Greater Brighton bosses pull in millions of pounds for key local projects
Millions of pounds of government money is going towards new education, business and digital projects in the Greater Brighton region as well as towards building thousands of homes, according to a new report.
They were set out in the Greater Brighton Economic Board annual report which was formally approved for public release when the board met in Crawley yesterday (Tuesday 17 July).
Six housing projects alone across the Greater Brighton area have been awarded £48 million of funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in the past year.
The city region covers an area that includes Brighton and Hove, Adur and Worthing, Mid Sussex, Lewes and Crawley.
The largest chunk on housing in the past year is the £15.2 million towards the King Alfred scheme in Hove, where 565 homes and a new leisure centre are planned.
Free Wharf, on the Western Harbour Arm in Shoreham, has £10 million earmarked for flood defences, 540 homes, a public open space, shops, offices and restaurants.
And the North Street Quarter in Lewes also has £10 million going towards 400 new homes by 2025.
Through the Greater Brighton City Deal and Coast to Capital Growth Deal, the area has received £90 million towards a wide range of projects.
In education, for instance, the report highlights the new £9 million Construction Trades Centre built at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College’s East Brighton campus in Whitehawk.
The site opened for this academic year to train electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painters, bricklayers and plasterers.
At Brighton University, the new Advanced Engineering Centre received £7 million in Local Growth Fund cash.
The site in Moulsecoomb has an extra 30 to 50 research posts and replaces a dual site in Shoreham previously used in partnership with the engineering business Ricardo.
Brighton Bike Share, the New England House Creative Tech Growth Centre, the Digital Catapult Centre and 5G testbed are among other projects supported by Local Growth Fund cash.
The Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Daniel Yates, said: “The annual report is brilliant and demonstrates what the board does in collaboration, not just as a group of authorities, but in line with other organisations and education.”
Councillor Yates added: “We all need to develop collaboratively – and work to develop our own economic needs.
“Brighton cannot develop all of its economy, all of its jobs and all of its housing.”
The former Conservative opposition leader in Brighton and Hove, Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, was a member of the board from its start in 2014.
And he said that he was pleased to see the progress that had been made in its first four years.
Members of the Greater Brighton Economic Board
Councillor Theobald said: “I think this has been one of the most successful boards that the council has set up in many years.
“It has brought council leaders, universities and business all together and brought money in.
“I am very satisfied we have seen a lot of success with projects that have taken some time to do.”
After years of delay, he said that he was pleased to see projects at Circus Street and Preston Barracks finally happening.
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So £9m is neing spent on the old Stanley Deason Schoolsite to train tradespeople.The £64m question is where are they going to live,which leads me onto another topic if they could build there why couldnt they build at the very top of sheepcote which is virgin land and has no need to be monitored for methane gas.