Millions Coming To Boost Norfolk & Suffolk

7 July 2014, 07:25 | Updated: 7 July 2014, 07:35

£173.3m is to be invested across East Anglia over a 5 year period starting next year as part of a bid to move more funding into the regions away from the Capital.

£59.9m has already been confirmed with discussions opening right away on £113.5m worth of future awards.

So what will the £173.3m pay for?

• Bury St. Edmunds Eastern Relief Road - construction of a relief road to enable housing and employment land in Bury St. Edmunds.
• Beccles Southern Relief Road - construction of a new relief road to provide faster access to Beccles Business Park and the Enterprise Zone at Ellough Airfield.
• Process Engineering Centre & renovated Catering and Hospitality Facilities at Lowestoft College - new and renovated buildings which form the next stage of development of a national centre for Maritime, Offshore and Energy Studies at Lowestoft College.
• Haverhill Innovation Centre - creation of an innovation centre focussing on local strengths in life sciences and advanced manufacturing, giving advice and support to local businesses in those industries to make the most of their ideas. This is a joint project with the Greater Cambridge, Greater Peterborough LEP.
• Higher Skills Science, Technology and Management Centre, College of West Anglia - development of a new Higher Skills Centre serving West Norfolk and Fenland to give people better access to higher education and equivalent qualifications in the area.
• Norfolk and Suffolk Better Broadband Programmes - programme to support the extension of broadband coverage, with the aim of reaching 95% by 2017.
• Construction and Agri-tech facilities, Easton and Otley College, Easton Campus - enabling building of a new construction training centre and new agri-tech laboratory areas to accommodate employers demands.
• £2m of loan funding through to Taylor Wimpey (subject to due diligence) to accelerate the 495 homes on the Lodge Farm, Costessey site, helping to address the housing shortage in the area.

Central Government has agreed provisional allocation to the following projects starting in 16/17 and beyond:

• Lowestoft River Crossing Options - Assessment of the options for a river crossing in Lowestoft
  Attleborough Sustainable Transport - Town centre transport improvements including maintenance of the main road network to support growth in and around Attleborough
• Thetford Sustainable Transport - Improvements to Thetford town centre including the Thetford-Croxton Road cycle link and maintenance of the main road network.
• Ipswich Radial Corridor - Package of transport measures to improve traffic flows into Ipswich.
• Bury St. Edmunds Sustainable Transport - Package of sustainable transport measures to make walking, cycling and travelling by public transport easier for short journeys.
• Great Yarmouth Package - Measures to connect together key business areas and other places where many people work, maintain the existing road network and ease congestion.

According to estimates by the Local Enterprise Partnership, the Growth Deal will bring to New Anglia:

• Up to 14,000 jobs;
• Up to 2,000 homes.
• Up to £120m into the New Anglia economy from public and private investment

The Government believe the investments will benefit for local businesses by:

• They will not only benefit from business support through the continuation of the Business Growth Hub, but those in the life sciences and advanced manufacturing sectors will be able to access specialist support through the expansion of the Haverhill Innovation Centre.  Businesses looking to expand and take on additional staff will be able to apply for grant funding through the Growing Business Fund, a very successful local scheme to help business take that next step.
• The local road network will be improved through the construction of new relief roads in Bury St Edmunds and Beccles, meaning less congestion and quicker access to key destinations.
• Business will also have access to better trained and qualified employees as there will be over £10m invested in facilities at Lowestoft College, College of West Anglia and Easton & Otley College to help deliver the skills needed to support the area's key sectors to grow.