In a significant demonstration of the Chancellor’s commitment to the Greater Brighton City Region, £48.73million of Local Growth Fund Round 3 is to be invested in the City Region over the coming year, driving key projects forward.
These key projects are:
- Worthing Central Phase 1 – the first phase of a comprehensive and co-ordinated transformation programme of Worthing’s Town Centre, stretching from Worthing Central Railway Station to the Seafront – £5.69million
- Decoy Farm, Worthing – transforming the site – which has stood unused for over three decades – into one of the most exciting commercial employment centres on the South Coast, providing openings for existing businesses to expand and attracting wider enterprise and investment from the South East and London – £4.84million
- New Monks Farm & Airport – establishing the essential road infrastructure needed to unblock the development of both New Monks Farm and the Airport Business Estate into a strategic employment and housing growth centre – £5.7million
- Burgess Hill Growth Area Infrastructure Package – putting in place a package of local infrastructure improvements – including road enhancements, public transport improvements, walking and cycling initiatives, access to the proposed Science Park among others – that will support the delivery of the £1b Burgess Hill growth programme – £14.9million
- Sussex Bio-Innovation Centre, Brighton – delivering a new £99m Life Sciences building at the University of Sussex’s Falmer campus. This building will provide dedicated teaching space, modern laboratory equipment, technical support and inspiring collaboration spaces for academics, researchers and clinicians from different disciplines to share knowledge and create innovative partnerships – £5.5million
- Brighton Waterfront, Black Rock Site Development, Brighton – delivering a new world class conference and multi-use venue at the Black Rock Site, alongside a major expansion of the city’s retail offer through an extension of Churchill Square shopping centre – £12.1million
Councillor Daniel Humphreys, Chairman of the Greater Brighton Economic Board and Leader of Worthing Borough Council, said:
“I am delighted to see this significant commitment to future growth across our Region.
“At this point, we estimate that the six projects will attract over £700million of private sector investment into the Region. In practical terms, this will mean nearly 280,000 square metres of employment floor space for approximately 6,600 new jobs and over 5,900 homes to house our growing population.
“This is great news for the City Region and a vote of confidence in the creative, innovative, agenda set by the Greater Brighton Economic Board.”
The funds are being administered by the Government by Coast To Capital, the Local Economic Partnership covering the City Region. The Greater Brighton Economic Board is now working closely with Coast To Capital on a phased release of funds into these transformative projects.
Further information will be released as soon as it is available and full details for each of the sites is contained in the 2015-16 Greater Brighton Economic Board Annual Report.