Heart of the South West (HotSW) has announced a new funding initiative available to unlock stalled projects throughout the area.
A Growing Places Fund of £ 14,510,481 million has been awarded to HotSW, the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay by the Government.
It is designed to distribute to capital projects and developments that are ready to commence, but have been postponed for financial reasons.
The fund aims to boost economic growth by getting delayed schemes moving again with the necessary support to enable the creation of new homes and jobs.
The initiative is part of a national £500million Growing Places fund announced by Ministers, aimed at helping communities whose ambitions for economic growth have been halted.
The announcement forms part of a wider of a wider package of measures announced by Housing Minister Grant Shapps, highlighting the vital and central role that housing is playing in getting the country’s economy on the road to recovery.
Applications will be assessed and funds awarded according to various criteria which will be specified in full on the partnership’s website. To be considered, projects must be ready to commence quickly and, where appropriate, must have planning permissions and other consent already in place. Levering in private sector funding is also a condition.
Applicants must show how their project will create jobs and assist in economic growth.
Tim Jones, chairman of HotSW said: “This is a massive boost for the area and it will help many projects that have stalled infrastructure finally get off the ground.
“We would welcome applications from projects which have been genuinely blocked and are ready to go – this fund is designed to help unlock developments that would otherwise not be financially able to proceed.
“We see this is a vital component in creating economic growth and we are keen to ensure that the partnership will be able to direct this funding where it can generate the biggest benefits for the whole area. It is a ringing endorsement by Government of the work of the LEP, showing that there is real confidence in our ability to deliver and bring about fundamental economic change across our counties. â€
To bid for funding, applicants must complete a formal application which will be available shortly from the HotSW website www.heartofswlep.co.uk
In the main, it is anticipated that applicants will repay the fund in the long term, so the funds can be revolved and invested into different future projects.
As the programme progresses, a full list of successful projects will be published on the website.
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For more information, contact Liz Waugh or Julie Everett at Coast Communications on 01752 847135 / 07966 388921
Heart of the South West
The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has been formed under the leadership of the private sector supported by the local authorities from Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay and the area’s District Councils. It is one of 32 partnerships created since the Government’s Local Growth White Paper published in October 2010. More information about the work of the LEP is available from the website www.heartofswlep.co.uk.
Growing Places Fund
The Growing Places Fund can be used to establish revolving funds to take forward a range of projects that can help facilitate economic growth and jobs in the local area, providing returns which can be re-invested locally. Through this, local enterprise partnerships will be able to offer secure funding to developers in their area, making it quicker for projects to get off the ground but also securing a return on that investment for the local area.
