schemes requiring no further planning consent that will connect employment and residential sites. Also investment in the Tolgus and Barncoose junction improvement that will create a gateway between Redruth and Camborne, unlocking access for over 600 homes, 5,000sq m of commercial space, with links to the Kresen Kernow cultural project.
  • Bodmin: Investment in enabling infrastructure to support growth.

The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Growth Deal is part of a long-term plan to devolve at least £12 billion from central government to local economies. The plan aims for every part of the country to be a “motor of growth for the national economy”.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP, said: “A quiet revolution is underway in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and across the country, as Growth Deals signal the death of the culture where Whitehall calls the shots. I’ve seen for myself the difference it makes to give this region more power over skills, over business support, over infrastructure spending.

“I am delighted to announce the expansion of the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Growth Deal today.”

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP chairman, Chris Pomfret, added: “This latest Government investment brings our total Growth Deal to more than £60 million, unlocking around £160 million of further public and private money over the next six years.

“Our priority has been to focus on delivering conditions for growth, and these projects will support the creation of thousands of jobs and help deliver new homes and business space, while ensuring that our communities and businesses are better connected than ever before.”

1 COMMENT

  1. As usual it looks like very little of this money will find its way to North Cornwall, the forgotten part of the county.

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